(1;peration Cast Lead

Jewish Sovereignty

Rabbi Daniel Gordis discusses
why action was necessary.

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January 22 • 2009

THE HISTORIC

Li
THEATRES

CENTURY
GRILLE

PF,TAURAM .

n a cab on the way to Ben-Gurion
International Airport to catch a
flight to the United States, Rabbi
Daniel Gordis heard on the radio that
Israel had just sent ground troops into
Gaza. With a 22-year old daughter
and a 19-
year-old son
taking part
in Operation
Cast Lead, he
almost asked
the driver to
turn around.
But Gordis
decided he
needed to
make his own
contribution
to the pro-Israel cause and kept to his
speaking tour for the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),
which brought him to Temple Israel on
January 15.
For Gordis, a Conservative rabbi
who made aliyah with his fam-
ily almost 10 years ago and senior
vice president and senior fellow of
the Shalem Center — a just-right-
of-center Zionist think tank — the
battle with Hamas goes to the core of
Zionism.
"My fundamental point is the opera-
tion is about restoring the meaning
of Jewish sovereignty," Gordis said,
explaining that sovereignty means
"Jews do not live and die at the whims
of other people." The shelling of Israeli
civilian centers by Hamas for more
than eight years mocked that idea and
made action necessary. "If that can
take place inside Israel, the purpose
of Jewish sovereignty is undermined:'
and that will lead Israelis to question
the desirability of living in Israel and
the future of the Jewish state.
Since 2006, Gordis has written 21
essays about the challenges and joys
of life in Israel that are widely distrib-
uted by e-mail. He's heard from many
people troubled by the images they
see coming out of Gaza. He is, too, but
he's not struggling to find a reason for
Israeli actions.
"People should absolutely feel grief
over innocent lives being lost:' he says,
"but there is a difference between grief

and guilt." Gordis says the strong sup-
port for the military action across the
Israeli political and social spectrum is
"about a Jewish yearning, not about a
desire to kill, but about a Jewish yearn-
ing for normalcy and peace. There is a
deep Jewish
impulse to
stay alive."
He hopes
his appear-
ance will
assist AIPAC,
which he
calls "an
extraor-
dinarily
important
organization"
as well as help Jews to be stronger
ambassadors for Israel with friends
and coworkers, and help them explain
things to their kids.
Asked for his thoughts about
Obama's understanding of Israel and
its enemies, he makes it clear that he
has no crystal ball but is not worried.
"My gut says Obama gets it," Gordis
says. "He has the intellectual ability;
he's skilled, nuanced and balanced."
To read and subscribe to Gordis'
"Dispatches from an Anxious State,"
visit www.danielgordis.org .

"There is a
deep Jewish
impulse to
stay alive."

AIPAC Programs

• Jan. 27, Tuesday, 7 p.m. -
Bret Stephens of the Wall Street
Journal editorial board speak-
ing on "Challenges Facing Israel
Today: from Gaza to Iran." $10
cover. Adat Shalom Synagogue,
Farmington Hills.
• Jan. 28, Wednesday, 7 p.m. -
Avi Jorisch of the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies speak-
ing on "Hamas and Hezbollah:
the A-Team of Terrorism." $10
cover. Temple Beth El, Bloomfield
Township.
To register, go to www.aipac.
org/MILecture2009 by Jan. 22
or contact Tali Jubelirer (312)
253-8984 or via e-mail at
tjubelirer@aipac.org .

