Friends,
As some of you know, I was meant to be in Israel this week celebrating the Bat Mitzvah of a cousin in the beautiful and historic Neveh Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv. The world has changed dramatically and we are in the midst of a horrible war on the ground and in the air, with tremendous ripples in a cultural war played out in awful and frightening ways on social media. I cannot look at it anymore; it is simply too horrifying. I am not in Israel, I am in London where the mood within my family and among the Jewish community here is pretty bleak and dark, as it is everywhere for so many of us. This Shabbat has been declared by USCJ/Masorti Judaism along with many other organizations as Solidarity Shabbat. We hope you will connect with us and congregations throughout the world in solidarity with Israel.
Whether we have strong connections to Israel or not, and some of us are speaking multiple times a day to loved ones, we cannot be unmoved by some of the pernicious antisemitism in our streets and on our campuses and all over the media. Statement after statement from progressive groups, dedicated to human rights and to justice, shout loud slogans of support for Palestinian liberation with a deafening silence in the aftermath and continuing trauma of the brutal, savage and inhuman attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers. It has been so painful and shocking, but sadly not so surprising. Some of us have been very disturbed by the statement made by CU’s Department of Ethnic Studies with some strong anti Israel and antisemitic language. If you feel moved to sign this petition, it is here.
According to Yair Lapid in this piece in Times of Israel, “Hamas and the Iranians fund a huge network of disinformation, which directs itself to the algorithms of the ultra-liberal left.” I do believe that we are witnessing this and it is scary stuff. I have also been following the very insightful author and commentator Yossi Klein Halevi, who wrote a thoughtful analysis Why Israel is being blamed for the Hamas massacre.
The palpable and existential fear that everyone is feeling in Israel right now is exacerbated by these ripples of ignorance, complicity and bias. I keep thinking of the famous quote by Reverence Martin Luther King Junior; “in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” There have been some very moving and real outpourings of support, but not enough to drown out the deafening silence.
With all this, we cannot be moral, compassionate human beings without acknowledgement of the awful suffering of the Palestinians before, during and after these horrors. Many innocent civilians are victims of the terrible violence. As outraged, horrified and scared as we are, we cannot lose our humanity and compassion. On Wednesday night, my rabbi and mentor in London, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, convened a zoom meeting for the Masorti (Conservative) Movement to talk about how we maintain Hesed (lovingkindness) in the face of all of this, and the meeting included some words of Torah along with presentations from three organizations on the ground in Israel continuing to work across the borders. Road to Recovery is an Israeli NGO that for years before the war, has arranged for children from Gaza with medical needs to cross the checkpoints and get medical care in Israeli hospitals and then accompany them back through the border. Parents’ Forum is an organization formed by bereaved Israeli and Palestinian parents who have suffered unbearable losses during years of conflict and are united by their shared humanity; and Leket Israel rescues nutritious, surplus food to feed those in need, and is currently focusing on Israelis under siege in Southern Israel. It was very moving to be on a zoom with the exhausted and traumatized leaders of these groups joining live from Israel and sharing their perspectives.
The Torah portion this week is Lech L’cha in which we begin the story of Abraham and his journey of faith. Abraham is associated in our tradition with the quality of Hesed, lovingkindness, and as the father of Ishmael and grandfather of Esau, he is seen as the spiritual father of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The deepest prayer that we can have, even or especially in these dark days of conflict, is that there is a future beyond the horrors of war of peace and reconciliation between all peoples as our prophets dreamed. In the opening of the parsha (Genesis 12), Avram, as he is then, is instructed to go on an epic journey and is promised that he will be made great and will be blessed. He is then told, “v’heyeh bracha - you will be a blessing.” How do we live into being a blessing? Embody the concept of blessing? This is especially challenging in a time of war, but even more needed. It starts with the power that we all have to channel blessings to each other. “When we bless someone, we touch the unborn goodness in them and wish it well. Everything unborn in us and in the world needs blessing,” says Rachel Remen, quoted by my teacher Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg in his new book Listening for God in Torah and Creation. Wherever we find ourselves this Shabbat physically, emotionally, spiritually, let’s strive to offer and to receive blessings to and from those in our circles and those outside our circles. Many of us feel so helpless in this moment, but this practice can connect us to one another and the world as descendants of Abraham. You will be a blessing!
The situation in the region is very precarious with great potential for escalation. I am hoping to go to Israel for a few days next week in support and solidarity and am monitoring everything carefully.
See our website for resources, actions, prayers and ways to give. There are so many statements out there, and one that many of us have resonated with is from Adamah (formerly Hazon and Pearlstone), which is pasted below.
I send my blessings to each and every one of you that we may be present and loving, strong and resilient, fierce and compassionate and that we are truly able to enter into the embrace and connection of Shabbat with the hesed of Avraham in these challenging days.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Marc
A Statement from Adamah
"When a person has reason to cry, and he wants to cry, but is not able to cry—that’s the greatest cry of all."
~Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
"The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe…whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality."
~James Baldwin
Friends,
At Adamah, we cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the earth. We build inclusive community, we embody a sense of hope, and we lead a burgeoning, big-tent movement in Jewish life.
We believe in Israel, and we believe in the Jewish People. We educate, inspire, and mobilize Jews across the country and around the world to build a more sustainable future—a powerful shared goal for our people and our planet. We are committed to Jewish Peoplehood & Planethood.
We are devastated by the deep trauma enveloping Israel and the Jewish People right now. Millions of American Jews and our allies are feeling deep sadness, pain, anger, fear, and confusion—but it’s nothing compared to the unspeakable pain of Israelis immersed in a national shiva, ongoing rocket barrages, and sending their beloved children and partners, brothers and sisters off to war.
There will never be any justification for the evil that Hamas has perpetrated upon Israel and the Jewish People. We condemn these horrific acts. We honor the Israeli heroes who stepped up to protect and support each other amidst this emergency, many of whom lost their lives while saving others. We pray for the safe return of the more than 200 hostages, we stand with the people of Israel as they mourn, and we recognize their existential need to re-establish security. As Israel acts upon this need, it is bound by its own moral values, anchored in Jewish tradition.
We also believe compassion is a renewable resource, and we ground ourselves in this foundational Jewish value: rachamim. Heartbreak for our people does not negate our ability to feel empathy and pain for innocent Palestinians suffering right now. Hamas is destroying the lives and livelihoods of the people it purports to represent. We pray for the safety of innocent Palestinians, we mourn their lives lost, and we send our love to their families who have lost loved ones. We support Israelis and Palestinians who work every day for a brighter future. Israel has many challenges, but we will not walk away.
We are appalled by voices who blame Israel for the evil actions of Hamas, and those who used this moment to call Israel a genocidal state while Hamas was massacring innocent civilians. Hamas is part of a radical violent expansionist movement threatening not only Israel but the broader Middle East, the United States, and the entire world. Their goal is to kill Jews and destroy Israel at any cost, using their own people as human shields. There is nothing progressive or liberal about justifying this evil. It is morally perverse to equate Hamas terrorism with Israel’s efforts to defend itself, or to ignore or minimize the massacre of Israelis. True progressivism means compassion for all, striving for a just and sustainable peace for all sides, and the courage to speak out against wrong regardless of how that may conflict with our prior political assumptions.
The Jewish People are strong, and we will get through this together. Antisemitism is real, but we are not going to hide; we are not going to be silent; we are not going to equivocate. We are clear.
Many of us feel helpless right now. We offer these Jewish practices as an antidote, foundations of our approach to building community:
Acts of Tzedakah: Reach out to people who have been impacted, support them, send a meal, make a donation in their honor. Donate through JFNA’s Israel Emergency Campaign, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, or others.
Gather in Community: Come together—to eat, to cry, to sing, pray, discuss, or just be together. Our need for each other is profound right now, so let’s show up and be there for one another.
Self-Care: We are needed as parents, students, and leaders—so taking care of ourselves is essential. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, nature connection, prayer/meditation—and/or whatever else you need to be your whole self, right now.
Deep Listening: Profound differences of opinion about Israel-Palestine exist across the Jewish community and beyond. That’s OK, and that doesn’t mean we should give up and look away. Stay informed, read reliable and diverse news sources, attend educational events that delve deeper into the issues and history. And work hard to cultivate deep I-Thou relationships, open our minds and hearts to each other, and find ways to hold brave, vulnerable space together.
Speak Up: None of us has all the answers, but we all have a sense of Jewish values, and an ability, or responsibility, to ask questions and speak up for what we believe. We can all help create a healthier, more heart-centered discourse—for our people, for Israelis & Palestinians, and for our planet.
Praying for justice and peace, courage and compassion.
Aaron Max
Board Chair
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
