Local rabbis reject one-sided criticism of Israel New group supports two states, opposes unilateral pressure

by Johanna Ginsberg NJJN Staff Writer August 11, 2010

The original article can be found here on the New Jersey Jewish News website.

More than a dozen local rabbis have signed on to a new group supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but critical of Jewish groups they consider too quick to criticize the Jewish state.

Founded by a Reform rabbi based in Israel, Rabbis for Israel has collected signatures from over 200 rabbis from all streams across Europe, North America, and Israel. Of the 22 NJ rabbis on board, 15 come from areas covered by NJ Jewish News.

In its mission statement, Rabbis for Israel supports a peace involving “two independent states, a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace, security, and prosperity.”

It also acknowledges “that Israel shares some responsibility for the current state of affairs,” presumably the stalled peace process.

At the same time, the petition declares the signatories “are particularly concerned by the manner in which some organizations within the Jewish community, which profess to care for Israel and her well-being, advocate that pressure be applied upon her to make unilateral concessions.”

Although no organizations are named, observers assume the petition is referring to J Street, the two-year-old group that has positioned itself as a left-leaning alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Rabbi Michael Boyden, a Reform rabbi in Hod HaSharon, said he founded the group in reaction to the coverage of the Gaza flotilla incident and the response it engendered.

“I was appalled not only by the way in which most of the international media covered the story, but also by the fact that some sections of the Jewish community, particularly in North America, seemed to have accepted that version of events and were calling for an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip while not demonstrating a realistic understanding of Israel’s security needs,” Boyden wrote in an e-mail exchange with NJJN.

“While much was being written about the harsh lot of the Palestinians of Gaza,” he continued, “the citizens of Sderot had been forgotten and the plight of [kidnapped Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit was simply given a passing nod.”

The mission statement rejects criticism of Israel that does not recognize the Israelis’ right to self-defense and its “real security concerns.”

Much of the statement is directed at Jewish groups it considers one-sided in their criticism of Israel.

“We believe that such advocacy, which results in intransigence and increased demands from the Palestinians, does not advance the cause of peace,” according to the statement. “In discrediting Israel publicly, such organizations not only weaken support for her but also serve the interests of her detractors and enemies.”

Although no organizations are singled out, J Street seems to be on everyone’s mind.

“I will not say I’m opposed to J Street because we have J Street members and leaders at our synagogue, but I find Rabbis for Israel more reflective of my position toward Israel,” said Rabbi Joshua Goldstein of Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield, one of the signers.

“I have observed over the last few years growing numbers of my colleagues who find it necessary to bash or criticize Israel whenever they want. I think we need to put some limits on that,” said Goldstein. He added, “I don’t believe Israel is without blemishes, but in a world where it is so easy to pile on criticism of Israel, I think it is counterproductive.”

Rabbi Joel Abraham of Temple Sholom in Scotch Plains worked on several drafts of the document. “Although, as do many of my colleagues, I agree with many of the ideals of J Street, I do not feel comfortable in how they have presented themselves or that message,” he wrote in an e-mail exchange with NJJN.

“On the other side, I am uncomfortable with the idea that a maximalist Israel must be supported without any dissent. [Rabbis for Israel] says what it believes — in a two-state solution, lays out reasonable expectations of any partners for peace, and asks the critics of the Israeli government to engage in that conversation with the government itself, rather than through and with third parties.”

Rabbi Douglas Sagal of Temple Emanu-El in Westfield is a supporter of both Rabbis for Israel and J Street. He does not see any conflict. “Maybe Rabbis for Israel was formed in part as a response to J Street. But I think J Street serves an important purpose in providing an alternate voice for those who support Israel. I think they have made errors recently, overstating Israel’s culpability. But I find both organizations worthy,” he said.

Sagal said he joined Rabbis for Israel in part because of his “strong personal admiration and respect” for Boyden. “My experience has been that when Rabbi Boyden has something to say about supporting the Jewish state, I find it’s worthwhile to listen.”

Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange pointed out that Rabbis for Israel offers a middle ground — one that is often hard to find among Reform rabbis.

“With so much immediate international condemnation of Israel when anything happens, even before the facts are known, the need for public and loud support for Israel that takes a middle road approach is more important than ever,” Cohen said, adding, “We begin from an assumption that we support Israel but are not blindly supportive.”

Rabbis for Israel also urges Muslim and Christian leaders to teach tolerance and Muslim leaders to denounce violent jihad. It urges the international community and media to recognize “that any resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will demand that Israel’s very real security concerns be addressed, particularly in the light of the key role played by Iran and Syria in arming and training Israel’s enemies.”

Abraham underscored the increased credibility the document has earned simply by having been drafted in Israel. “This is an organization led by an Israeli rabbi who has invited his colleagues from around the world to join together — rather than each community accusing each other of not understanding what it is like to live in Israel or, conversely, to defend Israel from afar.”

Rabbi Laurence Groffman of Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove applauds the group’s goal of raising the level of discourse over Israel in the media.

“The message that tends to get out is biased,” said Groffman. “The impression you get is that the reason we have a problem in the Middle East is Israel. ‘If only Israel would not do this or would not do that, we’d have no problem.’ It’s not just Israel is the oppressor and the Palestinians are the victim. Israel is far more complex than that, and we should look at it as the complex situation that it is.”

Groffman likes the idea that Boyden’s organization is for rabbis of all stripes. “Having a rabbinic organization standing for Israel makes a certain impression,” he said.

Of the 15 in the NJJN catchment areas, however, just two are Conservative and none are Orthodox; the rest are Reform.

Goldstein said that Rabbis for Israel offers “a voice we didn’t hear expressing solidarity for Israel. It’s a model for the rest of the community to emulate.”

So far, Rabbis for Israel is a mission statement with signatories, but Boyden said the group is in the midst of establishing a forum for those with a centrist view, and future plans include disseminating information and developing an advocacy program based on its beliefs.

Rabbis for Israel: Mission Statement

Preamble

Rabbis for Israel is a grassroots movement of rabbis from all streams, who are deeply concerned by the drift in much of world opinion that has made it legitimate to single out Israel for blame and censure in respect of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

While we recognize that Israel shares some responsibility for the current state of affairs, we believe that the roots of the conflict and its broader dimensions are much more complex than is generally presented.

Attempts by Israel's detractors to lay the blame for the lack of progress toward peace at her door while pressing her alone to make concessions are not only unjustified, but frequently motivated by political interests, naivety, ignorance, misinformation or even anti-Semitism.

We are particularly concerned by the manner in which some organizations within the Jewish community, which profess to care for Israel and her well-being, advocate that pressure be applied upon her to make unilateral concessions. Similar demands are not made of the Palestinians to respond in kind, if at all. We believe that such advocacy, which results in intransigence and increased demands from the Palestinians, does not advance the cause of peace. In discrediting Israel publicly, such organizations not only weaken support for her but also serve the interests of her detractors and enemies.

At a time when it has become fashionable to castigate Israel for unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere, we appeal to Jews everywhere to respond to criticism of Israel with support and to advocate on her behalf.

Mission Statement

A Lasting and Secure Peace for Israel

We, the undersigned, believe that Israel has a legitimate right to exist as a sovereign, democratic Jewish state in the historic homeland of the Jewish people. We support a peaceful and just resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that will recognize two independent states, a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace, security and prosperity.

We call upon the Arab and Muslim world to accept unequivocally and publicly Israel's permanent right to exist in peace.

Sovereignty

We believe that any resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict will require Israel to cede sovereignty over most of the West Bank and will need to address the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians concerning Jerusalem, a city that is holy to three religions.

Palestinian claims for a right of return will need to find their resolution within the Palestinian state once established.

Teaching Tolerance and Peace

We call upon Muslim and Christian religious leaders to establish frameworks in their own communities to oppose messages of hatred and violence against Israel, to work toward developing a spirit of mutual understanding, tolerance and peace with Jews, and to encourage the strengthening of peaceful relationships and partnerships between Israelis and Palestinians.

We call upon the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and their agents to cease using the media, mosques and textbooks to foster and incite hatred against Israel and the Jewish People.

Support for Israel

We call upon leaders in the Jewish community to support Israel in their public statements and express any concerns they may have with great caution and considerable forethought given the manner in which their views are likely to be manipulated to Israel's detriment by those who use every opportunity to vilify her.

The Use of Violence

We call upon Palestinian political and religious leaders to denounce the use of violent Jihad, and demand that the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and their agents cease all forms of support, complicity and participation in or glorification of terrorist activities.

Moral Equivalency

We recognize Israel's moral right to defend her citizens against attacks emanating from the Palestinian territories. To demand that Israel forgo the right to defend her citizens in order to improve the lot of the Palestinians, without the latter abandoning their call for violent resistance, is neither moral nor ethical. As such, we reject the moral equivalency that some would draw between the suffering of the Palestinians and the lasting psychological trauma not to mention literal endangerment of life with which Israelis have to contend.

Israel’s Defense

We call upon the international community and media to recognize that any resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict will demand that Israel's very real security concerns be addressed, particularly in the light of the key role played by Iran and Syria in arming and training Israel's enemies.

We urge rabbis who agree with this statement to sign on to it, demonstrating their support for a reasonable solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Fitting In (August 12, 2010)

by Johanna Ginsberg NJJN Staff Writer August 11, 2010

When Brian Schlesinger of Livingston pulled his three children, Brett, Shay, and Andie, out of Jewish day school in 2007, he enrolled them in the religious school of his synagogue, the Jewish Learning Center at Congregation Beth El in South Orange.

Brett was 12, Shay was nine, and Andie was seven. All had attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, a full-time school that offers a dual curriculum of secular and Judaic studies.

“For Brett it was really not too big of an issue because he was so close to bar mitzva age,” said Schlesinger. “He basically went right into bar mitzva lessons shortly after leaving Schechter and then into Prozdor,” the Rebecca and Israel Ivry High School supplementary program for youngsters in seventh through 12th grade sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary.

On the other hand, “Shay and Andie experienced something different since they were much younger,” their father said. “They have lost so much of what they learned.”

Every year, a handful of students will leave any day school and enroll in public school. SSDS of Essex and Union has recorded an attrition rate of about seven percent this year (lower than its more typical 10 percent). The Nathan Bohrer-Abraham Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County in Randolph has lost seven students this year. (HAMC also reported an influx of six youngsters transferring from public schools, a phenomenon not experienced at Schechter.)

Students leave day schools for any number of reasons, including finances, social reasons, and learning styles. How do they continue their religious education? Can these students, with a Jewish educational background so different from that of their religious-school peers, be integrated into that community successfully?

As Julie Wohl, director of the religious school at Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange acknowledged, “Even two or three new students with a Schechter education create logistical and educational challenges.”

Most religious-school principals are quick to say they can accommodate students who transfer from day schools. They focus first on Hebrew language, meeting the more advanced skills of the average day school student. Many say in other areas, the challenges are not as steep as might be imagined.

Wohl offers day school students an enrichment Hebrew course and group study that involves both teacher-led and independent study. “We schedule all of our Hebrew classes to run at the same time so that students can be pulled out, tutored, or moved around to best meet their learning needs,” she said.

Rena Casser, education director of B’nai Shalom in West Orange, said her school also offers Hebrew at a variety of levels.

“Because we have a leveled Hebrew program, there is really no difficulty in having the day school kids fit in,” she wrote in an e-mail exchange with NJJN. “I have had several in the past and have a few in the coming year as well. I test the children privately to see what they know and what they need help on.”

Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, also in South Orange, launched a Hebrew enrichment program in January to help nurture students in third through sixth grades who are more advanced than other students in the language. It is modeled on an Israeli ulpan, or Hebrew-immersion model, with a dedicated instructor.

“These particular students have either come to TSTI from day schools, have one or more Hebrew-speaking parents, or have been identified by teachers in previous years to be ideal candidates for this advanced class,” said religious school director Pia Kutten.

Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston employs teachers from SSDS and uses Tal Am, the same Hebrew curriculum used by the day school.

Educational director Leah Beker works with the Schechter kids who come to Beth Shalom’s religious school. Nearly all of her teachers work at Schechter during the day. And, like Kutten, she has a dedicated teacher assigned to work with the more advanced students.

“We can continue with the kids exactly where they left off in day school,” Beker said. She recalled that during the 2009-10 school year, she had one student who had transferred from Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston and four from Schechter.

The bigger picture

Many of the directors pointed out that there are fewer curricular challenges when it comes to the rest of the program, including prayer. For example, while day schools focus on weekday prayers, religious schools emphasize the Shabbat prayer service.

“When the Schechter kids daven, they use weekday tunes, which are often different from Shabbat tunes,” said Casser.

The day school and religious-school curricula diverge in other ways, which means the former day school students are being exposed to new or different material.

“We have found that our Judaic curriculum is broader, and much less intensely focused. Many of the topics we discuss are never touched in the day school,” said Melissa Weiner, director of education and life-long learning at Morristown Jewish Center Beit Yisrael. “While they are studying Talmud and Rashi, we tend to study topics that relate more directly to the things we need the kids to know to live Jewishly — life cycles, Torah study, holidays. We never get in depth in the hours we have the way a day school does, so we focus on the bigger picture.”

Weiner said she occasionally has students coming to her school from nearby HAMC.

But families sometimes see things differently from education directors. Religious schools that meet for five or fewer hours a week obviously cannot offer the intensity of a day school’s five-day-a-week, half-day Jewish curriculum.

One religious school in Morris County combines the religious school and day school students for b’nei mitzva classes. A parent of a day school student who attends the program, who asked not to be named, said, “We have had some issues. It’s been hard for the [day school] kids because they are so far ahead of the religious school kids. They are bored.”

Others resign themselves to what religious schools can offer. As Brian Schlesinger said, “I never expected Beth El to fully manage my kid’s matriculation into the Jewish Learning Center. I’m grateful they have someone who pulls the kids out of Hebrew class and works with them an hour a week to help them keep some of what they learned. I believe that’s probably the best they can do.”

Other parents opt out of religious school altogether and hire private tutors. One parent, who asked not to be named, pulled her son from Schechter at the end of fifth grade. She has hired a tutor not because she worries he will be bored in an afternoon religious school, she said, but because she wants him to keep up with the Schechter curriculum, just in case public school doesn’t work out.

If he doesn’t return to Schechter in a year, she said, “he will have to enroll in a more formal Hebrew school program.”

Rabbi Daniel Brenner, executive director of Birthright Israel Next, took his twin sons, Noam and Jonah, out of Schechter after fifth grade and enrolled them in Montclair public schools. He also hired a tutor. “Both of our sons expressed a desire to continue to study advanced Hebrew seriously. For this reason, we made modern Hebrew (Israeli literature, poetry, song, etc.) our first priority for their Jewish education,” he wrote in an e-mail from Israel. “This past year they did not attend religious school and were not tutored in the religious elements of Jewish education; they just focused on advanced Hebrew.”

But things are about to change for the brothers this year. Brenner wrote that he felt that as they head into preparations for their bar mitzva that “the experience is one that they are going through with peers.” They will attend the religious school at Bnai Keshet in Montclair, where they are members, and they will have additional private tutoring in both Hebrew and Talmud study.

Regarding the possibility of the twins’ being bored at the afternoon school, Brenner has some concerns, but hopes for the best. “Much of what will happen as far as content is concerned in religious school will be areas of ritual life that my sons have already covered. But I’m hoping that my sons will still enjoy it and will share the knowledge that they have with others in a positive way.”

The original article can be found here on the New Jersey Jewish News Website.