The Movement for Reform Judaism

They say that all politics is domestic. That’s probably true all over the world; it’s definitely so in Israel. We can assume that the Israeli Cabinet didn’t discover until a few days ago that Sheikh Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, had a long and shameful record of inciting to hatred and inspiring the killing of Israelis. After all, Israel kept him in jail for long spells because of it. His words were studied with great care and much pain. So why did Israel’s government decide to dispose of him now?

In view of the perennial belief on the political right that it’s a good thing whenever anything makes negotiations with the Palestinians even more difficult than they are - thus absolving the Prime Minister from even trying to sue for a just peace - the most obvious reason is the desire to appease the many hawks. Domestic politics again. In order to make these hawks support his attempt at unilateral disengagement from Gaza and the possible removal of a few settlements there, Sharon has thrown a bloody bone at them. The terrible thing is that they seem to like it.

The fact that, in so doing, he has further endangered the lives of Israelis at home and abroad doesn’t seem to worry him too much. After all, as a general he’s used to send troops to their deaths in the service of an ostensibly higher cause. As the official opposition seems to be more interested in getting into the Sharon government than challenging it, he has – unlike the citizens - reason to feel safe; the many no confidence motions in the Knesset are tedious rituals the government wins each time.

The only real opposition leader with an alternative vision and perhaps even a plan - the newly elected Yossi Beilin - doesn’t even have a seat in the Knesset. Moreover, he’s not exactly a figure to whom the masses will flock. The irony is that, despite the many parties in Israel’s legislature, in practice the government is ruled by one man and a clique under different names and in different guises.

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The fact that the current escalation, brought about by the Government of Israel, is also putting at greater risk Jewish individuals and Jewish institutions in the world - especially Synagogues: after all, Yassin was a religious leader – may even please Sharon – again, for domestic reasons. For he has a dream that a million more Jews will come to settle in Israel in the next few years thus “solving” the demographic imbalance that forces him to yield Palestinian territory. These Jews would only come from Western countries, for there isn’t that many Jews left elsewhere.

The received wisdom is that the only thing that can move them to leave for Israel is more anti-Semitism. That Zionist ideology could bring them there doesn’t seem to occur to many people, for Zionism has been pronounced dead both by fashionable intellectuals and by “pragmatic” politicians. And the present escalation, caused by the assassination of Yassin, will, indeed, lead to more anti-Semitism.

I’m alarmed whenever people tell me that it’s Jewish behavior, in this case the behavior of the leaders of the Jewish state, that causes anti-Semitism. That would make anti-Semitism not the disease of non-Jews, which it is, but the fault of the Jews – and that’s scandalous, for it blames the victims. Nevertheless, I’m prepared to make an exception this time.

Since so much of the recent upsurge of anti-Semitism, especially in European countries, is linked to the emergence of growing and powerful Muslim minorities there, it’s not unreasonable to assume that, in the desire among Muslims to seek vengeance for the death of a popular Muslim cleric, Jews anywhere in the world may become targets. No doubt, conventional anti-Semitic organizations will join in and politicians, anxious to retain their seats by appeasing Muslim voters, will condone it, for example by making outrageous statements against Israel. Nothing of this is new, but we’ll now have even more of it.   

Of course, it’s quixotic to assume that targeting Jews would make them leave France or Britain or Holland or the Scandinavian countries, let alone the United States and Canada. The position of Jews in these countries, both as individuals and as communities, is sufficiently strong for their governments to protect them and to contain the violence against them. We’ve already seen how their own parties have censured outspoken anti-Jewish politicians. But it will give politicians new ammunition to censure Israel and, in its wake, may lead to more insecurity among Jews and, God beware, more casualties. It’s not likely to significantly increase aliyah.

There are good reasons why Jewish leaders in the Diaspora should alert us to the dangers of anti-Semitism and expect tough actions from the governments to combat it. Yet even these leaders, for all their professed love of Israel, don’t seem to want to move themselves or suggest to their followers that they should pack their bags and go. Though the Prime Minister and other Israeli politicians berate them when they come on their “missions” that they should settle in Israel, there’s little to suggest that any of them takes it to heart.

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Unfortunately, some of these leaders labor under the misconception that alerting Jews, especially the young, to anti-Semitism will deepen their commitment to their faith and their people. This is one reason, I believe, why the Jewish community is so anxious to combat anti-Semitism on university campuses. Though such measures are necessary and praiseworthy, they don’t seem to bind most Jewish young people to Judaism. The activists are usually among those who are already committed.

Most others seem to do what they can to stay away from the fray and get on with their private lives. Judaism will only be made attractive to them when presented in positive terms and validated on its countless intrinsic merits and relevance for them, not as a warning of impending doom. That has been the guiding principle of my own work. I’ve always believed that anti-Semitism is a poor argument for Jewish commitment.

As things are at present, then, even most of the Jewish young activists don’t intend to settle in Israel. For they know that though the risk of being Jewish in the Diaspora is greater than it was, it’s not (yet?) of ominous proportions. Moreover, the opportunities to blend with the rest of the population are such that no individual need be alarmed.

Those who should be alarmed are the men and women in the Government of Israel who, for their own narrow reason, exacerbate the situation both in the Jewish state and in the rest of the Jewish world.

Jerusalem, March 23, þ2004 
Dow Marmur

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