Rabbi's Musings

As I wrote a few days ago, last week I spent a day in New York City attending a meeting of American rabbis who support Israel. There was a time when all American rabbis were in this category, but alas, the younger colleagues I meet are often critical not only of the policies of the Jewish State but of the need for a Jewish State. This attitude comes from a naïveté born of a world that has not NOT had a Jewish State to defend the Jewish people worldwide and make Jews feel normal.

As I write this, a few subway stops from Columbia University, it is hard not to remember much of the world would be glad to oblige a world with no Jewish power. As I have often said, having power is an awful moral burden. Not having power is a quick way to genocide and no more Jews. To which I say, “Not on our watch!”

Power is difficult because just having the ability to do something doesn’t mean you should do it. And the world is complex and nuanced. Many years ago, a member of K’nesset, Ge’ulah Cohen, had a son in the war with Lebanon. She was asked what she would do if he were taken prisoner. She said she would go outside the K’nesset and scream that her son must be rescued at all costs. Then she would enter the K’nesset, take her seat, and declare no one should listen to the yelling outside.

She understood her own personal needs might not coincide with her duty as a leader. Today, I think the Israeli government faces a similar dilemma. Hostages freed or continue the war with Hamas? There may be ways to ensure Israeli security without controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt. I am open to suggestions. But saying the hostages should be returned if Israeli security cannot be ensured seems heartbreakingly irresponsible.

Israel faces the worst kind of enemy, and the world consoles itself that it is an Israeli problem, a Jewish problem. It is not. The U.S. may not have an interest in war, but war has an interest in us. We can fight the evil or find ourselves overcome by evil forces. Let us not be naïve: we are at a crossroads. And moral courage is asked of us. How will we respond?