Jews are Soul-Searching About Madoff -- What About Gaza?

There has been an unusual amount of introspection in the Jewish community this holiday season. Hanukkah was almost overshadowed by the Madoff scandal and the accompanying uproar about his impact on the Jewish community. The frenzy of handwringing and accusation culminated with the call for Madoff's excommunication from Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, who stated in a passionate a letter to Malcolm Hoenlein that "never before has one man done such damage to individual Jews, Jewish organizations and Judaism itself." Hammerman was motivated by fears for the future of Judaism: "Our own children are watching us."

The future of Judaism and the moral standing of the US Jewish community are being threatened, but ironically, and tragically, it is happening far from the country clubs of Palm Beach and the mansions of Long Island. It is happening in Gaza. And unfortunately there is far too little handwringing about it in the Jewish leadership.

On the seventh day of Hanukkah, Israel unleashed an aerial assault on the Gaza Strip. This attack was ostensibly in retaliation for Qassam missiles shot from Gaza, but as was also seen in the 2006 war in Lebanon, the barrage was overwhelming and disproportional. At the end of the first three days of fighting over 350 Gazans had been killed and 1,600 injured. These deaths included children coming home from school, women shopping in open-air markets, and people waiting for buses. The indiscriminate nature of the attack combined with the ongoing siege of Gaza, which continues to cut the civilian population off from food, medicine, water, fuel and electricity, constitutes a horrific form of collective punishment.

I hoped that the Jewish community would stand against such an atrocity, but instead our communal leaders led the charge. Among others, the AJC "expressed strong support for Israel today in its military operation" and David Harris regurgitated Israeli foreign ministry talking points as children died in Gaza's barren hospitals. Eric Yoffe, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, lamented "We note, with sadness, the predictable chorus of those in the international community who call for Israeli 'restraint,'" and placed the Palestinian destruction at their own feet, "We hope that the Palestinian leadership will demand an end to missile fire and a return to the path of peace and the negotiations begun in Annapolis. And we pray that the Palestinian people will strengthen the hand of all who are prepared to make peace a reality."

I could not celebrate Hanukkah this year. Even before the Israeli attacks began, the images from the human-made disaster of the Gaza siege made celebration impossible. The Israeli peace activist Nurit Peled-Elhanan, who helped start the Bereaved Families Forum after her 13-year-old daughter Smadar was killed by a suicide bomber, summed up my feelings in a letter to other recipients of the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought:

I call upon all of us, who have won a privilege as well as duty by receiving the Sakharov prize, to arise and go to Gaza and any other city of oppression and slaughter; to defy all blockades and high walls and not to give up until all barriers are broken.

When Jewish poet Bialik wrote after the Pogrom against the Jews in Kishiniev, "Satan has not yet created Vengeance for the blood of a small child," It did not occur to him that the child would be a Palestinian child from Gaza and his slaughterers would be Jewish soldiers.

I could not celebrate while Gaza was dying - while cities were cut off from electricity, from water, from food. I could not join my community who, if not actively celebrating and promoting this barbaric behavior, were sitting idly by while others are forced to starve and be killed in our name.

I was reminded of Prof. Marc Ellis's writings on Jewish theology where he often quotes Rabbi Irving Greenberg. Ellis frequently references Greenberg's belief that: "no statement theological or otherwise should be made that would not be credible in the presence of the burning children" referring to those lost in the Holocaust. Ellis has amended Greenberg by taking his theology from the particular to the universal. In Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation, he writes:

As risky and problematic as it is, we are called today to the wilderness; but the call is a promise of liberation. Chastened by history, we can no longer see liberation as the omnipotent preserve of God hovering over us by day and leading us by night, or simply as the search for the empowerment of our own people in America and Israel. We can ill afford such innocence in the presence of burning children, whether they be in Poland or in Palestine.

I carry these words with me. No statement about Israel/Palestine, about the destruction of Gaza, about our Jewish tradition of justice, or about (yet another) Jewish holiday that commemorates overcoming oppression should be made that would not be credible in the presence of the people of Gaza.

I do not share Rabbi Hammerman's desire to ex-communicate anyone from the Jewish people, but I do share the Rabbi's concern for the future - for the future of Judaism and the messages we are sending the next generations. The siege and destruction of Gaza is the political, humanitarian, and moral crisis of our time. Where is the moral standing of a community whose leaders promote the slaughter of innocents? And when will we agonize over scandals where lives are lost at Jewish hands, and not just fortunes?

This article has been cross posted at JVoices.com.

Comments

[hindy]

I, as a Jew am extremely upset about Gaza as are many others both in Israel and the Diaspora. To listen to you, you'd think that you were the only Jew with a conscience left. I read the Israeli press daily and there are a lot of articles there by sone of Israel's greatest journalists, writers and peace activists that openly criticize Israel's strategies and tactics in Gaza. There are also many Jewish bloggers, myself included, who are extremely disappointed in Israel - a country that we love. I spend a lot of time online and I've seen many more blogs by Jews and Israelis who are critical of Israel, than there are Moslems who are critical of Hamas. In addition, there are many left-leaning Jewish Organizations and their leadership that normally support Israel such as the New Israel Fund, J-Street and others who are shocked and opposed to what's happening now in Gaza. So instead of patting yourself on the back for being such a unique Jew, why don't you humbly open your eyes and take a look around to see how many Jews and Jewish organizations are reacting and voicing their opposition to civilian deaths in Gaza! Sorry to disappoint you but you're far from alone!

[hindy]

I, as a Jew am extremely upset about Gaza as are many others both in Israel and the Diaspora. To listen to you, you'd think that you were the only Jew with a conscience left. I read the Israeli press daily and there are a lot of articles there by sone of Israel's greatest journalists, writers and peace activists that criticize Israel's strategies and tactics in Gaza. There are also many Jewish bloggers, myself included, who are extremely disappointed in Israel - a country that we love. I spend a lot of time online and I've seen many more Jews who are critical of

[hproberts]

thank you for your integrity and bravery. it is greatly valued. i have now asked to receive email alerts when you post again on huffington post. peace to you my friend.

[veganphoto]

What is more amazing is that not only Hamas, but Fateh's stated aims are genocide against the Jews in Israel.

These views are clearly stated.

You might miss the news reports of the many Jews who are regularly killed, and the 10,000's of attempted attacks on Israel (this is unfortunately not an exaggeration), but you are responsible for knowing this when you write such foolhardy words, as if you were knowledgeable and even an intellectual.

[veganphoto]

Your opinion might be more "accurate" if you were to study what is really going on.

[OmnesOmnibus]

The irony is that all the killing and slaughter are just what Hamas want. They are the big winners here. Israel and the Palestinian people are the big losers. But Israel has a game plan, and all of the violence makes it possible for them to dream of what they have dared not do before, not only slaughter the innocent on a scale never before imagined, but to dream of ethnic cleansing within their own borders - to excise their own Arab and Muslim citizens. I don't think they can do it and survive - the reaction will be so fierce and powerful that they might perish. But this threat it wil not stop them from the attempt. The Palestinians could absolutely forestall this by renouncing violence utterly and waiting the Israelis out. Time and demographics could hand them the ultimate victory. Many in Israel understand this and this is why the most determined and fiercest of the Israelis want the violence and bloodshed to continue. To give them their excuse to do their worst..

[OmnesOmnibus]

A wise and brave post from a young man who is a real Jewish hero - someone who dares to tell his own people they are wrong. This takes real courage and wisdom. Jews are in danger of losing their souls - it's only the Adam Horowitz's who can save them.

[moodygirl]

Thank you Mr. Horowitz. Your words and the other Jewish thinkers' words you quote are a balm in these troubling times. They are also needed to stir people and governments into action to stop this bloodshed and injustice.

[AbbieXHoffman]

Madoff being Jewish has nothing to do with any other Jew on the planet. The guy ripped people off---it says NOTHING about his religion and/or ethnicity.

[joeinvt]

Mr. Horowitz

The Jews have been ethnically cleansed from every country in the Mid-East except Israel. The ancient Jewish communities of Iraq, Syria, Iran, etc are all but gone - almost a million Jews driven out during the past century--in most cases without possessions or compensation for their homes and land. Within our lifetimes, there have been two attempts by the Arab world to drive the Jews out of Israel. If the Jews finally vacate the area completely, will that suffice for Hamas? Where shall we send them --Utah?

[arvay]

There is a safe "homeland" for the Jews. It's called the United States of America. Maybe it's time to re-locate.

[ObamaEdwards]

This was not always the case. If America had welcomed all Jews before and during World War II, there might not have been such a dire need for Israel in the modern world. Any attempt at reconciling Israel and Palestine has to take into account the very basic and understandable reasons for Jewish paranoia in our world.

We have already shown ourselves, as a nation, to be capable of turning away desperate people who sought only mercy. Why would anyone believe our promise of protection?

[corkonian]

And does this justify the slaughter of innocents? Shame on us.

[RobertHenryEller]

I agree with Mr. Horowitz.

We must reaffirm that the most important part of being Jewish is the Golden Rule: To do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

We must return this most important teaching of Rabbi Hillel to its rightful place at the head of the rules which govern our lives and actions.

[Rog49Thomas]

Two comments.

(1) The angst may have less to do with the cash involved than with the sense of betrayal by a member of the tribe.

Groups - be they religious, political or social - find betrayal by their own a profoundly disturbing event because it rends the assumed common ties that bind them together.

(2) Should we also cut American "Jews" some slack here?
Why should they be held to a higher standard than American Christians, Buddhists, Atheists on this issue? One would expect that all such groups claim to have similar moral principles.

[BeckyJustice]

Interesting. Try to post an opinion anti-Horow­itz.....

Once again, why nothing on Israelie deaths from suicide bombers, and Hamas missiles???

And, to Americans specifically, where was your ire at the loss of iraqi life??? After all, Iraq had done NOTHING to us........­.. and we killed a whole lot more of them than Israel could even dream of doing.

I don't kid myself that you will post this. Guess I was wrong about Huffington Post ...

[magi]

As a Jew, my first experience with Israeli officialdom was disturbing. While in high school, I worked as a copy boy for the UN bureau of the Associated Press. As I went from delegation to delegation, picking up news releases and documents, I was treated almost everywhere with respect. Not at the Israeli delegation, though, where I more often encountered rudeness and arrogance. That was nearly 60 years ago and today I'm again struck by the arrogance of my fellow Jews, except on a much larger and more appalling scale. The injustice that Jews have suffered over the years does not excuse the criminal abuse of the trapped people of Gaza. The survival of Israel as a nation does not require the deadly, destructive over-reaction of recent days. And being a Jew does not require blind support of Israel when it is -- at least to me -- clearly, criminally in the wrong.

[corkonian]

Well said.

[veganphoto]

If you look back on how the UN has treated Israel after statehood, they have more than good reason to be upset at the UN.

[Jimmyboyo]

My biggest issue at the moment is that HAMAS played the right wingers in israel like fiddles.

Is it something inherent in right wingers (i.e. bush/cheney)to ignore common sense and intel and just go bomb bomb bomb whatever and whoever without thought?

HAMAS was at an abysmal 16% approval rating/ support amongst palestinians with the majority of palestinians backing / supporting moderates who wanted to aknowledge israel's existence and work towards peace.

HAMAS needed a PR blitz to save itself as a viable organization. HAMAS gambled on right wing knee jerk over reaction and got it.

Now HAMAS is seeing an upswing in finances, members, and support. It is now a viable org amongst arabs.

There were other options that were/ are less flashy = less politicaly expedient and cheap PR that Israel could have and should have persued.

HAMAS played the current right winger regieme in israel like a fiddle and are benefiting while Israel gets no benefits from the current situation.

[easarsfield]

I agree. Six days now, this is absolutely terrible. I understand Israel wanting to completely annihilate Hamas, but they have gone about it the wrong way. Support for Hamas has been dwindling over that past several months, and they've managed to royally tick off the Jordanians and Egyptians. Now all we are seeing is sympathy and support for their regime in the face of the Israeli attacks.

And in the process, once again, Israel has managed to make the world a more dangerous place for Jews. Gaza is going to continue launching rockets (hopefully no other countries will join in) and all around the Arab world people are signing up to be suicide bombers. oh boy.

[Jimmyboyo]

sadly yepp

other options = slower and less flashy = less politicaly expedient and Pr for the right wingers

1- direct assasinations of HAMAS leadership with as little collateral damage as possible ( i.e. going after black september munich terrorists) ESPECIALY since History itself shows the effectivness of such . but that would practical and right wingers aren't into what is practical. hopefuly a more left leaning Israelis gain more power in Israel = practical solutions the norm

2- support and interaction with more moderate palestinian groups. direct talks thus showing the "practicality" of supporting said moderate palestinian orgs

3- direct interaction with palestinian populus with aid (i.e. food and medicine, desert reclamation projects in gaza and hel/ expertise in growing of desert tolerant food crops in gaza, etc) basicaly a public PR blitz amongst palestinians promoting good will towards Israelis.

like I mentioned, all such are slower and less flashy while working = practical. Left leaning gov stuff since left leaning gov people like to make gov work where as right leaning 9current Israelie regieme) prefer quick and flashy for short term PR amongst their populus = not practical in the long run and gov doesn't work

[corkonian]

Israel has an election in February and that same old war-monger Netanyahu is ahead in the polls, so perhaps this serves both Hamas AND Israeli politicos.

[Artos]

Jimmyboyo,

I think the right wingers in Israel and Hamas need each other. The Right Wingers never have believed that they should have to give back lands taken in war back during 1967 or any other war. They feel those lands were "earned". Furthermore Zealots who are among the Settlers believe that they should have the right to those lands as well. The only conditions under which they stand a chance of keeping those lands are those under which they have a state of constant conflict. By having conflict they can say the reason they must have that land is to provide security for Israel. The two things add up. Aggressive powerseekers which Right wingers usually are need each other and so things will never change. I wonder at the math of this latest attack by Israel though. During the whole of the Rocket attacks by Hamas you had perhaps 4 individuals either killed or wounded in Israel. How many Israeli soldiers have they lost so far and will lose during this little invasion. Will it be worth it. Could they not have accomplished the same thing in another way. Where is this much vaunted ability of Israels special forces to go in on special operations. Did that just disappear somehow? The major problem that I see in the Middle East is a Hatfield and McCoy mentality, of constant revenge, of tit for tat. Maybe it's the heat out there. I'm just saying.

[hindy]

You got it right Jimmyboyo: Its the right wing Bushies in Israel that did Hamas a huge favor with this Gaza invasion and unfortunately, all of the evils of Hamas have been eclipsed by this war. Sad but true that Israel was played like a fiddle.