When I first became a leader of the Reconstructionist movement in 1980, several of the lay leaders lamented that it was the best-kept secret in the Jewish community. While the movement has grown fivefold in the intervening decades, it is still largely misunderstood by most American Jews. A recent article that appeared in Jewish Ideas Daily serves to perpetuate untruths about Reconstructionist Judaism.
Written by Joseph Siev, the article makes two points that are totally incorrect. The first is his assertion that while Reconstructionism has long been allied with Zionism, that is no longer true. In truth, the Reconstructionist movement has been strongly Zionist from its inception through the present moment. Following its founder Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionists have understood that a key to Zionism is ethical nationhood -- a commitment to justice for every person regardless of ethnicity or religion. In his book "A New Zionism," Kaplan argued that open and dynamic democracy, adequate resources devoted to ensuring that society's have-nots live in dignity and the ardent pursuit of peace are elements of ethical nationhood. At a time when the settlements on the West Bank being expanded by the government of Israel are one of the impediments to peace, Reconstructionists envision a Zionism built upon standards of ethical nationhood.
Siev's evidence for the alleged loss of Zionist fervor within my movement is the fact that some Reconstructionist rabbis are affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which calls for, among other things, a boycott on goods from the West Bank. The reality that these rabbis represent a small faction within the Reconstructionist rabbinate is a detail Siev did not bother to include; perhaps he did not investigate enough to be aware of it.
Like most Reconstructionist Jews, I do not approve of any boycotts imposed on Israel and am therefore not a supporter of JVP. But in his article, Siev misrepresents JVP's position, falsely implying that JVP supports a wholesale boycott of Israel.
Immediately after the 1967 Six Day War, Rabbi Jack Cohen -- a leading Reconstructionist leader who served for decades as the director of the Hillel of Hebrew University and who has lived in Israel for the last 50 years -- wrote an essay calling for Israel to immediately withdraw from the West Bank. His reasoning was based on the belief that by not doing so, Israel's ideals would be compromised because such an occupation could only lead to a painfully problematic relationship to the inhabitants of the occupied area. As someone deeply committed to Israel as an ethical nation, I lament that no one listened to Rabbi Cohen in 1967. In expanding settlements, the Netanyahu government is making things worse. This is a painful reality that all of us concerned with peace must face up to, but this point of view hardly belongs exclusively to the Reconstructionist movement. Indeed, it is being expounded by many religious leaders across the denominational spectrum. Again, while I do not identify with JVP, those within our movement who do are generally motivated by their deep love and concern for Israel and her future. At a time when so many American Jews have walked away from the issue, the Reconstructionist movement has consistently remained passionately engaged with Israel and Zionism.
It seems that Siev would like to see the Jewish community treat as traitors anyone who shares the view that Zionism involves a profound commitment to the values embodied in Israel's Declaration of Independence and its Basic Laws, values that Reconstructionism affirms. These include human freedom, democracy, dignity for all and equal treatment of every citizen. Those committed to such values ought to be able to argue about goals, strategy and tactics without name-calling or misrepresentation.
Siev's second misstatement is so far off the mark that it is almost laughable. He writes that "neither Kaplan nor his thought features prominently in Reconstructionist self-understanding." Nothing could be further from the truth. Every Reconstructionist rabbinical student extensively studies Kaplan's work while at RRC. The current basic introduction to Reconstructionism, "Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach" by Rabbis Rebecca Alpert and Jacob Staub, returns over and again to Kaplan's thought.
As a past executive director of the Reconstructionist movement's congregational body, a past president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and a current faculty member, I am a dedicated exponent of democratic communitarianism. To be effective, that approach has to shape the day-to-day life of Jewish communities. In September the RRC Press will publish "A Guide to Jewish Practice: Everyday Living," which provides guidance in exactly how to do that. The book details how to apply Jewish values-based decision making to every aspect of daily Jewish life, from business ethics to daily prayer, from tzedaka to bioethics, from community-building to sex ethics. Its connection to Kaplan's understanding of Judaism as an evolving religious civilization will be obvious to every reader. The book's main author, I am joined by more than 70 other rabbis and Jewish leaders who contribute their insights and commentary to the work. I believe that the publication of this work constitutes a major contribution to contemporary Jewish life.
It is often said that Judaism is a way of life. That will be no more than an empty slogan for liberal Jews unless Jewish leaders show the way by the manner in which they live and by the resources they place in people's hands. "A Guide to Jewish Practice: Everyday Living" provides a tool for thoughtful Jews to make decisions that can shape passionate and engaged Jewish living. I sincerely hope that Siev will read the book, particularly its section on the ethics of speech and the written word. There he will find an excerpt from the Talmud, Arakhin 15a: "God says of one who speaks l'shon hara (bad speech) 'we cannot dwell together in the world.'" Let us aspire to dwell together in mutual respect and strive to understand each other's perspectives.
Rabbi David A. Teutsch is the Director of the Levin-Lieber Program in Jewish Ethics and the Louis and Myra Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. The writer of numerous books and articles, his newest work, 'A Guide to Jewish Practice: Everyday Living,' is forthcoming from RRC Press in September.
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This struggle between ethics and morality is being fought in the US as well as Israel. The amendments to the US Constitution represent the documentation of respect for human rights in terms of modern legal standards. It is important that the US and Israel do not make a mockery of the Republic by defaulting to dictatorship.
If you don't believe in it there's no reason to do it.
Two brothers grew up in Warsaw before WWII. The older brother trained to be a Rabbi. The younger was a troublemaker. When the Germans took over Poland the older brother was smuggled out to China along with a group of Rabbis and students. The younger fought in the Warsaw Uprising and escaped only at the end. He joined the Red Army and helped to liberate the concentration camps. After the war he became a KGB officer and used his position to smuggle arms and people to Israel. He eventually was uncovered as a Jew and had to escape with his wife, a Russian Jew.
He went to Israel and spent years training and serving in their army. Then he wanted to move to the USA. The older brother went from China to the USA, and became an important Rabbi in NYC. When his younger brother asked him for help, he turned him down because of a rumor that he had married a gentile.
Which was a better Jew: the one who abandoned his wife and family to save his own life or the one who fought to save the lives of others for 20 years? Which was the better human being?
What specifically are you talking about? They don't believe in G-d...cause clearly that isn't true. So what is it?
I am hard pressed to imagine if Israel had ignored it's safety and retreated to pre-'67 lines (again leaving them with borders hard to defend), that they would be any more secure today. In a world that understands only strength - a retreat would have been seen as weakness and an invitation to more bloodshed.
I met a Palestinian in college who said his father carried a key to his grandfathers home outside a small town near Haifa...this student explained to me that his grandparents had listened to the mufti and left in 1948. They were told and believed that within 2 weeks they would return to their homes and the Jews would be gone. He went on to tell me that until his father (or him - or his children) could go back to that home and use his key in the door - there could never be peace.
How then Rabbi - do you negotiate with that person? Isn't it better to show that the way to lead a Jewish life it to be fair and honest - but at the end of the day "Never Again"...that Jews will not be driven into the sea or slaughtered for being Jews!
Do you really think selling your land for a profit to an Israeli should be a capital offense? And should the so called leadership among the Palestinians being killing their people for supposedly collaborating? Seems like a harsh way to treat your people. But then again - no worse then Assad just to the North.
I would also like to know why Jews living in and governing Judah equals them instigators of non-peacful relations with the Arabs who live there?
Instead they got thousands of Jewish immigrants who didn't speak Arabic and didn't know the local customs. Things went downhill quickly By 1933 things were so bad that the British appointed the Reed Commission to investigate conditions. The report was that the Palestinians hated the newcomers and there was no chance of peaceful coexistence. They were right. For the next 12 years immigration was restricted by WWII and the British reluctance to make a bad situation worse. After WWII the surviving Jews of Europe flooded into Palestine, resulting in the partition of Palestine by the United Nations into Jewish and Muslim sectors.
The neighboring nations invaded, Jordan took the area now called the "West Bank" because it is on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israel took it over 20 years over and it's been one big mess ever since.