Central Conference of American Rabbis
Eighth: We Seek to Transform a Holy Land
After 2000 years of
statelessness, the restoration of Am Yisrael, the
people of Israel, to its ancestral homeland in Eretz
Yisrael, the Land of Israel, represents an historic
triumph of the Jewish people and of modern Zionism, which
created Medinat Yisrael, the State of Israel. We wish
to help create a State which promotes full civil, human and
religious rights for all its inhabitants, and in which no
religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence
over another. We wish to help the people of the State work
unceasingly for an atmosphere of peace, justice and security
with Palestinians and other Arab neighbors.
While Israeli and Diaspora
Jewry are both vibrant and interdependent communities, we
encourage aliyah, immigration to Israel, in
fulfillment of the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz
Yisrael, settling the Land of Israel, in a manner
consistent with our Reform commitments. We call upon Reform
Jews everywhere to dedicate their energies and resources to
strengthening an indigenous Progressive Judaism that can
help transform Medinat Yisrael.
Bluethread responds: Bluethread believes that the wording of this principle should be drastically changed, or it should be eliminated from the platform. As it stands now it is a political statement more than a statement of religious identity.
It is hard for us to say this because making any negative statement about Israel is like disrespecting your mother. But maybe to Reform Jews in America, Israel is not exactly like our mother, maybe it is more like our crazy cousin Sophie. She is nuts, we don't always approve of her lifestyle and values, she goes about rejecting and hurting us, but she is still our cousin and deserves....what?
"What" is the question and it should be phrased here as a question and as a commitment to discussion, not as a mandatory attitude. We should be exploring our relationship to Israel, not promoting an iron-clan position on emigration.
There is no argument that Israel is unique and important to Jews. Stu Berman states persuasively on our website that the land is our soul. But every land that Jews live in can be holy (kadosh), if we conduct ourselves in a holy manner. The present and future of Reform Judaism should not be tied to its acceptance by the government of the modern state of Israel. Although we love Israel, pray for it's security and success, and support its righteous actions and attitudes, the hard fact is that Judaism will continue to exist and thrive whether or not Israel continues to exist.
Indeed, it can be argued that all streams of Jewish thought and practice are at present having their greatest expression in America. Since these principles are being proposed as the platform of the Central Conference of American Jews, perhaps we need more room for discussion than is given here.
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3/18/99
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Principles copyright © 1998, Central Conference of
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Most recent update 11 Dec 1998
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