Trampled Rights: The Case For Israel’s Right To Self-Defense: Yom Kippur Sermon.21

 Trampled Rights: The Case For Israel’s Right To Self-Defense

Yom Kippur Sermon 5782

September 16, 2082

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

In 1916, half-way into World War 1, a treaty was signed between Great Britain and France, looking ahead to the time following the presumed collapse of the Turkish Empire. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, as it came to be known, sought to set up spheres of influence in the Near East—basically to divide the remains of the Turkish Ottoman Empire among the would-be victors.

Consequently, as planned, when the War ended and over the next few decades, the lands that the Turks had controlled for five hundred years were handed over by the League of Nations to Britain and France to administer, along with a series of mandates: The vast empire would be divided up among the peoples and tribes who lived there. Between the 1920’s and mid-1970’s, more than a dozen countries, emirates, kingdoms and states were created throughout the region, among them Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Thus was born the Modern Middle East.

Though all these entities became legally recognized members of the United Nations, one was singled out for different treatment. Of all the countries that were created in those years, of all the tribal, national and indigenous groups of the area that were recognized and granted independence, one has been continually attacked, maligned and delegitimized: Israel. Since gaining independence in 1948, Israel has fought a dozen wars, survived two intifadas (armed insurgencies), and has had to fend off a never-ending series of terror attacks indiscriminately claiming thousands of Jewish lives—men, women, children and infants.

Why Israel?

There are several reasons. To some, Israel seems excessively aggressive. Others, however, even avoid calling it by its name, referring instead to “The Occupying Force.” Some see Israel as an invasive plant, remnant of European colonialism. There are those who hold grudges going back to 1948. Others stop at “The Green Lines” of the 1967 Six Day War. And then there are those whose hatred goes much farther: they see all “Palestine” as a Muslim sacred land. To them, any Jewish presence at all desecrates and profanes its holiness. 

However, world geo-politics aside, there’s another issue at play here, an elephant in the room that has to be addressed. The hatred of Israel isn’t limited only to the State of Israel. Throughout history, there has never been a religious group—not one! —that has continuously faced so many attacks on its identity and authenticity as the Jewish People.  Already 2000 years ago, the early Rabbis, authors of the Talmud and Midrash, faced questions, allegations and innuendos regarding the legitimacy of Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac. In the Middle Ages, the Church enforced dogmas that canceled the validity of Judaism and stigmatized all Jews, setting us apart for ridicule, torture and death. In the 19th century, a theory was raised that Ashkenazi Jews are descended not from the Biblical tribe of Judah, but rather from the Khazars, a nomadic tribe that, sometime in the first millennium, roamed between Turkey and southwestern Russia. And more recently, an even more ridiculous claim was made, raising the obscene possibility that the Taliban—the Islamist tribal factions that now control Afghanistan—are somehow descended from the mythical Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

These attempts to deny and refute Jewish history are all examples of anti-Semitism.

Embedded in Christian and Islamic scriptures, anti-Semitism takes many forms. At first, it was used against the Jewish faith and belief system—our religion. In the 19th century it became a racial theory. In its latest mutation, it has become political intolerance.

This isn’t to say that all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. It isn’t. Israel isn’t perfect. Like every other country in the world, Israel has had to face issues associated with multi-culturalism, overcrowding, and limited natural resources. It hasn’t always been successful. Israel’s democratic system is volatile, and often depends on unlikely coalitions. Unlike totalitarian regimes, where the state imposes one religion, one political philosophy and one party, in Israel the many different voices and opinions matter. Debate—vocal and often unrestrained—is a treasured characteristic of Jewish culture. But there is a downside. The political structure of Israel is such that disproportionate power sometimes falls to small parties, giving them outsized leverage. This is true in particular for the Ultra-Orthodox parties, whose views often contrast with the large segment of Israel’s population that considers itself secular. 

But that’s not what Israel’s critics focus on. It isn’t even Israel’s treatment of the Arab and/or Palestinians, though that often serves as the excuse. It’s Israel; Israel’s very existence; and the fact that it’s a Jewish state. 

The increase over the last few years of anti-Semitic attacks, both in the United States and over the rest of the world, is said to be related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. But it’s actually directed only against Jews—and not only Israeli Jews. In Europe, kosher restaurants and supermarkets are bombed. Jewish children on their way to school have to have police protection. Hassidic Jews, perhaps because they are so visibly Jewish, are viciously attacked in New York and other cities and states. On college campuses, Jewish students are discriminated against, silenced and shamed—because they are Jewish and therefore might be supporters of Israel. Even the dead find no rest, as cemeteries are desecrated and headstones defaced, a reminder that even after death the Jew has no validity, no right to live OR die anywhere in the world. 

The fact is that Zionism—the Jewish connection to Israel—is a valid and historic tenet of Judaism. Jews come from Judea—the name of our country of origin before the Romans destroyed it and renamed it “Palestine,” in an effort to erase our history and heritage. 

The Romans exiled thousands of Jews from Judea, but Jews have always lived in Israel, continuously throughout history—not only in the four holy cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias, but also in smaller villages and towns, in the Galilee, the Negev Desert, and even in Gaza, nowadays the axis of the terror organization Hamas. To deny the Jewish historic and binding connection to the Land of Israel is anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism, with its many forms and mutations, seeks to deny Jews the rights and freedoms that are afforded to every other political, national or religious group. Foremost among these is the right to self-defense. Where modern Zionism sees the need for self-defense, anti-Zionism is its very antithesis. History has proven that as long as Jews cannot defend themselves, they are at the mercy of the population among whom they live. That isn’t true only of Europe during the Holocaust. Massacres, forced conversions and expulsions characterize Jewish history not only in Europe, but in Arab countries as well. And yes, it was the Nazis—along with their many supporters all over the world (including the Muslim world); and it was the vicious and brutal pogroms in Czarist Russia—and later, in its makeover as Communist Russia. To this day, there is only one country in the world where it is legal and permissible for Jews to defend themselves, with our own weapons, our own army, and our own intelligence system. And that is Israel.

To deny Israel’s basic human right of self-defense is anti-Semitism.

Some would like Israel’s boundaries to go back to the 1967, pre-Six Day War borders. Fact is, however, that the PLO—the Palestine Liberation Organization, a terror organization created with the aim of destroying ALL Israel, was founded in 1964, three years prior to the war. Returning to the indefensible Armistice Borders of 1948 is completely unrealistic. To give just one example, those borders barred any and all Jewish presence in Jerusalem—including the historic Jewish Quarter of the Old City. In total disregard of the UN Partition Plan, the Jordanians denied access to Jews (and ONLY Jews) from visiting and praying at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, remnant of our Temple that, for more than a thousand years, had stood in the heart of Judea’s capital city, Jerusalem. The ancient cemetery on Mount of Olives, where Jews have been buried for thousands of years, was likewise desecrated, its headstones used to line sidewalks and latrines. Israel will not tolerate a return to these conditions.

Though mistakes were made along the way, by both sides, Israel has made more offers of peace and reconciliation with its neighbors than any other country in the world: From the first division of the land in 1922, which created the Bedouin-Muslim Kingdom of Transjordan and allowed for the possibility of a future home for the Jews; to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan; from Oslo to Camp David; from the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and Gaza to the creation of the autonomous PA, the Palestinian National Authority. Secret and open negotiations have been held—and continue to take place—with the hope of someday achieving peace. 

The rejection of each and every one of these peace overtures is proof of one thing: the ultimate desire of radical Islam to eradicate the Jewish State.

I am certain, without a trace of doubt, that if true peace were offered to Israel, even at the price of evacuation of most, or even the entire West Bank, Israel would agree in a heartbeat.

But not if that means the takeover of the region by terror organizations such as Hamas or Hezbollah. 

This does not mean that we, American Jews, have to agree with the force or means that Israel uses to defend itself. America is a democracy, and American Jews are free to espouse their own political views and opinions, even with regard to Israel. What we cannot afford to do, however, is basically three things:

First: We cannot become detached from the issues. We have to be informed. We have to learn the full history of the region.  We need to learn to recognize and separate between fact and opinion—something the news media is often incapable of doing, and which the social media find completely impossible. Best yet, physically go there yourself. Visit Israel for yourself and see it from the ground up. 

Secondly: We must not disengage ourselves from the discussion over Israel’s safe existence. We cannot use the excuse that we live far away from the region, that it doesn’t pertain to us, that it just doesn’t matter. Because it does. Violent attacks against Israel do not stop at its borders. They are directed against Jews and Jewish institutions—tragically here in Colorado no less than anywhere else. On the streets of our cities, our synagogues and on college campuses, sooner or later, we or our children will have to face confrontation, discrimination and violence, not because we are Zionists, but simply because we are Jewish.

We need to be part of the discussion so we can claim and defend our rights.

Third: Regardless of our political affiliation, we need to be careful about the alliances we make. Along the entire political spectrum, from extreme right to extreme left, some of the groups that claim to be only anti-Israel are actually founded on anti-Semitic ideologies. Jews in America are indeed free to hold and express our own opinions, but if we find ourselves in a position where we lend moral or material support to hatred or violence directed against the Jewish People as a whole, then we are in danger of undermining our own identity, our heritage, and our safety.

On Yom Kippur, from the time 3000 years ago when we were refugees from Egyptian slavery and genocide to this very day, we stand united as one people. We are all here today to examine and evaluate our vows and commitments, both to ourselves and to our God, to our families, our community, and to our People. As Americans, as citizens of other lands or of the Jewish State of Israel: We owe our ideals and freedoms, our pride and even our lives, not only to our heritage, nor even only to the Constitution of the United States. We are here also because Israel is there for us. Israel isn’t just the one and only Jewish State in the world; it’s also our safeguard against persecution. How we support it is our own business; but when it does need our support, as it does today, we need to be there for her.

May this day see us grow in resolve to be the best we can, to be the most we can, as individuals and as a people. May all our prayers and wishes be fulfilled. G’mar chatima tova, may we all—American Jews, Israeli Jews, Jews all over the world, be inscribed and sealed for a year of health, joy, love, security and peace. 

© 2021 by Boaz D. Heilman