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Paths of Peace
Rabbi Andrea C. London
As we sit here and pray, the clock is ticking on the 48 hour ultimatum. Israeli soldiers are being mobilized. What will happen in the next few hours frightens and concerns me. Is Israel on the brink of war? A reconquest of the territories? The news this past week has been filled with horrible images of protests, fighting, and death. As the week progressed the news just kept getting worse – the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, the vandalizing of Joseph’s tomb, the death caught on film of a twelve year old boy cowering in his father’s arms. What are we to do? I know that half the time I want to cry or throw up my hands. Those of us who feel a deep attachment and commitment to the Land and People of Israel, feel at a loss for how to respond, angry at those perpetrating the violence, outraged at the kidnappings, horrified to see the senseless deaths, deeply saddened that peace continues to elude the region, and scared that the violence and bloodshed is going to increase. After college, I spent a year in Israel, picking bananas, flowers, tomatoes, working with underprivileged youth. During my first months there, I was woken several nights by the sound of katusha rockets falling in the valley below Kibbutz Hanita where I was living. Then I spent two years in Jerusalem as a rabbinical student, where, during the fall of 1990, several Israelis were stabbed to death by Palestinians, including one a block from my apartment. During the Gulf War, my husband and I spent many an hour inside our sealed room, awaiting news about the latest Scud missile attacks. Yet even recalling that harrowing experience, I can’t think in recent years of a more precarious and frightening time for Israel. Every year on Yom Kippur we contemplate and wrestle with the issues in our own lives, looking to our tradition and God for strength and guidance, praying we have the wherewithal to change our ways. This year we must also struggle with the current crisis in Israel and ask whether, there too, we need to change our ways. Truth is, no matter how we respond to the current crisis, the path to peace won’t end tomorrow, or the next day or with the elusive peace treaty sought by Arafat and Barak. We all deplore the violence and want to see it cease. The problem is that at times like these we get caught up in the political debate. Was Likud leader, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount the provocation? Did Arafat exploit the visit or is he merely a spectator as Palestinians rampage in the streets? Should Barak have issued the ultimatum to Arafat? I must tell you that I am increasingly skeptical that this kind of debate and discussion and finger pointing will lead us anywhere. Let us assume for example, that this horrifying crisis, God willing, is soon stopped… What then? Where do want to help Israel go? Right now we are all worried about the current crisis in Israel and pray that it will soon end before there is more bloodshed. But this is also the time for you and me to look beyond the present crisis and seek ways in which we can make a positive impact for the long-term. Where should we look for these answers? I believe we need to step back first and ask ourselves: What are our goals and dreams for the State of Israel? Where do want Israel to be 50 years from now? I believe that our own tradition has much that is wise and visionary to offer us as we try to answer this question. Let us look at what the Torah has to tell us. The familiar Etz
Haim prayer from the Book of Proverbs, sung as we return the Torah to the
ark concludes with the phrase, darcheha, darche noam, vkol ntivoteha shalom:
all the Torah’s paths are pleasant, all its paths are peace. What does the
Torah teach us about peace? Rabban Shim’on ben Gamli’el taught that the
world exists because of three things – din, emet, and shalom -
Truth, Justice and peace. Rav Muna said, "These three are one thing:
Where justice is done, truth is done and peace is made." Every place
where there is justice there is peace."
In 1926, Hafetz Hayim, a prominent figure in the Hasidic movement sent an epistle to his students who were living in South Africa, telling them they should treat the native population there fairly and justly because of the concept of darkei shalom. Now let’s look for a moment at the situation inside Israel. One thing that distinguishes this crisis from previous ones is the involvement of Arab Israelis from the start. In Tuesday’s Ha’aretz (Israel’s most prominent) newspaper, Samar Zidany, an Arab attorney in Haifa, said, "The [Arab Israeli] demonstrators are protesting our slain, the behavior of the Israeli government and our lack of legitimacy as equal citizens of the State of Israel, not the Temple Mount." In the same article, Dr. Adel Mana’a, a researcher at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, attributed the frustration to the fact that "Israeli Arabs are not on Israel’s agenda." Though Arabs top the poverty rolls, public debate focuses solely on the Jewish poor. In the same article, a young Arab man in the Arab village of Umm al Fahm, pointing to a group of thirty something men gathered around a mosque said, "All the people you see here are out of work." Elie Rekhess, a respected authority on the Israeli Arabs was quoted in Tuesday’s Jerusalem Post as saying, "The lingering discontent of Arabs over what they view as the ongoing neglect of their needs and discrimination toward them by successive governments were ingredients for a social time bomb." I have seen this with my own eyes. It is a site that as a Zionist, as a Jew, as a human being is difficult to bear. When I visited Arab villages, I remember several mayors lamenting how bad the sewage systems in their towns were, complaining that they are citizens of Israel and yet don’t have equal funding to pay for infrastructure costs. When I worked as a waitress at the Cinemateque in Jerusalem thirteen years ago shortly before the intifada erupted, the Palestinians with whom I worked used to tell me stories of discrimination. One evening as I arrived for work, I noticed bread – the big oblong baigala – that were usually sold by Palestinians in carts in the old city – strewn all over the steps to the Cinemateque. When I walked into the restaurant everyone was talking excitedly about one of the Palestinians who worked with us. He had been arrested by the Israeli border police. Why? He had come to the defense of a bread salesman who was being chased and harassed by the Israeli border police-- a chase that ended at the kitchen door of the Cinemateque. It’s no wonder, he blew up, several of the waitresses commented, this kind of harassment happens all the time. Is it any wonder that Israeli Arabs took to the streets in protest during this latest round of violence? Some are surprised that it took them this long. Darkei Shalom – the path to peace means treating Arab Israelis as equals. It is hard to think about treating equally those who are throwing stones, erecting barricades and burning tires, kidnapping Israeli soldiers, and vandalizing Jewish holy sites. Whatever our reactions to the violence occurring as I speak, we must not let our anger prevent us from helping Israel build a just and equitable society that will bring the lasting peace we so much desire. There are those who claim that the economic situation of Palestinians both within Israel proper and in the territories is better now than before Israeli control. But this ignores the fact that the economic disparity between Israelis and Palestinians is growing. Frank Tachau, a member of this congregation and professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of Illinois Chicago campus says that this disparity is a formula for disaster in the long run. The average monthly wages of Israeli Jews are 50% higher than that of the average monthly wages of Israeli Arabs. While 14.4% of Israeli Jews live below the poverty line, 28.3% (twice as many) Israeli Arabs are impoverished. I know that right now many of us feel absorbed in the debate about who is to blame for the current crisis. My point is this: Where will pointing fingers and assigning blame lead us in the long run? Not along the path of Darkei Shalom! Supporting Israel’s efforts to create conditions of justice and fairness both within Israel proper and in the territories is crucial to the long-term success of any peace process. Darkei Shalom - The path to peace is a long one that requires a permanent commitment to creating a fair and just society in Israel. Sometimes our emotional ties to Israel can cloud our perspectives. The euphoria of the Jewish people in 1967 is best summed up by the three simple words, Israeli troops radioed to their commander when they reached the Temple Mount – Har Habayit b’yadainu – the Temple Mount is in our hands! Rabbi Ben Hollander, a teacher of mine in Jerusalem, recalls how moving and awesome it was on Shavuot that year when he and thousands of other Jews streamed into the Old City and approached the Kotel, the Western Wall, for the first time. Judaism’s holiest site was, for the first time in almost two thousand years in Jewish hands. Rabbi Hollander recounts seeing a secular Israeli clearly uncomfortable with a kippah on his head but moved by the experience of touching the wall, fumbling for the right words to say at this incredible moment. The words of the shehechianu spilled forth, as if to connect him at this awesome moment with Jews throughout the ages who recite this prayer upon doing something holy for the first time. Many of us who have been to the Kotel can probably relate to his feelings. I remember how moving my visits to the Kotel have been. Dwarfed by the awesome stature of the wall yet intimately connected to this place where our ancestors stood thousands of years ago can be a very emotional experience. In the days that followed the six-day war, however, Israel’s most prescient leaders recognized that Israeli control of the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock now stood would be problematic. Moshe Dayan ordered that the Israeli flag be removed from the Temple Mount because he understood how destabilizing its presence could be, how much tension and potential conflict its presence might engender. Gershom Gorenberg who was part of the brigade that captured the Temple Mount, recalls, "The government [of Israel] quickly realized control of Islam’s third holiest site should rest with Muslim authorities." Ever since then, the Temple Mount has been under administrative control of a Muslim trust with Israeli troops stationed nearby. The Temple Mount was in Israeli hands – sort of - along with the other captured territories, some of which were annexed, but all in a limbo state – each side, claiming them as their own. Shortly after the war, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a firmly committed Halachic Jew and a philosopher, who was outspoken in his views on Judaism and Israel, was one of the lone voices to try and burst the euphoric bubble that enveloped Israel. He proclaimed that all lands that Israel captured during the war should be immediately returned, cautioning the country that occupying another people would only bring harm to Israel. In 1976, he wrote, "The occupation rule in the West Bank and Gaza will bring about solidarity of the half a million Israeli Arab citizens with their brothers in the occupied territories. This will lead to a radical change in their state of mind. Inevitably, they will no longer regard themselves as Arab citizens of the state of Israel, but rather as members of a people exploited by that state. In such a situation, one must expect the constant incidence of terror and counterterror…Israeli policy in the occupied territories is one of self-destruction of the Jewish state, and of relations with the Arabs based on perpetual terror." His prophecy, unfortunately, would come to fruition when the intifada erupted. Darkei Shalom - our emotional attachment to Israel should help us turn now towards pursuing justice to pave the path to peace. There are those who will argue that the Islamic Movement is at least partly to blame for the current impasse in the peace process and the latest violent eruption but this is only part of the picture. Elie Rekhess, an expert on Israeli Arabs said in an edition of last week’s Jerusalem Post, "there was perhaps a correlation between the incidents … and the Islamic Movement’s ideological and social activities and aspirations." He continued, however, to say, "The vast majority of Israeli Arabs, do not want the kind of disruptions that have occurred in the past few days and would much prefer to live their lives in peace and quiet and raise their families accordingly. In my opinion," said Rekhess, "steps have to be taken now to tackle the problems in the Arab sector to bring about equality and erase the feelings of discontent and discrimination before it really is too late." In an editorial in Globes, another Israeli business publication, the "editors believe that significant drop-off in foreign interest and investment in the Palestinian sector could have serious consequences." I’m not trying to imply that economic and social justice will be enough to placate the Palestinians. Although territorial concessions and granting Palestinian sovereignty over them are crucial steps towards peace, Darkei Shalom – reminds us that the path to peace is paved with more than peace treaties. Listen to Martin Buber’s (philosopher, writer, staunch Zionist) vision. He wrote in 1946, "A regenerated Jewish people in Palestine has not only to aim at living peacefully together with the Arab people, but also at a comprehensive cooperation with it in opening and developing the country. Such cooperation is an indispensable condition for the lasting success of the great work, of the redemption of this land." We pray today that darkei shalom will bring about no less than the redemption of the Land of Israel. Two years later the Israeli Declaration of Independence had this to say. "The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex." The realities of the current situation chasten us and remind us that achieving the redemption of the land of Israel relies not merely on contributing to the growth of the Jewish standard of living. We must insist that justice and fairness for the Palestinian sector are integral in achieving and maintaining the peace we so much desire. What can we do?
We read this morning in Nitzavim – in Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy the word shuv – turn, return is repeated seven times and in an unusual fashion. The motif, "turn" or "return" indicates a reciprocal movement. We take a step in repentance towards God and God’s redemptive presence moves closer to us. The repetition reminds us that the process of tshuvah is ongoing, not accomplished all at once. Each step, however, brings us one step closer to redemption. As we sit here on this Yom Kippur, praying fervently for God to remove our sins and make us whole, this repetition is a reminder that as pure as we hope we will feel at the end of the fast this evening, the process of repentance and redemption will continue tomorrow and the next day. Yom Kippur is our yearly reminder to continue to engage in the process of repentance, knowing that some day ultimately, it will lead to the redemption of our world. Similarly, peace is not accomplished all at once. We need to be committed for the long haul to redeeming the Land of Israel through an ongoing commitment to building a just society. The current crisis will end. We pray now that it will end before there is more bloodshed. As emotional as we feel now, we must not respond rashly at a time of crisis. Peace treaties must be accompanied by an ongoing and sustained commitment to economic and social justice for Palestinians. May the paths of your Torah, O God, always be pleasant to us and may they nurture and guide us so that someday soon the descendents of Ishmael and Isaac will walk along darkei shalom together. |
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What does this teach us? We learn here that justice and peace go hand in hand
– peace cannot be attained where there is no justice. There is also a
Talmudic concept - It is called Darkei shalom – paths of peace –
that can guide us. The Talmud
teaches us that it is our obligation to provide for the non-Jew in the same
manner as the Jew in order to maintain peaceful relationships. "Do not
withhold from the non-Jewish poor, the poor tithes you give the Jew –
because giving to them leads to peace – darkei shalom. Our rabbis
taught, employ the non-Jew as well as the Jew, visit their sick and bury their
dead because this is the path to peace." In other words, the concept of darkei
shalom teaches us that discrimination – political and economic – is a
barrier to peace.