URJ Biennial 2013

My URJ Biennial San Diego 2013 experience – things seen and things learned

I’m standing in a room with 5000 people.  Its Shabbat morning.  The Rabbi asks us to close our eyes and raise up our hands in a special movement to bless God through the words of the Shema.  The 100 person choir begins to sing, the 9 piece band begins to play, voices swell in volume and I’m entranced by the power of this moment of prayer.  Juxtapose that to Shabbat afternoon, I’m sitting on top of a mountain in the hills outside San Diego.  I am completely alone, as the group dropped us off one by one for some solitary prayer.  In the distance the sun is setting.  I hear the wind softly blowing through the canyon.  I can hear off in the distance the crunch of other hikers on the gravel paths though I cannot see them.  I contemplate prayer, without a 9 person band or 100 person choir or 5000 worshippers, yet feel the same sense of awe.

This was my Shabbat at Biennial 2013 in San Diego.  The conference brings together Reform Jews from around the world for prayer, music, learning and networking.  I get a chance to do all in equal measure.  as with most things, the sense of connection is what first draws me to Biennial.  I love getting together with my classmates and friends from rabbinical school at HUC-JIR who are spread out throughout north America and whom I get to see only at these type of get-togethers.  We share best practices, recall fond memories of school and catch up on our newest family developments. 

I love attending the variant worship opportunities.  Thursday morning we were led by a group from Tel Aviv, from Beit Daniel, who have created wonderful new music and participatory practices.  During Birchot Hashachar, after a few prayers from the liturgy, they invite people to offer their own prayer of thanks out loud and then everyone says amen.  They adapted Beatles tunes to our prayers and mix Hebrew with English.  The 4 prayer leaders sing in beautiful harmony with multiple musical instruments, its was absolutely beautiful.  I’m hoping to bring some of their ideas here to SBE.  Shabbat evening and morning were so inspiring. We have wonderful worship leaders in our community, Friday night was the clergy team from Beth Elohim in Boston and Saturday morning it was Rabbi Jacobs along with Rabbi/Cantor Angela Warnick-Buchdal.  We also had the storah-tellers, making the story of Jacob blessing his children and grandchildren come alive, including the missing Dinah.  They selected beautiful musical pieces, some we knew, some brand new, all set with choir and instrumentation.  There were moments went people jumped up and danced.  There were a dozen torah scrolls around the room so everyone felt they were part of the reading and I received two group aliyot, as an HUC alum and as a NFTY youth group alum.  Perhaps my favorite moment is the Friday evening song session.  I was up at the front with some good friends, dancing and singing.  I almost got caught up with the nfty kids whose enthusiasm and energy made me feel like a kid again. 

In terms of speakers and learning, I was particularly inspired by the words of Anat Hoffman, who runs the Israeli religious action centre in Jerusalem. She said,

"Together we are negotiating a new reality for all of us at the Wall. This is not going to be a slightly cleaned up second-rate area for the misfits.  It will be the first time that the Israeli government will offer everybody a real choice at the Kotel. I know Israelis are going to get used to the flavor of choice and they are going to demand freedom of choice in all other areas of religious life, such as marriage, divorce, conversion, and education. Once you have 31 flavors, you can’t go back.

For too long, the face and character of Judaism’s holiest site has been in the image of one extreme minority, but we are changing that. It is time that Israelis got to know some other faces of Judaism, like that of our very own Rabbi Miri Gold, or that of Ariella Finklestein, our orthodox 14-year-old client who personally sued the bus driver who told her to go the back of the bus in Beit Shemesh.

We must plant our values the same way we have planted trees. This will require all of us to get our hands dirty since there is no other way to plant.

Our success at the Kotel must become the engine pulling the train of religious pluralism. The next car is the end of gender segregation in Israel and the exclusion of women. We bring you news of great achievements, but we also know that the rights of women in Israel are under attack, and it is falling on us to provide the response

Other cars in the train are freedom of choice in marriage, in conversion, and the full equality and recognition of our Rabbis and institutions.

Anat then asked us to do 4 things to help, to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

1. Read - At least once a week read something about Israel that is not about security.
2. Use your financial support to create an Israel that reflects your values.
3. Visit Israel, and make your visits count. Make time for the Israel Religious Action Center. (Less Roman ruins and more freedom rides.)
4. Refuse. Refuse to choose between your liberal values and your commitment to Israel. Let your frustration motivate you to action. Action is our middle name"

We also heard a wonderful charge from Rabbi Rick Jacobs, giving us focus for our movement and defining clearly what Reform Judaism stands for and what we have to offer that Jews want and need. 

“There are those who would say the trend is from more observance to less, from deep and serious about Judaism to entertaining a passing fancy for it, as if Reform is a watered-down "something else." But look around you. Have 5,000 people come to this convention because we believe in doing less, caring less, achieving less, or being less? We came because we want to do more.

Our Judaism is for everyone. Our Judaism is inclusive, egalitarian, intellectually rigorous, joyful, passionate, spiritual, pluralistic, constantly evolving and relevant. Soul elevating spiritual practice, life-altering Torah study, courageous practice of tikkun olam, loving care for our community, especially the most vulnerable--that's what we are. Just look at this Biennial if you want to see Judaism that is all of the above and more. I believe with the very fiber of my being that young Jews are hungry, but not for a Judaism frozen in a distant time, no matter how loving and warm the purveyors - including Chabad, in particular - might be.

We have what people are looking for, but we've been reticent to get out and say so, partly because we have yet to articulate an audacious vision of what the world can become. God bless Chabad and all outreach organizations for getting out there and sharing their beautiful expressions of Judaism with those who are interested. But theirs must not be the only voices defining Judaism. It's time to speak our minds. Let's be clear about who we are and what we have to say.

We believe that our understanding of Judaism is right: that God did not literally hand down sacred laws in the Bible and the Mishnah at Sinai, but rather that from our encounter with the Divine, Jews have written our sacred texts, striving to understand in their own time what God called them to do.  That process has continued through the centuries, and it continues today. We are not the way out, but the way in, the way to being fully Jewish and modern, Jewish and inclusive, Jewish and universal, Jewish and compassionate, Jewish and deeply committed also to science, the arts, and the human community in its constant evolutionary spiral toward sustaining the planet and bettering life for everyone who lives upon it. "

Overall it was a wonderful, enriching and invigorating experience for me, something I hope many others will come along next time in Orlando 2015.

The agreement with Iran

 Canadians  Jews  have a unique sensibility.  We care deeply about the country in which  we live, and our role in world affairs, and at the same time   we are dedicated and devoted to Israel, and her safety and security.  I’d like to focus on the interim agreement  recently made between the United States,  China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain, as a group, and Iran, a declared enemy of  Israel. In my opinion it is a good first step but one which can hardly end our concern for Israel.

As we all know, Iran for years has been building up stores of enriched Uranium which were undoubtedly intended  to create nuclear weapons.  With such weapons  in place there’s little doubt that Israel as well as the entire Middle East would be under serious threat. Let’s not forget that it was the current president of Iran, the so-called moderate,  Hassan Rouhani, who planned the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires in 1994, which took 85 lives. And  the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in1996, in which 19 American soldiers were killed. Following his predecessors he  refuses to acknowledge  the Holocaust. He has openly called Israel “a wound” on the Middle East that must be removed. He has  boasted about deceiving the West into believing that Iran, from 2003 to 2005, had stopped enriching uranium. He is part of a theocracy that continues their  savage persecution of  the Bahai, Christians, Jews and anyone in Iran who professes a religion other than Shi’ite Islam.  He is only a slight improvement on his predecessor President Ahminehjad who  consistently and publicly denied the Holocaust and predicted in a speech early in his tenure that Israel would one day be “wiped off the map”, the one who told the world that  “The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world nations… we should wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity.”  We unfortunately know all too well that when leaders of countries publicly declare their intentions to destroy Jewish lives, they usually mean it.   

Thus when the 6 countries declared a 6 month agreement freezing  Iran’s  preparation of Uranium for use in nuclear bombs, I’m sure we all felt a twinge of optimism, spiked  with the usual  dose of  Jewish skepticism.

     It wasn’t long before Israeli PM Bibi Netanyah  pointed out  that Iran’s nuclear weapons would endanger not just Israel but Europe and the world at large.  He reminded us of three major problems :  First, how can we trust Iran to follow through on any agreement, in view of their past record of duplicity with regard to inspections of their current nuclear capacity?  Second, the agreement stops Iran from further enriching of uranium but fails to stop it completely.  Third, the agreement ignores the plight of those who are presently victimized by the Iranian government . 

    Professor Howard Adelman in an article this week pointed out that it was the economic sanctions on Iran that brought then to the negotiating table.  Iran is owed 7 billion dollars  on oil sales alone.  It could therefore be argued, why not leave the sanctions in place till Iran gives in completely.

It seems to me that we cannot expect Iran to be reduced to its knees. That in fact it would be dangerous in the long run to do so. In my view,  Iran is already giving up quite a bit.  The world is gaining transparency into what Iran is doing, a freeze on current uranium enrichment and a rollback on what they had been doing.  Inspectors can go in and maintain the parameters of the agreement.  We know sanctions worked and can always be restarted .  We gain at least a negotiating point, to continue talking and working this interim agreement towards a more fulfilling final agreement that accomplish  the goals of preventing a nuclear weapon capable Iran. 

     On the other hand Iran retains stature as an international player having worked an agreement with the US.  Their regional power undoubtedly has been  strengthened.  And there is no relief for the Bahai, Christians and Jews, and any others  persecuted within Iranian borders.

Prime Minister Netanyahu firmly believes the negotiations were all political theatre, and he has asked western powers to not ease the economic sanctions, saying,   

“Although Tehran, led by President Hassan Rouhani, presented a smiling face to the West, it continued to “butcher people in Syria, to promote terrorism” and to support Hezbollah and Hamas.”  He argued that US president Barak Obama did it so he could demonstrate his ability to sign an agreement with the enemy Iran. Other Israeli news sources such as Ynet suggest that the American people are weary of so many conflicts, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that with this agreement, they can focus on domestic and economic issues. 

So where does Canada stand on all this. Officially Rafi Barak the new Canadian embassador called it a "historic mistake", echoing Netanyahu from the previous day, highlighting Israels concerns about the Iranian regime’s conduct in five areas: its nuclear program, its 400 missiles that can reach the eastern Mediterranean Sea, its support of terrorism, its involvement in propping up the Syrian regime and its general attitude towards human rights.

“There are a lot of question marks about the future,” Barak said. “We are concerned that the sanctions were having a positive effect and we should have waited a bit before lifting [them].”

John Baird, our Canadian minister of minister of foreign affairs, speaking  for Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed similar concerns, and said he remained “skeptical” about the effectiveness of the current interim agreement. John Baird was quoted as saying,

“We are a country that is obviously deeply concerned, not just about the nuclear program, or the spread of the weaponization program, but also, their human rights record is of significant concern,” . “No one more than Canada would like to see this deal be successful… But we are deeply skeptical of Iran’s intention in this regard.”

     It has to be acknowledged that no country has been as fully supportive of Israel’s every move as Canada.   This past weekend our prime minister was honoured by the Jewish National Fund, and helped them raise over 5 million dollars . 

Where should we stand on this current issue?  As Canadians, we are not part of this agreement.  As a responsible member of the United Nations  our goal is to ensure world stability and peace.  A nuclear Iran is a threat to peace and so supporting  economic sanctions is correct.  We should spearhead continued negotiation. We should ensure that nuclear  inspectors do their job with respect to enriched uranium in Iranian nuclear power plants .

    The agreement has  potential but  we should regard it as a small stepping stone while keeping a  close eye on the fulfillment of every aspect of it and continue economic pressure until we are secure.

As Jews, we know that the threat of Iran towards  Israel is real.  Iran supports terrorists such as Hezbollah  who have launched missiles and suicide attacks on Israel before and would attack again.  We should support Israel in her declaration that this agreement is not enough.  We should continue to let Israel monitor  Iran’s nuclear plans closely.  We should keep the world’s attention on Iran to maintain some economic pressure and ensure that Iran never succeeds in obtaining nuclear weapons. 

     We should at the same time remember that simply saying everything Israel does is correct. That’s not what a best friend does.  I am grateful  that Canada supports Israel, but I believe we need a more nuanced approach.  A best friend doesn’t say everything you do is perfect.  A best friend helps put you on the right path when you stray.  

     While we  support Israel and care deeply for her safety and security, the true way to a peaceful middle east is not necessarily simply declaring that this is a historic mistake and end the conversation.  I believe through continued negotiation and containment of Iran, along with western allies, we can ultimately achieve an agreement that works.

    Our torah portion this week reminds us that even brothers that hate each other can reconcile.  Joseph was almost murdered and then sold into slavery by his brothers.  Even they found a way to find love and resolution, and that is the story of our people.  Let us use that as a guide to our lives and hopefully not just as  individuals but also as  countries .