Reflecting on an Incomplete Return to Jerusalem

I have just returned from Israel after a wonderful 10-day seminar in Jerusalem called the Hartman study program and had an incredible opportunity to learn with amazing scholars and also with colleagues from many Jewish movements as well as many parts of North America. It was a great experience to see Israel and Jerusalem from mature eyes compared to when I first arrived there almost 20 years ago as a young 22-year-old man ready to experience change and be built by this exciting land
Twenty years have gone by and I am older, wiser, (and chubbier) and I can see Israel from a new perspective of love for its successes but also of constructive Tochachah (criticism) for its failures through its 63 years of existence. One of the great failures in Israeli society is the conflict that exists right now in growing a pluralistic society with acceptance of the different streams of Judaism.
There is only one religious recognized authority in Israel and as a result it’s creating great anger and dissatisfaction among the populace with the small, but very vocal, Heredi (ultra orthodox) community. The Heredim take up much of the welfare services in the country, don’t serve in the army, and have huge families.
As if that has not created great conflict they also are now largely in control of the governmental religious system called ‘the rabbinate’ which decides on who can get married and when they can get divorced. As a result of this conflict there is great inner conflict and hatred in the society that is creating what we called Sinat Chinam, or senseless hatred, between those who are not religious and those who are. It is this conflict today that is the greatest threat to this young country, one that needs to be corrected, especially as we reflect on the commemoration of Tisha B’Av, the commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem 2,400 years ago.
August is the month we reflect on the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and also retell the infighting of ancient times and its relation to the infighting of today. Today, when we look at the seemingly insignificance of such an event as two individuals fighting leading to the temple and the Jewish states destruction it seems impossible such infighting can lead to the society’s destruction, however we see it as an analogy of inner conflict and strife in our community. If we let silly grievances stand it will eat us alive.
On Tisha B’Av we mourn not the loss of an ancient edifice over 2,000 years ago, rather we mourn the incompleteness of our community and the fact that we still have this senseless hatred that can build and eventually overtake our society. We work today for the building of religious pluralism in Israel and use America as the guide of what a society can be when done correctly. America, like Israel, is not perfect but what we hope for on anniversaries such as Tisha B’Av is the ability to learn from mistakes, correct them and build a better society.
Senseless hatred is what it means: senseless because even when someone is wrong we try not to hate them but correct their ideas with better ideas. Sadly, both societies are far off from that ideal but we can hope.
Israel has struggled so much in her short existence but there is still so much more she needs to accomplish that doesn’t involve the battlefield. There will come a time when she needs to understand the ideals of religious pluralism and social justice to all its citizens or she will again face the turmoil of senseless hatred of 2,000 years ago that led to her destruction. On Tish B’Av it is customary to fast to mourn the loss of our holy temple and the destruction of our nation but many have ceased this fast because of our glories return to our homeland but I still fast.
I fast for the simple reason that the rebuilt temple has not happened and the reason we have not built our third temple is because our community could never agree on one unified edifice that could represent all our people. We Jews are very diverse but also in much conflict of what is proper behavior as a practicing Jew. For that reason many in our community feel closed off from the great holiness that is Jerusalem and the last structure of the holy ancient temple the Cotel Maravi(western wall).
My last day in Jerusalem I stood silently at the western wall as solders were graduating from basic training in front of this holy edifice of ancient Jerusalem and joyfully sang HaTikvah (Israel’s national anthem) to close the services and sadden that many of the Ultra Orthodox did not feel the same compulsion to sing because women were present in the ceremony. Something is lost when we can’t sing our national anthem together and that is why I fast on Tish B’Av.
The Temple remains unfinished because we in our community can’t heal the rifts that we still experience and Israel is just a microcosm for such incompleteness. We heal that rift of incompleteness by engaging in our community and also being respectful of our disagreements. One should never disengage out of disagreement but instead find a way to respect our struggle for the correct path.
We do this by joining community adding your individual voice to the edifice of our shared Jewish history and finding your path in faith. August 28 at 12:30 p.m. Beth Judah Temple Wildwood has an open house to invite those unaffiliated into our house to add their voice to the assembly of our faith and rebuild that stricture that was destroyed so long ago. Please join us.
Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz is the spiritual leader Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood. He welcomes your comments at dvjewish@rof.net