What do Tchaikovsky and Hadassah have in common?

I've long been been a supporter of Hadassah.  There are several good reasons for this. Let me share just one of them at this time.

I have long admired Hadassah's founder, Henrietta Szold.  Henrietta Szold (1860 - 1945) was a remarkably intelligent, capable, accomplished and inspiring woman.  She was thirsty for knowledge and determined to acquire it.  At a time when women were not permitted to study at my alma mater, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Ms. Szold insisted that she had the talent, skill, and perseverence to excell at the study of rabbinic texts.  Through the sheer force of her will, Ms. Szold persuaded Dr. Solomon Schechter, the Seminary's charismatic leader, to allow her to take classes there.   Unfortunately, the condition he imposed then we would today deplore: he made her promise not to seek rabbinical ordination. She agreed to this, and so although she proved herself to be not just a capable student but an exemplary one, she never received rabbinical ordination.   

But Henrietta Szold wasn't just a a bright, learned woman; she was also a dreamer and a doer.  And she was a committed Zionist. Even before Theodor Herzl's The Jewish State was published in 1896, she had written a pamphlet describing her vision of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  Szold first visited the Land of Israel in 1909 and was immediately smitten.  Within three years, she brought together a group of six other women and founded the Women's Zionist Organization of America.  That founding meeting took place on Purim in 1912, which led the group to choose the name "Hadassah." ("Hadassah" is the Hebrew form of the name, "Esther," the heroine of the Purim story.)  In 1920, Szold settled in the Land of Israel, and for the rest of her life she dedicated her energies to strengthening the yishuv (the pre-state Jewish community in the Land of Israel).  She was very active in rescuing and resettling Jewish children during World War II.  She died before the war came to an end, in January 1945, at the very hospital she had worked so hard to establish, the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.   

Hadassah has remained a strong, apolitical Jewish women's organization that has marshaled the tremendous energy of hundreds of thousands of American Jewish women to strengthen the state of Israel.  

Why am I writing now about Hadassah? The reason is that I just saw a YouTube video of a classical flashmob concert that took place at the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem.  

Even if you don't have a soft spot in your heart for Hadassah and all that it has accomplished, even if you don't tend to associate the Nutcracker with the State of Israel, I think that you'll agree that there's something special about this video.  You can access it here.  

A New Twist on the Kastner Affair

In my most recent blog posting, I included a link to Ruth Calderone's inaugural speech to the Knesset. Ruth Calderone is a leader in Yair Lapid's new "Yesh Atid" ("There is a Future") Party, which may very well find itself in the next Israeli government.  I met Ruth Calderone at the Hartman Institute several years ago.  She is a very bright, creative and inspiring educational visionary.  She founded two separate programs in which secular Israelis study Talmud and other Jewish texts. Eventually, she was persuaded to enter politics, and she's now one of the fifty-some women in the  new Knesset.  Her inaugural speech (which can be accessed here) may one day be seen as a critical turning point in the decades-long effort to bridge the gap between the datiim (the Orthodox) and the hiloniim (the secular) in Israeli society.

Yet another fascinating inaugural speech is attracting attention.  This one was also given by yet another new female member of Knesset.  I'm referring to Merav Michaeli of the Labor (Avodah) Party. (The Avodah Party has a long, illustrious past, but it has dwindled in support over the years.  It will probably not be included in the government that Bibi Netanyahu is seeking to form.)  In Michaeli's speech, she reclaimed an important part of her -- and Israel's -- past.  

Merav Michaeli's grandfather was Israel Kastner, who was once an important and influential European Jewish communal leader.  After World War II, however, when news of his role in negotiating with the Nazis on behalf of the Yishuv (Israel's pre-state Jewish community) to rescue Jews was revealed, he was condemned by the Israeli public and his life came to an ignominious end.  Much has been written about the "Kastner Affair." (I have a fine book by Amos Elon on my shelf.)  To learn about this fascinating and still very controversial story, I recommend an article from Haaretz which you can access here.  After reading it, I highly recommend watching the video clip of Michaeli's speech (which includes English subtitles).  

Michaeli's speech is much more than an ode to her late grandfather.  In fact, it's a rather bold critique of Israeli society, interesting and important in its own right.  But bringing up the story of Israel Kastner is a reminder that the shadow cast by the Holocaust on Israeli society (and, of course, on the Jewish people) is very, very long.  The issues have never really gone away.  Think of the rhetoric employed when many Israeli and American Jewish leaders discuss the Iranian nuclear threat and the role that American Jews should or shouldn't play in addressing that.  Supporters often invoke (only to condemn) the memory of those who stood by and did nothing, or (even worse) those who sought to appease Hitler and the Nazis.  The implication is clear:  we must emulate men and women like Hannah Szenes who risked (and sometimes gave) their lives to fight the enemies of the Jewish people, rather than men and women like Israel Kastner who negotiated with the Nazis.  

It will be interesting to see whether the resurrection of the story of Israel Kastner will have an impact on how American Jewish leaders will confront the Iranian threat--and how they will be viewed.  

Postscript to the Temple Aliyah Israel Trip

March 3, 2013

22 Adar 5773

Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe that a week has passed since our congregational trip to Israel concluded.  It seems like only yesterday that we visited Yad LaKashish, davened at Robinson’s Arch, climbed the steps of the southern entrance to the Temple singing “Shir HaMaalot”, rode camels in the wilderness, shouted “Masada will not fall again!” and attended a truly exuberant public celebration of Purim.  I hope that those memories will remain vivid! I know that collectively we probably took several thousand photographs of our experience.  Here are just a few of the hundreds of images I've got on my hard drive (I can't wait to see everyone else's):

 Once again, let me thank Beth Moskowitz for her single-minded and selfless devotion to shaping the most meaningful trip possible.  As I mentioned at the gathering Beth hosted at her home a few months before our trip, Beth doesn't stop trying to enhance a trip of this kind until it comes to an end.  She and I continued to reflect on and to tweak our itinerary until just about all of the members of our group got on the plane headed back to the States.  I am grateful for her warmth, energy, creativity, and caring. 

Many thanks as well to Zvi Levran, for whom guiding visitors to the Land and the State of Israel is a labor of intertwining loves: the love of Israel, the Jewish people, and the Zionist dream.  And let’s not forget our driver, Moti, who got us to and from where we needed to be, safely and comfortably.

 I wanted to share with you a few interesting things that have happened during the past week. 

First, a marathon took place in Jerusalem the other day.  Coming from Boston, I felt very much at home!

 By coincidence, for the first time since I arrived in Jerusalem, I had a car at my disposal, but because of the marathon, I wasn’t able to make use of it!  The marathon went right down my street (call it the “Commonwealth Avenue” of Katamon) and so I had to move the car out of the area by 6:00 am, and couldn’t drive it anywhere near my neighborhood—or through much of downtown—for the rest of the day.  But it was a fun experience enjoyed by just about everyone—except a taxi driver I encountered, who couldn't stop complaining about how it was disrupting his day. (He also couldn't stop telling me how annoyed he was that President Obama is planning to visit Israel four days before Pesach: "Think of the traffic jams!")

Second, wild flowers – some of which we saw during our trip – have really exploded with color (and—as I and many others have become aware—pollen).  Consider the following shot taken right around the corner from my apartment:

 (During the summer, all you can see is parched ground under those olive trees.)

Finally, national coalition negotiations continue.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet been able to form a government.  President Shimon Peres has given him two more weeks.  There’s another deadline at play here:  if the Prime Minister (“Bibi”) doesn’t form a government real soon, President Obama may postpone his trip to Israel.  I am sure that many people here hope that won’t happen.  But this period is very important:  it is during coalition negotiations that many legislative initiatives get hammered out. I for one hope that the problem of the "equality of burden" (i.e., the exemption from army service enjoyed by thousands of Hareidi yeshiva students, engendering tremendous resentment), which has plagued the state from its very beginning, will begin to be resolved.

 Speaking of the recent elections and speaking of this issue of shivyon ha-netel (the equality of burden), I want to remind you about one particular new member of the Knesset who bears watching. Zvi mentioned her to us.  Her name is Ruth Calderone.  She is really a special person who has already made important contributions to Israeli society.  Born into a secular family, she came to embrace Talmud study as an adult – as a secular adult. She founded not one but two institutions of higher learning for adults – secular adults – to help them study Jewish texts.  I got to meet Ruth Calderone at the Hartman Institute a number of years ago.  In her inaugural speech to the Knesset, Ms. Calderone did something that had never been done in that place before:  she taught Talmud.  She, a woman, a secular woman, brought the Talmud into the Knesset and demonstrated that its lessons aren’t just for the Orthodox.  Rather, they are – or should be – for all of us.

Here is the URL for a Haaretz article about her amazing speech.  It includes a video clip of the speech with English subtitles.  It is well worth watching. 

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/rabbis-round-table/the-knesset-as-beit-midrash-a-model-of-hope-for-a-better-israel-1.505685

Ruth Calderone's election symbolizes something very important happening in Israel today:  a broad-based public yearning to bridge the century-old gap between secular and religious sensibilities in Israeli society.  For many years, the assumption has been that the 20% of the Jewish population in Israel that is religious, and the 80% that is secular, have nothing in common.   That perception, in stages, is changing.  Ruth Calderone’s speech will, I believe, eventually be seen as an important step in that process.

This brings me to my final point. As I said even before our trip began, a trip to Israel is, hopefully, not just a trip to Israel.  (As Zvi reminded us repeatedly, nothing about Israel is ever "just a.")  For American Jews, a trip like ours can be an opportunity to think about what being Jewish means to us.  It can be an opportunity to reflect on what our role is -- or might be -- in shaping the Jewish future.  I know, from the discussions we've already had, that this trip has had an impact on some of us, and that some of us have begun to think about these questions. I hope that that exploration continues. I hope that each of us will come away from this experience not just inspired, but also committed to exploring future connections, future opportunities for Jewish engagement, growth and contribution, both within our own community and more broadly. 

Let me conclude on a lighter note.  Do you remember the contest to find the most amusing misspelled English words on Israeli signs?  In the spirit of the season, I delightedly wanted to share with you one of my favorites that I found in Jerusalem a few years ago: 

Thanks to all of you for participating in a wonderful trip!  Be well, take care and shalom!

 Sincerely,

Rabbi Carl M. Perkins

Temple Aliyah

1664 Central Avenue

Needham, MA 02492

781-444-8522

rabbiperkins@templealiyah.com

Rabbi David Hartman, 1931-2013

Rosh Hodesh Adar, 5773

Dear Friends,

This morning I attended the funeral of my teacher, Rabbi David Hartman, the founder of the Hartman Institute, who died on Sunday.  The funeral was held at the Institute, where Rabbi Hartman had taught and lectured on many, many occasions.  

Let me tell you a little about Rabbi Hartman. 

Rabbi Hartman was an extraordinary force.  He was a brilliant philosopher, an electrifying speaker and a caring mentor, and he was also a dreamer and a builder.  He was passionate and impassioned, with fiercely held and well-articulated views—and he was also a man with broad perspectives and a big heart.  Born into an ultra-Orthodox family in New York, he later became a true pluralist, respecting and seeking to further not just Orthodoxy, but the entire spectrum of Jewish religious perspectives. 

After making aliyah from Montreal soon after the Six Day War, Rabbi Hartman became a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University. For anyone else, that might have been enough.  But it wasn’t enough for Rabbi Hartman. He wanted his influence to extend beyond the ivory tower.  He wanted to have a deep impact on Israeli society. 

And so Rabbi Hartman created the Hartman Institute (named after his father).  He gathered around him scholars from various Jewish disciplines (Bible, Talmud, Jewish History and Jewish Philosophy) and established a Jewish “think tank” to promote interdisciplinary Jewish scholarship.  The Hartman Institute has produced a respectable collection of published works.  But that wasn’t enough for Rabbi Hartman. He didn’t just want scholars to better understand what Jewish texts meant in the past, he wanted those texts to matter, and to make a difference, today.  And so he decided to use the Institute to create opportunities for North American rabbis—of all denominations—to come to Israel and explore Jewish texts together.  He wanted rabbis to work hard at listening to our sacred texts and to one another, and together to determine what kind of a difference those texts could make in our lives—and in the lives of the members of our congregations.

David Hartman loved rabbis, and he is responsible for bringing hundreds of rabbis to Israel for weeks at a time to learn, to grow, to reflect, to strategize, and to be renewed.  I am one such rabbi.  Between 2003 and 2008, I came to Israel twice a year to study at the “Machon,”—or, “the Institute,” as we affectionately called it—and I then became a Senior Rabbinic Fellow there. Since then, whenever I have come to Israel, I have stopped by the Machon to study in the library or to talk with colleagues. Just last week, I went there to sit in on a few lectures with the current cohort of rabbis studying in the Center for Rabbinic Enrichment.  (Included in that group, incidentally, is Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom in Newton, with whom I co-led a trip to Israel with nineteen ministers in 2009.) 

Without the Hartman Institute, it is possible that some of the many hundreds of rabbis who have studied there would have come to Israel at one time or another.  But it is highly unlikely that rabbis from different denominations, such as Rabbi Gurvis and myself, would have talked, much less studied, with one another in Israel.  That was Rabbi Hartman’s genius:  to create a mutually respectful Beit Midrash (study hall) in which all of our voices could be heard.

In addition to its rabbinic programs, the Machon now runs programs for cantors, educators, and lay leaders as well, which bring many newcomers—and many returnees—to the Institute each year.  One day, I hope that we can organize a group from Temple Aliyah.  Incidentally, not only Jews have benefitted from the Hartman embrace: each year, dozens of Christian clergy and laity visit the Institute to explore the meaning of the Holy Land to the Abrahamic faiths.  (Boston’s own James Carroll is a regular.)

Haval d’avdin v’lah mishtak’khin.  That’s a Talmudic phrase that means, “Alas, for those who are gone, and are no longer to be found.”  (Sanhedrin 111a.)  Rabbi Hartman was unique.  His energy, his fierce pursuit of truth, and his love of the Jewish People, were extraordinary.  He will be missed.

May his memory remain a blessing. 

Sincerely,

Rabbi Carl M. Perkins

P.S.  If you would like to read more about Rabbi Hartman, here are three recommendations: 

            (1.) the English-language homepage of the Hartman Institute, on which you can access writings and video clips of Rabbi Hartman teaching: click here. 

            (2.) a tribute to Rabbi Hartman, written by Professor Arnold Eisen, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America: click here.

            (3.) the obituary published in today’s Haaretz newspaper: click here. 

A Message from Israel on Erev Tu BiShvat 5773

January 25, 2013

Erev Tu BiShvat, 5773

Dear Friends,

Shalom, shalom!  I am writing to you from the beautiful city of Jerusalem. It occurred to me that it might be of interest to share a few reflections on “what’s happening” in Israel these days. I would like to focus on two topics that have been at the top of the news during the past few weeks.

The first is the weather. Israel is now in the middle of its rainy season, which extends from Sukkot to Pesach.  (That’s right: the weather really does follow the Jewish calendar.) Although it doesn’t rain every day at this time of the year, during the week we arrived there was a fierce storm with lots of wind and rain.  It culminated in an unusual and beautiful snowfall that covered many of the hills in the interior of the country.  Even the Negev town of Dimona got snow!  About a foot of snow blanketed Jerusalem, and it was delightful.

(Yes, that is a palm tree covered with snow, and yes, that’s me standing alongside it.)

As Shimon Peres, who was interviewed on TV, diplomatically put it:  “Yesh Yerusahalayim shel zahav, v’yesh Yerushalayim shel sheleg.  Ha-ir ha-zot tamid nehederet.”  “There is a Jerusalem of gold, and a Jerusalem of snow.  This city is always beautiful.” 

(By the way, I’m living around the corner from “Beit Ha-Nasi,” the president’s official home.  Whenever I walk by, I wonder whether I’m going to bump into Mr. Peres as he is coming or going. So far, it hasn’t happened.)  

As a result of the recent storms, the level of the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) has shot up several meters, and it is expected to rise another half meter by the end of January.  This is a source of great relief. Let me tell you why.

One day a few years ago, as a result of the Sea’s declining level, an island appeared in the middle of the Kinneret opposite Kibbutz Ma’agan, causing much chagrin.

This past week, with the robust rainfall, that island fortunately disappeared.  People are hopeful that this winter will continue to be a good one for the region’s water supply – always a vital concern.

As significant as the level of the Kinneret is, that isn’t at the top of the news any longer.  Instead, it’s electoral politics.   

What an extraordinary week this has been!  To be an American in Israel at this time has been a particular treat, even if one is not a political junkie.

First, there were the two days of the U.S. presidential inauguration.  I was struck, in a way that I might not have been in the States, by how odd—and yet, at the same time, how perfectly reasonable—it was for the inaugural festivities to have been postponed to Monday. After all, notwithstanding the strong tradition of separation of church and state in America, supported by the Constitution, America is a religious country.  And the vast number of U.S. citizens are Christian.  And Sunday is Sunday!  

To me this seemed very familiar:  After all, when the first day of Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbat, we refrain from blowing the shofar until the second day.  Similarly, when the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat, we refrain from shaking the lulav and etrog until the next day.  Both practices we do out of reverence for Shabbat.   In a sense, you could say that this past Monday was like the second day of a two-day American Yom Tov! 

And so, it made sense to me that, although, as the law requires, the President took the oath of office on Sunday, he had to do it all over again on Monday.  Which reminds me:  I believe that Barack Obama is the only U.S. President aside from Franklin D. Roosevelt who has taken the oath of office four times!  (Twice in 2009, and twice this week.)

I found it moving to watch the inauguration from my apartment in Jerusalem.  The emphasis on diversity, on inclusion, on the notion of E pluribus unum (“Out of many, one”) was striking.  For the event, coincidentally, to be taking place on Martin Luther King Day gave a powerful sub-text to the entire day. 

While all this was going on, final preparations were being made here for the national Israeli elections due to take place the next day.  Israel is a very different country from America, but one thing that the two countries have in common is a commitment to the power of the ballot box. 

                         

                       

 

Campaign laws are very different in Israel:  rather than being bombarded with campaign ads for several months prior to an election every time you turn on the TV as in the States, all campaign ads run one after the other during one hour every night for about two weeks prior to the election.  Hence, you can more easily avoid them if you wish.  There are also other constraints that don’t exist in the States.  For example, it is a violation of the law for incumbents to make use of their office during the week before election to attempt to win votes.  I’ll give you an amazing example.  Two days before the election, Prime Minister Netanyahu called a press conference to announce the appointment of a popular politician who had recently “retired from politics” to head the Housing Authority.  This particular politician is well known and highly regarded here in Israel for restructuring the telecommunications industry and dramatically bringing down the cost of cell phone service.  Appointing him was an effort to demonstrate support for doing the same with the housing sector, of tremendous concern for young families.   

However, it is not permitted to make such an appointment just days before the election, so Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein, charged with enforcing the election campaign laws, contacted the television networks and ordered them not to cover the news conference.  Can you imagine that? (By the way, Justice Rubenstein visited our community about a decade ago, and spoke at the home of David Eisenberg and Fran Caplan.)

It’s truly extraordinary to think that men and women of such different political perspectives—Hareidim (Ultra-Orthodox Jews), socialists, Arab nationalists, Tel Aviv technocrats, Sephardi traditionalists, American immigrants—all came together to choose those who will represent them in the Knesset (Parliament) and, indirectly, those who will form the next government. (Of course, not everyone appreciates the blessings of sovereignty and considers citizenship in the State of Israel to be a virtue.  Just before the election, the Satmar Rebbe, who lives in New York, visited Israel, and offered $100 to anyone who agreed not to vote in the national election. Can you imagine that? And several nationalist Arab leaders routinely urge their followers to boycott Israeli elections.)

Citizenship comes with tremendous privileges in Israel.  One is struck by the dramatic difference between the political freedom enjoyed by Israelis and the relative lack of opportunity and influence of those living outside of Israel.  This includes, of course, residents of the West Bank and Gaza.  Though some of them may have the right to vote in Palestinian elections, those elections are hardly what we would consider free. The contrast in political engagement, empowerment and enthusiasm is striking.

Unfortunately, from the start, the political system here has not reinforced unity.  (There’s plenty of “pluribus,” but not much “unum.”) Instead, the system has reinforced “identity politics.”  Because no party has ever held a majority of seats in the Knesset, even large parties have always had to form coalitions in order to form a government.  And that has meant that relatively small parties can and do command enormous influence, far in excess of their relative share of the electorate.  In the Maariv newspaper the other day, one reporter decried this state of affairs, which he termed Israel’s “miut-o-kratia”, or “minority rule.” 

The results of the election seem to indicate that Prime Minister Netanyahu will again be invited to form a coalition government. 

                  

The question remains whether it will be a right/religious coalition or a center/right coalition. 

                                                                                             

Either way, my hope is that the transition to the new Knesset will be as peaceful as the inaugural festivities in Washington the other day.  Ken Yehi Ratzon!

Let me close by offering you a winter’s greeting that I’ve only heard expressed in Israel, a land where water is so precious.  It appeared at the bottom of a flyer I saw on a bulletin board in a local hospital: 

B’virkat khoref bari v’gashum!

With blessings for a healthy and rainy winter!

Shalom u’vrachah,

Rabbi Carl M. Perkins

P.S.  If you want to see an illustration of Israel’s religious and ethnic diversity, consider the following:  During one 24-hour period last week, four sets of twins were born in the western Galilee hospital in Nahariya.  And they came from four different religious/ethnic backgrounds: Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Druze. You can see a picture of the proud parents and their babies here: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/25186.aspx .