Shared Values on Jewish Peoplehood, Israel and Palestine

Like many rabbis, I’ve been thinking about my own values and how to understand and work with strongly felt opinions/beliefs regarding Zionism and Israel (or Israel/Palestine.) I’ve tried to listen and engage with other American Jews and Israelis who have varying perspectives. While I write from a Reconstructionist perspective, I hope that these thoughts will be helpful for others as well. These are some of my personal reflections and learnings. 

Our strong connection as Jews (relationships, concerns, disagreements) with Israel and its people is part of our commitment to Jewish peoplehood. Even those who question this Kaplanian term (“peoplehood”) still find useful connections of mishpakhah (family) or other metaphors of connection. Reconstructionists are, and have been, committed to creative, secure and pluralistic Jewish life in a democratic society in Israel and in the diaspora. 

After reflecting on my conversations and readings, I have two background ideas underlying what I want to share. I think these points may be helpful for others as well. 

First, we should seek to articulate shared values, not start with public policy statements. That would be a different process for others that would build on values. 

Second, while striving to articulate shared values (for example, in a congregation or the Reconstructionist movement) we should not be seeking to exclude (let alone, expel) someone because of differing views about Israel, Palestine or Zionism. (To borrow language from an interfaith dialogue program I was once in, we should seek the “highest common denominator.”)

Reconstructionists are, and have been, committed to creative, secure and pluralistic Jewish life in a democratic society in Israel and in the diaspora.

Here are my personal reflections on what I think some of these shared values are. I hope this effort will be helpful to others, whatever their background or affiliation. 

Naming Values That Most Reconstructionists Share 

For me, searching for the values that most Reconstructionist Jews share, despite our many differences of opinion, was assisted by finding the cover of the first issue of the Reconstructionist magazine, published in January 1935, shortly after Mordecai Kaplan had published Judaism as a Civilization. That cover statement, which preceded a longer discussion of key principles, still seems valuable today. It said that the Reconstructionist movement is dedicated to the advancement of Judaism as a religious civilization, to the upbuilding of Israel’s ancient homeland and the furtherance of universal freedom, justice and peace.^[1]

 Of course, this summary was a product of its time, which included widespread antisemitism, the Great Depression and the rise of Nazism. Yet this brief framework spoke in positive values: a) building Judaism as a “religious civilization” including the diaspora, especially the United States; b) strengthening the small but growing Jewish community in British mandate Palestine, another reflection of peoplehood; and c) concerns for peace, justice and liberation for all humanity. 

To my mind, this leads to three negations that ultimately lead to affirmations. 

First, rejecting שלילת הגולה shelilat ha-golah, negation of the diaspora (a strand within Zionism that has significantly faded in recent decades. Note, for example, the renaming of the Beit Hatfutzot museum in Tel Aviv as Anu: the Museum of Jewish People, reopened in 2021.)^[2] I think such a view — that only the Jewish community in Israel is ultimately valuable — is outside our shared values in the Reconstructionist movement. The contrary positive value sees Jewish life as vital in the diaspora as well as within Israel. We should support efforts for Jews to be physically safe and part of creative and pluralistic communities in the diaspora and in Israel. 

Second, rejecting שלילת הפלסטינים shelilat ha-Palestinim, negation of the Palestinians. For a significant group of Jews in Israel and abroad, being Israeli (or “pro-Israeli”) includes minimizing or denying the rights or even existence of Palestinians, especially those in the occupied territories who are not citizens of Israel. I think such a view is outside our shared values as Reconstructionist Jews. A positive value, based on the principle that all people are created in the Divine image (tzelem Elohim) recognizes that two peoples live in the land. Each has the right to live in a secure, peaceful and democratic society, whatever political arrangements are made. In this view, only political and interpersonal arrangements between Israel and Palestinians, or between Jewish and Arab peoples, can create lasting peace based on democracy, justice and equality. 

Third, rejecting שלילת הישראלים shelilat ha-Yisraelim , negation of Israelis and the society of Israel. For some, including some within the American Jewish community, Israel and its society, home to almost half the Jewish people of the world, have become invisible or toxic. For some, Israelis are from a country considered “evil” or “failed” and have become “non-persons.” Their society, culture, struggles against the current Israeli government are all to be ignored. I think such a view is outside our shared values in the Reconstructionist movement. A positive counterpoint recognizes and strives to connect Reconstructionist Judaism to Israeli society in its diversity — political, cultural, musical, liturgical, poetic, intellectual and more — including struggles against its flaws. We are partners and students of those who work to build a shared Israeli society based upon Jewish and universal values of equality, justice and shalom.^[3]

We should not be seeking to exclude (let alone expel) someone because of differing views about Israel, Palestine or Zionism 

This brief reflection on what we share as Reconstructionists is not a precise document. It raises challenges, including how do we relate to those who may be our fellow Jews or allies who don’t share all these values? Can we build on the values I discussed above? 

 How do we relate to Jews and Jewish organizations that see Israeli (Jewish) suffering or pain, but ignore or excuse Palestinian suffering pain? Can we encompass this in our liturgy and teaching? How do those concerned about the terrible suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank relate to fellow Jews or non-Jewish allies who ignore Israeli pain or seek to sever ties to almost half the world’s Jewish population in Israel? Who do we need to learn from, interact with and support in an Israel whose basic democratic values are being challenged? 

At a time when some voices in Judaism proclaim a religion based on Jewish supremacy, power and disdain (if not hatred) of the “other,” what do we do to build on the values I suggest above? How do we engage with fellow Jews to strengthen Judaism as a force for tzedek (justice), hesed (loving concern/kindness) and shalom, a Judaism that confronts its own failings? ^[4] How (as individuals, as communities, as a Jewish denomination or movement) do we engage these values among Jews and the wider communities of North America and Israel? 

^[1] The Reconstructionist, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 11, 1935 — Shebat 7, 5695. In some later formulations the second phrase was replaced with the words “upbuilding Eretz Yisrael.” In 1960, this masthead phrase was modified to “the upbuilding of Eretz Yisrael as the spiritual center of the Jewish People.” “The New Masthead,” Reconstructionist, Feb. 19, 1960, p. 5.

^[2] This term, negation of the diaspora, was popularized if not invented by Ahad Ha’am in arguments with Simon Dubnow, a diaspora-centered Jewish historian at the beginning of the 20th century. Ahad Ha’am (Asher Ginzberg) was a “cultural Zionist” who influenced Mordecai Kaplan and many others. Or course, Kaplan rejected this anti-diaspora theme in Ahad Ha’am’s thought. (Ahad Ha’am, Al Parashat ha-Derakhim, 1909.)

^[3] As far as I know, the terms “shelilat ha-palestinim” negation of Palestinians and “shelilat ha-yisraelim” negation of Israelis, are an innovation here. 

^[4] For some of my earlier thoughts on Judaism in the context of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, see Our Narrow Bridge and Some Difficult Texts