This
week coming week Israel turns 65. I lived in Jerusalem as a rabbinic student
for the 72-73 academic year. In May of that year Israel celebrated its 25th
anniversary. Israel celebrated with a massive military parade. Of course, my
friends and I watched the military parade on Yom Ha’atzma’ut. But we also went
out to watch the rehearsals for the parade earlier in the week. We shared in
the population’s sense of pride, accomplishment and confidence. It seemed
Israel could do anything.
Israel
provided American Jews with a sense of confidence as well. At
that moment of Israel turning 25 things seemed clear, Israel needed us and we
needed Israel. In those days many American Jews viewed Israel and Israelis in
mythic terms.
These
days things seem much more complicated. As a result of the communications
revolution, the ease of travel and other factors, Israel seems much closer. We
take for granted live television broadcasts from Israel. We can read Israeli
daily newspapers. Some of us, Skype with our relatives in Israel. We know much
more about the gritty day to day details of Israeli life.
Do
we need still need Israel? Does Israel still need us? I would say yes to both
questions, maybe not precisely in the same way we as decades years ago. But
Israel still needs us and we still need Israel.
To
say we need Israel and Israel needs us, I do not have to say that
I agree with everything every government of Israel does. I do not agree with
everything the government of this country does.
I
am not less of an American if I disagree with a specific act of the American
government. And I am not less of a friend of Israel if I disagree with a
specific decision of a particular Israeli government. Neither the President of
the United States nor the Prime Minister of Israel consult with me on a regular
basis.
As
an adult I can no longer feel about Israel as I did as a romantic teenager but
I can hope that today’s Jewish teenagers will feel that way about Israel. I do
more than hope. I devote significant time and energy to creating those feelings.
This December I will again, lead a Youth
Israel Trip for the teenagers of the congregation. Each summer I go to camp where
I work with teenagers in a Hebrew immersion program staffed mostly by Israelis with
the theme, “Israel and me.”
As
we celebrate 65 years of Israeli Independence we should understand the
transformative purposes of the Jewish state. While it does provide the
opportunity for us to be “a free people in our own land,” we think of Israel in
broader terms.
The
Prayer for Israel describes the Jewish State as “Raisheet Tz’michat Geulateinu, the first budding of the blossoming
of our redemption.” This is not simply the redemption of the Jewish people. We understand Israel to be as the prophet
Isaiah proclaimed, “Or L’Goyi, a
light to the nations.” We view the State of Israel as a step toward “Tikun Olam, the repair of the world.”
