Tikkun Magazine, May/June 2008

Teshuva: Our Only Hope 

by Joshua Levine Grater 

Human reason, even at its most sublime, cannot begin to understand the
unique holiness of Eretz Israel; it cannot stir the depths of love for
the land that are dormant within our people. What Eretz Israel means to
the Jew can be felt only through the Spirit of the Lord, which is in our
people as a whole, through the spiritual cast of the Jewish soul, which
radiates its characteristic influence to every healthy emotion.
—Rav Kook

ACCORDING TO THE PREEMINENT TWENTIETH-CENTURY SCHOLAR, ARTHUR HERTZBERG, IN HIS seminal work, The Zionist Idea, Rav Kook, the first chief rabbi of Palestine, wrote the above words sometime between 1910 and 1930, to explain how and what Jews feel about the land of Israel. Today, as we celebrate sixty years of Israel's existence, we might apply the same description when explaining how we feel about the Jews who inhabit the land, our brothers and sisters. Kook, like the rabbis who composed our liturgy, was writing before the possibility existed that Jews would actually find themselves living in a modern state of Israel. Although his words are perhaps even more relevant to today's situation, and although I agree with Rav Kook's assessment of our soul-deep connection to our homeland, I also believe that it is precisely in applying reason that we will find a way out of this nightmare called the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I feel intimately connected to Israel, having lived there and spent many subsequent visits leading groups on pilgrimage. I serve as National Secretary of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the largest grassroots Middle East peace group in America, and I have dedicated a great deal of my rabbinate and personal life to working for peace and a just end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And it has come at great personal cost to me, for the Jewish-American emotional landscape is completely out of whack when it comes to talking about Israel. Good, well-meaning people with whom I agree on most issues see me as a traitor to the Jewish people; a young, naive and ignorant leader who, with age and maturity, will understand that only through might will Israel come to terms with the Arabs. Negotiations have been futile in the past, so they will be futile in the future; diplomacy is for the weak, and what's more, there is no diplomacy in the Arab world. Egypt in 1978? Luck. Jordan in 1994? More luck. Oslo failed because of the Arabs alone; Camp David 2000 failed because of the Arabs alone. When I grow up, these folks tell me, I will come to understand the real truth. Israel is under siege and we must stand with Israel, no matter what.

When I try to bring up the Occupation, the settlement project, or the unilateral pull-outs from Lebanon and Gaza as examples of situations in which Israel has made mistakes, there is furor. As Kook said, human reason cannot begin to explain our connection to Israel. Yet, the irony is that it will only be reason, not emotion, which will prepare us to end this conflict. Israel cannot thrive, let alone survive, as long as the Occupation and settlements continue. Prime Minister Sharon, before his tragic illness, understood this, and was beginning to articulate this reasonable position. Prime Minister Rabin (z'l) understood this and paid with his life. The collective blinders that we have put on in regard to Israel are now driving an even greater wedge between us and the Israeli populace, most of whom are ready to end the conflict and understand the means to get there. We American Jews need to find a way to see the damage we are causing by continuing to perpetuate a myth that Israel is the great victim to the Palestinians' great attack.

Israel is remarkable, and it has achieved incredible advancements in its short history as a nation, but not without blemishes. The Occupation is a blemish that must be ended and wiped from the body of Israel. The Palestinians have their blemishes too, and it is up to their leaders to deal with them. But that must never stop us from dealing with our own, looking in the mirror and seeing the whole truth. The end of the conflict, and with it, the beginning of Israel's life as a normal nation, will only come about when Israel and the Palestinians have the courage to acknowledge their collective failures, apologize for their respective mistakes and pledge to move forward with mutual recognition and understanding. This is not weak or naive; this is the prophetic calling of our people, the greatest Torah lesson that we can bring to bear on this tragic century-old conflict: teshuva, the process of renewing, repenting and returning is our only hope. Teshuva involves faith, the faith to hope in a better future, and reason, as we rationally and honestly examine ourselves, our motivations, and our actions. After sixty years of life, and sixty years of war, we need to overcome Rav Kook's block on human reason if we are to ever have a hope of an Israel living in peace. This is not naive; this is redemptive.

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater is the spiritual leader of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center and National Secretary of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom. He can be reached at rabbijoshua@pjtc.net.

Grater, Joshua L. 2008. Teshuva: Our only hope. Tikkun. 23(3):44-45.