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November 10, 2023 (26 Cheshvan 5784) Parasha Chayai Sarah - A Repeated History: 100 Years Later
Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you well and coping with the terrible situations both at home and abroad. Our hearts and prayers remain steadfast with our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, who are actively and courageously defending our precious and eternal homeland each and every day. I encourage you to join us, in person, this Saturday morning at 10:00 am for Shabbat services, so we can again stand in solidarity and pray together as a sacred community. Services will also be accessible on our Zoom prayer link. This Shabbat, we will have the privilege of hearing the Haftarah chanted by our dear friend Dr. Avi Yakobi, who will be celebrating a special birthday. Mazal Tov to Avi, Diana, and the entire family! And now, a glance back in the rearview mirror, some one hundred years… As you are surely aware, the premise of Zionism relies on a construct of nationalism, which is dependent upon an historical, primordial identity of a people, connected through the lens of religion, history, and territory. The Jewish people indisputably have such a relationship with the Land of Israel and for those of you who consider yourselves students of the history of Zionism, the name Vladimir (Zeev) Jabotinsky should ring a bell. Jabotinsky was a 19th century, Odessa born, Zionist leader, journalist, and orator, who founded the militant Zionist Revisionist movement, which eventually played a crucial role in the establishment of the State of Israel. A polyglot and prolific writer, he began his career in 1898 as a foreign correspondent. Traveling throughout the world, he became an expert regarding acculturation and nationalism, specifically, as these concepts materialized throughout various European countries. By 1903, Jabotinsky began to expound coherent Zionist philosophies for the restoration and creation of a Jewish national state in Palestine. During the next decade, he continued to work as a journalist while crystallizing his particularistic Jewish ideology. Often at odds with Theodore Herzl, Jabotinsky was nonetheless a significant and notable Jewish thinker. This year marks the 100th anniversary of one of his most famous essays entitled, The Iron Wall. A century ago, recognizing the dignity and presence of an Arab population in the land, Jabotinsky remarked, “I am prepared to take an oath binding ourselves and our descendants, that we shall never do anything contrary to the principle of equal rights, and that we shall never try to eject anyone. This seems to me a fairly peaceful credo.” While there is discrimination in Israel (as there is in all other countries), the State of Israel, as an entity, has afforded equal opportunities to those willing to live in peace, such that today, Israeli Arabs work in all professional capacities, are entitled to government support in a myriad of contexts, attend university, are entitled to vote, hold political office and even serve on the Supreme Court. Israelis Arabs flourish in comparison to their militant cousins in Gaza. Jabotinsky continues, “But it is quite another question whether it is always possible to realize a peaceful aim by peaceful means. For the answer to this question does not depend on our attitude to the Arabs; but entirely on the attitude of the Arabs to us and to Zionism.” Unfortunately, history teaches that despite ongoing extensions of the proverbial olive branch of peace, Palestinians have for these last one hundred years rejected all variations of a two-state solution. Whether through the Peel Commission of 1937, the partition plan of 1948, the Geneva talks of 1973, the Oslo accords of 1993, the Camp David accords of 2000 (when they were offered 95% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza), or other backdoor proposals too numerous to mention, all tenders to coexist, demilitarize, and accept the responsibilities of self-determination through national sovereignty have been summarily rejected. We pray for peace and tranquility while they pray for war and turbulence. Concluding his essay, Jabotinsky lamented that the Palestinian Arabs of the time, “Will never agree to any Jewish presence in the land.” Sadly and pathetically, the recapitulation of that concept finds its voice in the vibrant and despicable sentiments so gleefully shared today in the genocidal chant of “From the River to the Sea.” Recognizing the immutable Palestinian rejection of Jews in the Holy Land, Jabotinsky encouraged the establishment of what he referred to as an Iron Wall. That “Iron Wall” of which he expounded, however, was not a physical barrier, but rather an immovable presence and power of a Jewish population prepared to fight for their culture, salvation, homeland, and security. Medinat Yisrael, is in every way, the embodiment of Jabotinsky’s vision and dream: an Iron Wall of love, life, brotherhood, and Torah. Thank God, today, our people have presence through population, devotion, strength, and unending determination. As we enter into Shabbat, we pray for the safety of IDF, the return of the hostages, the minimization of all casualties, and for an eternal, yet elusive peace, which may never be achieved. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
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