Israel and world Jewry needs an ample infusion of Jewish activism to cope with the coming challenges.
One definition of an activist is one who refuses to accept a situation deemed unjust and attempts to rectify it. To an activist, an unfair status quo is unacceptable. It is often the activists who, by taking a stand, changed the world. Think of all the accomplishments due to the initiative taken by those who cared; how activism has saved and improved so many lives.
Activism is certainly not new to the Jews. Judaism, to some degree, began with activism. The patriarch Abraham did not tolerate the polytheism of his times. He campaigned, debated, and endeavored to eradicate the lure of idolatry and to spread the acceptance of monotheism. A trail of Jewish activism follows Abraham through history.
Jewish activism is about perpetuating Jewish continuity. It helps to promote Jewish education, protect Jewish rights and provide for those in need. Then there are times when a lack of activism when it was sorely needed also had its impact, sometimes catastrophic.
Over three thousand five hundred years after Abraham, there is the abysmal failure of Jewish leaders in the twentieth century. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the US State Department dodged efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust, but the American Jewish community also bears a very heavy burden of responsibility. Jewish leaders should have abandoned their fears of domestic anti-Semitism and mobilized both Jew and non-Jew to forcefully speak out on behalf of efforts to rescue European Jewry. Had this happened, the president would much more likely have taken action. The record of inaction of major Jewish organizations is shameful and constituted a monumental disaster.
Jewish activist Peter Bergson and his Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe defied the Jewish establishment and acted to bring pressure upon the US government to act. By aggressively publicizing the plight of European Jewry and the need for action, the Bergson Group helped galvanize grassroots support behind rescue efforts. Their efforts did achieve some success. Historians calculate that over two hundred thousand refugees were rescued as a result of belated US intervention that Bergson's group brought about.
I recently attended a vigil coordinated by a group calling for the resignation of Israel's leaders for the debacles that took place in Lebanon this past summer. The rally's organizers and attendees, from all walks in Israeli society, share a collective frustration at their government's failure to rise to the occasion and more effectively manage the war with Hizbullah. The rally slogan directed at their leaders was: "Defeatists go home." These leaders have not faced up to the obvious failures repeatedly rehashed by soldiers at the front and they have deflected the blame upon others. The vigil and other similar protests, however, were a success, as they helped to bring public attention to these failures. They prompted Israel's leaders to at least admit that the war could have been more of a success. The louder the protests, the more public participation, the more those leaders will have to answer the charges and show some accountability.
In my own past days of Jewish activism, I spoke out on behalf of oppressed Russian Jewry (then Soviet Jewry) and their rights, and also on behalf of Jews oppressed in other lands. I spoke out against the pressure on Israel to make concessions by the Carter administration. I also spoke out against distorted media attacks on Israel, and also on behalf of the Jews who languished in poverty within American inner city neighborhoods. I gave much of my personal time, deeming it necessary to accomplish the many tasks at hand.
Decades later, I reflect upon those days. No one compelled me to act. On the contrary, within the confines of the easy life of America, it would have been easy to stand on the sidelines and simply concoct justifications that these fights are not mine. But of course, we are all one, obligated by our tradition to be responsible for each other.
These days, activism on behalf of Israel is as important as ever.
On October 5, 2006, under United States pressure, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he has demanded that Hamas recognize Israel. The previous day, Abbas was far more candid, as he told PA TV that neither Hamas nor Fatah (his own party) nor the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation Palestine) is required to recognize Israel. However, Abbas's message to Secretary Rice resonated. Just days later, while addressing a pro-Palestinian group, Condoleezza Rice vigorously spoke out on behalf of a Palestinian State, stating that the establishment of such a state would be a "legacy for America."
As happened many times over the past decades, Palestinian leaders are coerced by the United States and other Western allies to feign acceptance of Israel. From Yasser Arafat's "magic words" uttered in 1988, to the hand-raising vote in the PA parliament in Gaza almost ten years later, to today's examples of 'moderation,' the charade goes on and on.
Jewish activists and their allies can set the record straight by pointing out the many contradictions in the rhetoric. They can articulate what the goals of the PA truly are and encourage Secretary Rice to rethink her pronouncements. The activist can make his voice count. By raising one's voice, by publicizing the issues, the activist can inform, educate and sway opinion.
Now, Israel is once again facing mounting pressure to implement further territorial concessions and further put its security at risk. Fellow Jews and friends of Israel, find the activist within you. For the sake of Jerusalem, do not be silent. Never again be silent!
One definition of an activist is one who refuses to accept a situation deemed unjust and attempts to rectify it. To an activist, an unfair status quo is unacceptable. It is often the activists who, by taking a stand, changed the world. Think of all the accomplishments due to the initiative taken by those who cared; how activism has saved and improved so many lives.
Activism is certainly not new to the Jews. Judaism, to some degree, began with activism. The patriarch Abraham did not tolerate the polytheism of his times. He campaigned, debated, and endeavored to eradicate the lure of idolatry and to spread the acceptance of monotheism. A trail of Jewish activism follows Abraham through history.
Jewish activism is about perpetuating Jewish continuity. It helps to promote Jewish education, protect Jewish rights and provide for those in need. Then there are times when a lack of activism when it was sorely needed also had its impact, sometimes catastrophic.
Over three thousand five hundred years after Abraham, there is the abysmal failure of Jewish leaders in the twentieth century. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the US State Department dodged efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust, but the American Jewish community also bears a very heavy burden of responsibility. Jewish leaders should have abandoned their fears of domestic anti-Semitism and mobilized both Jew and non-Jew to forcefully speak out on behalf of efforts to rescue European Jewry. Had this happened, the president would much more likely have taken action. The record of inaction of major Jewish organizations is shameful and constituted a monumental disaster.
Jewish activist Peter Bergson and his Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe defied the Jewish establishment and acted to bring pressure upon the US government to act. By aggressively publicizing the plight of European Jewry and the need for action, the Bergson Group helped galvanize grassroots support behind rescue efforts. Their efforts did achieve some success. Historians calculate that over two hundred thousand refugees were rescued as a result of belated US intervention that Bergson's group brought about.
I recently attended a vigil coordinated by a group calling for the resignation of Israel's leaders for the debacles that took place in Lebanon this past summer. The rally's organizers and attendees, from all walks in Israeli society, share a collective frustration at their government's failure to rise to the occasion and more effectively manage the war with Hizbullah. The rally slogan directed at their leaders was: "Defeatists go home." These leaders have not faced up to the obvious failures repeatedly rehashed by soldiers at the front and they have deflected the blame upon others. The vigil and other similar protests, however, were a success, as they helped to bring public attention to these failures. They prompted Israel's leaders to at least admit that the war could have been more of a success. The louder the protests, the more public participation, the more those leaders will have to answer the charges and show some accountability.
In my own past days of Jewish activism, I spoke out on behalf of oppressed Russian Jewry (then Soviet Jewry) and their rights, and also on behalf of Jews oppressed in other lands. I spoke out against the pressure on Israel to make concessions by the Carter administration. I also spoke out against distorted media attacks on Israel, and also on behalf of the Jews who languished in poverty within American inner city neighborhoods. I gave much of my personal time, deeming it necessary to accomplish the many tasks at hand.
Decades later, I reflect upon those days. No one compelled me to act. On the contrary, within the confines of the easy life of America, it would have been easy to stand on the sidelines and simply concoct justifications that these fights are not mine. But of course, we are all one, obligated by our tradition to be responsible for each other.
These days, activism on behalf of Israel is as important as ever.
On October 5, 2006, under United States pressure, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he has demanded that Hamas recognize Israel. The previous day, Abbas was far more candid, as he told PA TV that neither Hamas nor Fatah (his own party) nor the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation Palestine) is required to recognize Israel. However, Abbas's message to Secretary Rice resonated. Just days later, while addressing a pro-Palestinian group, Condoleezza Rice vigorously spoke out on behalf of a Palestinian State, stating that the establishment of such a state would be a "legacy for America."
As happened many times over the past decades, Palestinian leaders are coerced by the United States and other Western allies to feign acceptance of Israel. From Yasser Arafat's "magic words" uttered in 1988, to the hand-raising vote in the PA parliament in Gaza almost ten years later, to today's examples of 'moderation,' the charade goes on and on.
Jewish activists and their allies can set the record straight by pointing out the many contradictions in the rhetoric. They can articulate what the goals of the PA truly are and encourage Secretary Rice to rethink her pronouncements. The activist can make his voice count. By raising one's voice, by publicizing the issues, the activist can inform, educate and sway opinion.
Now, Israel is once again facing mounting pressure to implement further territorial concessions and further put its security at risk. Fellow Jews and friends of Israel, find the activist within you. For the sake of Jerusalem, do not be silent. Never again be silent!