Rav Kook Institute Book Fair
Rav Kook Institute Book FairKoby Katz
Over two thousand years of Jewish history vindicate this statement (improperly) attributed to Mohammed, the founder of Islam. Unfortunately, Israeli policymakers have yet to tap the full potential of knowledge and literature in their peacemaking efforts with the Arab world. So far, these efforts have been mainly promoted in the name of shared security and economic interests. Although these interests are dear to elites in both camps, it is clear that genuine long-term peace needs to be grounded on mutual respect and understanding at the grassroots level.

A few years ago efforts were made to translate an anthology of Rabbi Kook’s writings into Arabic. The goal was not to proselytize, but to show Israel’s neighbors the beauty of Judaism keeping Jews attached to their traditions for thousands of years. These efforts failed due to an inability to secure $10,000 to finance the translation and online publication of the book.

This was a missed opportunity, considering the value of exposing Arabs to the best of Israeli and Jewish culture. Who knows how many people who were taught all their lives that Judaism is a racist supremacist ideology would have appreciated the ethics of Rav Kook? Who knows how many readers of texts such as these could have been won over for the camp of peace and coexistence in the Middle East?

Translating only one book would not have made a big difference. However, the potential benefits of making the most intelligent books ever written about Judaism, Israel and the Jewish people accessible online in Arabic are enormous.

Yet translating literature about Israel and Judaism nto Arabic could serve far more than just Israeli PR efforts.

Since 2012 a Brazilian law allows inmates who read and write reports on the books read to trim up to 48 days a year from their prison sentences. This law has been credited with reducing recidivism among inmates taking advantage of the law.

A plausible case can be made that an analogous law, allowing security prisoners in Israel to slightly reduce their prison sentences by reading and writing reports about books on Judaism, Jewish history and the Jewish people could contribute to deradicalizing their mindset. Such a law would certainly breach the extremist echo chamber surrounding security prisoners.

Israel spends over 20 billion shekels annually for defense. Israel invests over 1.5 billion shekels a year in its ministry of foreign affairs. It would be a profitable investment for a tiny sliver of these resources to be spent on making the best of Israeli and Jewish literature available in Arabic. Most importantly, doing so might eventually save human lives.

Rafael Castro is a Noahide Italian-Colombian independent political analyst and English & Politics high-school teacher in Berlin. He is delighted to receive praise and criticism at rafaelcastro78@gmail.com