Progressive Rabbi Banned From Speaking at Peace Rally Because of His Pro-Israel Stance

Rabbi Michael Lerner can not speak at the peace rally in San Francisco, February 16th. That was the response given when various groups proposed Rabbi Lerner, thinking it logical to have him speak since he is one of the most prominent peace voices in the Jewish world.

But Rabbi Lerner was blackballed and banned by A.N.S.W.E.R., one of the four organizing committees for the S.F. demonstration expected to attract hundreds of thousands. The reason: Lerner had been critical of the way that A.N.S.W.E.R. has used the anti-war demonsrtations to put forward anti-Israel propaganda.

Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, is himself an outspoken critic of Israeli policy. But he is also a Zionist who believes in the State of Israel and supported his son to serve in the Israeli army in a combat union (the tzanchanim or paratroopers). But Lerner and Tikkun magazine have been equally critical of acts of terror by Palestinians, and they have called for Palestinians to follow a path of non-violence. In his 2003 book Healing Israel/Palestine, Lerner calls for a "progressive middle path" that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, and argues that the best interests of each can only be achieved if the other side also achieves its best interests.

Other coalitions supporting the rally , including the United For Peace and Justice and the Not In Our Name, went along with the ban, arguing that they had previously accepted as a condition for participation in the demonstration the agreement that if one of the groups vetoed a speaker that all would have to go along. A.N.S.W.E.R. spokesperson, speaking on the Brian Lehrer show of WNYC, said that they would not agree to have a "pro-Israel" speaker at their rally. Meanwhile, there are many in the organized Jewish world who will not Lerner speak because he is too critical of Israeli policy.

Beyt Tikkun synagogue, where Rabbi Lerner serves as a rabbi in San Francisco, issued the following statement: "Rabbi Lerner has urged us to continue to support the demonstration for peace on February 16th, and we will be there to show that many Jews oppose this war. However, we do not believe that had A.N.S.W.E.R. been criticized by a major feminist or gay leader and then vetoed that leader to speak at a demonstration that the other coalition partners would go along with that. So why should criticism of anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing be treated differently? A.N.S.W.E.R. doesn't believe that Israel has a right to exist. We are enthusiastic supporters of Israel, even though totally critical of its current policies. So why should our voice of critique of A.N.S.W.E.R.'s anti-Israel policy serve as a justification for excluding our rabbi from speaking? This seems a dangerous double-standard and conveys, probably unintentionally, the message that somehow anti-Semitism is not a significant issue for anti-war protesters."

Rabbi Lerner said, "I'm honored that some people wanted me to speak, and dismayed that the specific reason I'm not allowed to speak is my criticism of the anti-Israel bias of A.N.S.W.E.R. But I believe that the message of peace is far more pressing at the moment than the message of fighting the anti-Semitism among some of the march's organizers."

Rabbi Lerner can be reached at 510-526 6889 or 415 575 1200.

The ethics of revenge--by a father who lost his son to terror
A speech made by Yitzhak Frankenthal, Chairman of the Families Forum, at a rally in Jerusalem on Saturday, July 27, 2002, outside the Prime Minister’s residence.

My beloved son Arik, my own flesh and blood, was murdered by Palestinians. My tall blue-eyed golden-haired son who was always smiling with the innocence of a child and the understanding of an adult. My son. If to hit his killers, innocent Palestinian children and other civilians would have to be killed, I would ask the security forces to wait for another opportunity. If the security forces were to kill innocent Palestinians as well, I would tell them they were no better than my son’s killers.

My beloved son Arik was murdered by a Palestinian. Should the security forces have information of this murderer’s whereabouts, and should it turn out that he was surrounded by innocent children and other Palestinian civilians, then – even if the security forces knew that the killer was planning another murderous attack that was to be launched within hours and they now had the choice of curbing a terror attack that would kill innocent Israeli civilians but at the cost of hitting innocent Palestinians, I would tell the security forces not to seek revenge but to try to avoid and prevent the death of innocent civilians, be they Israelis or Palestinians.

I would rather have the finger that pushes the trigger or the button that drops the bomb tremble before it kills my son’s murderer, than for innocent civilians to be killed. I would say to the security forces: do not kill the killer. Rather, bring him before an Israeli court. You are not the judiciary. Your only motivation should not be vengeance, but the prevention of any injury to innocent civilians.

Ethics are not black and white – they are all white. Ethics have to be free of vengefulness and rashness. Every act must be carefully weighed before a decision is made to see whether it meets the strict ethical criteria. Ethics cannot be left to the discretion of anyone who is frivolous or trigger-happy. Our ethics are hanging by a thread, at the mercy of every soldier and politician. I am not at all sure that I am willing to delegate my ethics to them.

It is unethical to kill innocent Israeli or Palestinian women and children. It is also unethical to control another nation and to lead it to lose its humaneness. It is patently unethical to drop a bomb that kills innocent Palestinians. It is blatantly unethical to wreak vengeance upon innocent bystanders. It is, on the other hand, supremely ethical to prevent the death of any human being. But if such prevention causes the futile death of others, the ethical foundation for such prevention is lost.

A nation that cannot draw the line is doomed to eventually apply unethical measures against its own people. The worst in my mind is not what has already happened but what I am sure one day will. And it will – because ethics are now being twisted and the political and military leadership does not even have the most basic integrity to say: "we are sorry".

We lost sight of our ethics long before the suicide bombings. The breaking point was when we started to control another nation. My son Arik was born into a democracy with a chance for a decent, settled life. Arik’s killer was born into an appalling occupation, into an ethical chaos. Had my son been born in his stead, he may have ended up doing the same. Had I myself been born into the political and ethical chaos that is the Palestinians’ daily reality, I would certainly have tried to kill and hurt the occupier; had I not, I would have betrayed my essence as a free man. Let all the self-righteous who speak of ruthless Palestinian murderers take a hard look in the mirror and ask themselves what they would have done had they been the ones living under occupation. I can say for myself that I, Yitzhak Frankenthal, would have undoubtedly become a freedom fighter and would have killed as many on the other side as I possibly could. It is this depraved hypocrisy that pushes the Palestinians to fight us relentlessly. Our double standard that allows us to boast the highest military ethics, while the same military slays innocent children. This lack of ethics is bound to corrupt us.

My son Arik was murdered when he was a soldier by Palestinian fighters who believed in the ethical basis of their struggle against the occupation. My son Arik was not murdered because he was Jewish but because he is part of the nation that occupies the territory of another.

I know these are concepts that are unpalatable, but I must voice them loud and clear, because they come from my heart – the heart of a father whose son did not get to live because his people were blinded with power. As much as I would like to do so, I cannot say that the Palestinians are to blame for my son’s death. That would be the easy way out, but it is we, Israelis, who are to blame because of the occupation. Anyone who refuses to heed this awful truth will eventually lead to our destruction.

The Palestinians cannot drive us away – they have long acknowledged our existence. They have been ready to make peace with us; it is we who are unwilling to make peace with them. It is we who insist on maintaining our control over them; it is we who escalate the situation in the region and feed the cycle of bloodshed. I regret to say it, but the blame is entirely ours.

I do not mean to absolve the Palestinians and by no means justify attacks against Israeli civilians. No attack against civilians can be condoned. But as an occupation force it is we who trample over human dignity, it is we who crush the liberty of Palestinians and it is we who push an entire nation to crazy acts of despair. Finally, I call on my brothers and sisters in the settlements – see what we have come to.

The Tikkun Community is working in the US to bring this kind of a message into the public arena. Here is how:

1. We are creating local Tikkun Communities in each region. Can you help us create one in your area? Contact us and we will help. Marisa@tikkun.org

2. We are creating a national Tikkun Campus Network for each college and university. Founding conference: Oct 11-14, NYC at John Jay College and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. If you know any college students or professors, tell them about it. Speakers include Rabbi Michael Lerner, Cornel West, and Susannah Heschel. More info: marisa@tikkun.org

3. We are organizing a daily media critique--to insist that the media give voice to the kinds of perspectives articulated above. To help us: media@tikkun.org

4. We are organizing a national Teach-In to Congress. We need people to come to Washington, D.C. from every Congressional district in the U.S.--and we are giving you plenty of advance notice to plan to be there. It will be April 27-29, 2003. Come and bring your friends--it's one way to get this perspective into public discourse

5. To make all the above happen, we need your help. Please JOIN the Tikkun Community (membership: $120/yr for incomes over $80k/yr, $80 for incomes $35k-$80k/yr; $40 for incomes under $35k/yr and students.. Or, if you don't want to join, just send us a tax-deductible contribution. We can't do this without your support--your agreement with the perspective feels good, but we actually need your involvement in some very concrete ways. Send the money to Tikkun Community, 2107 Van Ness Ave, Suite 302, S.F., Ca. 94109.

6. Please go to our website at least once a week and read through what is up there. www.tikkun.org Particularly check our Calendar, our Current Thinking, our Media Critique, and our Current Projects of The Tikkun Community.

This Rosh Hashana: bitter, sweet
A Jewish Guide to Traverse City | What's in a Rainbow? | News

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 9/18/2001

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year's festival that began last night, is traditionally a time of sweetness: apples with honey, warm wishes for a good year, a celebration of the birth of humanity.

But this year, few Jews are in a joyful mood.

Some members of area synagogues were killed in last week's airplane hijackings; all have members who are traumatized by the worst act of terrorism in the country's history.

Rabbis throughout Greater Boston, as around the country, found themselves tearing up prepared sermons, mostly about Israel, and writing new ones about evil, grief, and war. And they are placing a new emphasis on prayers for the country and its elected officials, as well on psalms associated with mourning and fear.

''There's no question about it: There will be a certain pall cast over the normally joyous celebration of the New Year, since we have suffered such a grievous blow to our country,'' said Rabbi Jonas Goldberg of Temple Sinai in Marblehead.

Because of the spike in concern about terrorism, security over the 10-day period of Jewish holidays that began last night is expected to be unusually tight. At the area's biggest synagogues, including Temple Israel in Boston and Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, plainclothes officers will mingle with worshipers and uniformed officers will be outside. Numerous smaller synagogues have hired security for the first time.

''We are at heightened alert,'' said Sharon's police chief, Joseph S. Bernstein. Newton police Lieutenant Paul D. Anastasia said officers will be visible at synagogues because ''there is just a sense that we need to be more careful and be reassuring.''

''People are concerned, and I can see why,'' said Brookline police Chief Daniel C. O'Leary.

Attendance at High Holy Day services is expected to be up, both because people who usually are uninterested in religion are now seeking the solace of worship, and because many people who had planned to visit family found themselves unwilling or unable to fly this week. Many synagogues reported record-breaking attendance at Friday night services last weekend.

''We're getting a lot of people coming out who we haven't seen in a while - people I haven't seen in temple in a year or two years,'' said Rabbi Dennis Ross of Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield. ''People are just shaken up, and they want the tradition.''

A number of New Yorkers have come to New England for the holidays, either because of synagogue closings or for relief.

''All day today and yesterday, we've been getting calls from people who left New York at the last minute,'' said Rabbi David Wolfman, regional director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. ''Some people just had to get out of the city.''

Eve Oster, a 21-year-old Brandeis University senior from Alabama, cited fear of terrorism and concern about airport chaos in deciding to cancel her flight home to Birmingham.

''I was looking forward to seeing my family, but there's a bunch of people who were left here, and it will be OK. I'm having dinner for my friends, and, yes, there will be lots of sweet things,'' she said.

Most rabbis are sticking to the traditional holiday liturgy, but some are adding elements to reflect last week's events. At the Devotion School in Brookline, a group of young Jewish adults will discuss their feelings as part of their service, and at Temple Israel, where a US flag has been moved into the atrium, worshipers will sing a patriotic song.

Although synagogues, unlike churches, generally do not collect money on religious holidays, some will distribute envelopes for an emergency relief fund for victims of Sept. 11.

Many rabbis who would have been talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead will be urging their congregants to safeguard the civil liberties of Muslim and Arab-Americans.

''When we hear about Muslim-Americans and Americans of Arab descent being victims of hate crimes, that's the way in which we must, at all costs, avoid becoming what we abhor,'' said Rabbi Bill Hamilton of Kehillath Israel.

There has been some debate about whether Jews should even attempt to persist with normal rituals, such as eating apples with honey, that symbolize their desire for a sweet year. (Jewish holidays are calculated with a lunar calendar and, according to traditional Jewish reckoning, today is the first day of the year 5762.)

''Shana tovah catches in your throat this year,'' said Rabbi Ronne Friedman of Temple Israel, using the Hebrew holiday greeting meaning ''Have a good year.''

''In most years, you offer that greeting without thought, but this year it feels difficult to extend that wish in a perfunctory manner,'' Friedman said. ''On the other hand, we live in a tradition that says there is an insistent obligation to proceed in search of good, even in the face of what we've been witness to.''

Most rabbis said it is important to stick to tradition.

''I think it's a mistake to turn Rosh Hashana into a time of mourning. It's better to turn it into a time of introspection,'' said Rabbi Rim Meirowitz of Temple Shir Tikvah in Winchester. ''Rosh Hashana is a celebration of the creation of the world, and I think the creation is still good. If we don't think that, we should just pack it in.''

In Brookline yesterday, shoppers seemed to agree, packing into the Jewish retailers that line Harvard Street.

''We all feel heavy-hearted,'' said Maxine Lyons of Newton, who was buying her holiday delicacies at the Butcherie. ''Usually, it's a happy time, full of promise, but now people are really feeling scared and deeply sad.''

But Lyons said she will serve the same sweet foods as always.

''We need to put out more sweetness to combat the bitter,'' she said.

Michael Paulson can be reached by e-mail at mpaulson@globe.com.

This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 9/18/2001.

© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.