Rabbi Wendy Pein's Blog

The following has been adapted from Rabbi Pein's sermon at Temple Israel on Friday night, March 10, 2023:

The conflict between the executive branch and the Supreme Court in Israel is a longstanding issue that has been ongoing for many years. At the heart of the conflict are the issues of judicial activism and the role of the Supreme Court in the Israeli political system.

The Israeli Supreme Court is known for being an independent and powerful judicial body, and it has often been criticized for its tendency to intervene in political matters. The executive branch, which includes the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, has accused the Supreme Court of overstepping its bounds and encroaching on the powers of the elected government.

The conflict has also been fueled by the appointment of new judges to the Supreme Court, with the executive branch often seeking to appoint judges who are more sympathetic to its views. This has led to accusations that the government is attempting to politicize the judiciary and undermine the independence of the Court.

Despite the ongoing conflict, the Israeli Supreme Court remains one of the most respected and influential courts in the world, and it continues to play a key role in shaping Israeli law and politics.

At this point reading this blog, you may be questioning my writing skills, thinking,  Isn't this a little dry?

Lest you fear that the rest of the blog is going to be as dry, I should reveal that this introduction was actually written by the new Artificial Intelligence software, Chat GPT.   Even though Chat GPT can only draw from information from up to 2021 , it did not do a bad job of giving a foundational explanation about the simmering al political conflict that has recently been erupting in Israel. 

In the midst of this political conflict, I, along with 250 other Reform rabbis, recently attended the  Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) yearly convention which this year was held in Israel.

On the outbound flight to Israel, I found myself in a window seat, scrunched in next to two yeshiva buchers, two Orthodox men who were traveling to a Yeshiva in Israel.  Seeing my seat assignment, I was worried that my companions would be uncomfortable sitting next to me.  As it turns out, my flight companions could not have been more respectful and helpful. When I struggled to put my way too heavy carry-on in the overhead seat compartment, they jumped up and helped me. While I slept, the flight attendants passed out water, and they took one for me and offered it to me when I woke up. I wish all interactions in the Jewish community could be that respectful.

During our week, Israel was experiencing extremely traumatic division. The balance within the society that attempts to keep so many factions stable is being dramatically challenged, and no one can tell if that balance will be restored.

The CCAR Convention opened with welcoming remarks from Thomas Nides, the United States Ambassador to Israel.  Nides grew up in Minnesota and describes himself as a liberal, Reform Jew. He talked to us as if among friends, and he views his role as offering advice to Israel from a position of love and respect.  Nides stated  that he views President Biden as a true friend of Israel and recalled Biden’s statement that, “You do not have to be Jewish in order to be a Zionist.”   

Nides shared his view that the growth of the Jewish population of settlers on the West Bank presents the most serious challenge to the future of a 2 –state solution with the Palestinians, and he supports trying to curb the growth of Jewish settlements there. In terms of the conflict between the Knesset and the Supreme Court, Nides hoped Bibi would take a step back and engage in a compromise solution that the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has been trying to facilitate behind closed doors.

This optimistic tone was short-lived, as we woke up the next morning to find that the Knesset had passed the first in a series of bills to overhaul Israel’s Supreme Court.  

If these bills are passed,it would allow a simple parliamentary majority to override Israel’s Supreme Court, limit its’ jurisdiction and give the ruling coalition the power to appoint judges.

That first morning, we listened to a panel of speakers including Member of the Knesset Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Labor Party, an Israeli Reform Rabbi. Kariv who struck a somber tone and  acknowledged that the civil protests occurring outside the Knesset were the  largest protests in Israel’s history.  Kariv acknowledged that many of the major issues in Israel today are partly a result of Israel’s Labour party failure to revive the party’s message after the failure of the Oslo accords to achieve a 2-state solution. Kariv’s perspective is that the internal tensions regarding Israel's democracy and the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians living under Israeli authority have been brewing for years and yet, despite all this, the judicial branch has been crucial to keeping these tensions in check. Kariv affirmed that the bills being proposed in the Knesset are a threat to this balance.

Despite all the problems in Israel, MK Mirav Michaeli, Chair of the Labor Party, affirmed the need to find a solution with Prime Minister Netanyahu as she  recalled former PM Golda Meir's famous statement that, “A Jew does not have the privilege of being a pessimist.”

In addition to hearing from these interesting speakers, the CCAR Convention also provided us with many opportunities to get out among Israelis and learn about Israeli society from their perspective.

As a result, I spent a day at the Tel Ha-Shomer hospital, the largest hospital in central Israel to learn about spiritual caregiving.  What is beautiful is that the hospital serves as an oasis of peace.  Here within this Israeli hospital – Israelis, Arabs, Bedouin, Druze, and Palestinians all work together on staff peacefully to care for their patients.  Interestingly,  Reform rabbis who serve as hospital chaplains in Israel are not allowed to bring up their role as Reform rabbis - as the subject of Jewish pluralism is too contentious a topic in Israel and can serve as a barrier to their role as spiritual caregivers.

On Friday, before Shabbat began,  I  ran a 5K race as part of the Tel Aviv marathon,  along with a small but dedicated group of rabbis. The marathon brought together all streams of Israeli society - the secular, religious, modern Orthodox, and Arabs – we all joined together as one community in the race.  As we ran, there were signs above us and on the sides of the road, stating, “We are running for democracy” and “we have an obligation to protest” the current legislation reforms being proposed in the Knesset.   As we moved to the starting line, a chain link fence caught my eye, as it was draped with all kinds of shirts, jackets, and sweatshirts, just hanging there.  I realized that these belonged to everyone running the race.  As there were no lockers on site, people had left clothes that they wore to the race but did not want to wear while running, with the belief that these clothes would be there when they finished.  This demonstrates the still strong sense of connectedness in Israel, that many Israelis feel that they are part of one large mishpacha or Israeli family.

That Friday night, the participants in the conference fanned out across nine of the 52 Reform Jewish communities in Israel.  Unlike their Orthodox counterparts, Reform Jewish communities do not receive any funding from the Israeli government, a government that refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of Jewish pluralism in Israel. Instead, the Reform Jewish communities in Israel have to fundraise from among us, North American Jewish communities, and among their own congregants.  I attended a Kabbalat Shabbat service in Hod HaSharon, a small, grass-roots community, about 8 miles northeast of Tel Aviv. Israeli Rabbi Efrat Rotem led the intimate Shabbat service in a greenhouse, as the community leads an urban gardening initiative with the hope that it will attract the attention of local secular Israelis and their families.  A beacon of light from the Israeli Reform Movement is the publication of a new Israeli Reform prayer book, Tefilat - Ha-Adam, prayers of the Human Heart.  It is filled with commentaries and poetry by Israeli writers, and its remarkable scholarship is reflective that the Israeli Reform Movement can serve as a center of scholarship and a source of spirituality for the worldwide Jewish community.

On Saturday night, I, along with members of the convention, boarded tour buses to attend the civil protests in Tel Aviv.  There were over 160, 000 civil protesters on the street, and the bus could not make it near the demonstrations.  We walked along with other citizens of Israel, holding banners and Israeli flags, MK Gilad Kariv among us as we were able to watch the demonstration’s speakers on large screens.  Throughout the talks, the protesters would erupt into chanting support “Democratia,” and “Busha/Busha/Busha” which means Shame, Shame, shame on the government.  Our very own Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union of Reform Judaism, addressed the civil protesters in Hebrew with these words,” 

“...  we are here out of solidarity and out of concern, a concern shared by the vast majority of Diaspora Jews. The Israel we love is Jewish AND democratic. Threats to Israel’s democracy threaten Israeli's standing in the global community of democratic nations. Threats to Israel’s democracy also threaten the well-being of the global Jewish people, who confront growing anti-Semitism. We will never turn back or walk away from this place we love. We’re going to lean in even harder and fight for the values of this country alongside all of you. “

His talk resulted in resounding applause from the civil protesters.

Since returning from Israel, the political conflict in Israel has only intensified. The Israeli government is making incremental progress in overhauling the judiciary.  There have been horrific killings of Israelis in the West Bank by Palestinians and of Palestinians in Huwara by Israelis.  Of the Israeli attack against Palestinians, Rabbi Jeff Salkin recently wrote, “these actions are a stain upon the Jewish soul. We speak of  tikkun olam, we must now speak of tikkun ha-am, repairing the Jewish people, and yes, we must also speak of Tikkun ha-medinah, repairing the Jewish state.”  

In rabbinical school, I was taught that sermons should end with a nechemta, words of hope and comfort.  For this, I could not turn to Chat GPT.

Instead, hope was provided by a cousin in Israel who sent me a text message this morning saying that there are signs of compromise in Israel’s government.  She said, “We will have to compromise. There is no choice.” 

In addition,   I turned to the words from our liturgy. During our Shabbat morning prayers, we recite a blessing for creation which includes these words, “Or Chadash Al Tzion  Ta’er," which asks God to “shine a new light upon Zion.”This prayer reflects our ancient belief that Zion, the spiritual name for Jerusalem, should be a source of light, wisdom, knowledge, and spiritual illumination.

In the spirit of Reform Judaism, we cannot merely pray, asking God to cause light to come forth from Tzion, but rather, we need to take action to help make this happen.  As North American Diaspora Jews, the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, we need to engage in the dialogue and denounce the current Israeli government’s attempts to undermine democracy and their support for acts of vengeance.  We need to support our Israeli counterparts in Israel who are seeking to bring the light of modern, moderate Judaism to Israeli citizens. 

A new prayer for Israel may be,“ OrTzach Al Tzyion Navi, “May we bring a fresh light to shine upon Zion"1, and may we help heal the divisions within Israel and Our Jewish mishpacha, our Jewish family , so that Israel, the state and people,  may continue to be a source of light for us and the world.

^{1 With gratitude to CJL Instructors Ariela Wehrle and Oren Neiman for their input on this prayer.}

Recommended organizations to support Reform Judaism in Israel and the work toward conflict resolution in Israel:

Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) - Seeks to support civil rights for a just and egalitarian Israel based on Israeli law and Jewish tradition

The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism in Israel (IMPJ)

Roots - seeks to foster a grassroots movement of understanding, nonviolence, and transformation among Israelis and Palestinians

A great book that covers the history of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

Can We Talk about Israel?  by Daniel Sokatch