Dear friends,
In honor of Hanukah and prayers for an end to the violence against Gaza. Please forgive the length. If you feel moved, please pass this on to those who might benefit from these reflections.
This is in response to the correspondence from friends and colleagues in the Jewish community who are using the story of Hanukah to justify the use of bombing Gaza as permitted self-defense. I believe the story of Hanukah teaches us that, ‘Not by military might or power, but only by spirit’ that we shall achieve redemption. (This verse from Zecharia is the passage chosen by Talmudic sages to read during Hanukkah. Which one is it? Which account is ‘truer’ to tradition? What should we do?
First of all, all of our hearts grieve for the loss of life. Hundreds of Gazans are being killed as we speak. While Hamas firing rockets on Israeli civilians is a crime against humanity, so is Israel’s bombing Palestinian civilian population centers, as is Israel’s denying the people of Gaza food and medicine and resources which has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, as is the entire project of occupation. As this tragedy continues to unfold, how do we construct the road to peace? How do we increase light in this terrible situation?
Let us call for an immediate end to the siege of Gaza, an end to the firing of rockets into Israel and an immediate return to the ceasefire. And then, let us call for meaningful negotiations that result in concrete advances toward peace based on mutual recognition, systematic equality and good neighbor policies in the land that both people share.
For those who justify defensive violence on the basis of the Macabean struggle in 165 BCE that resulted in taking back the Temple in Jerusalem, I believe that then, as now, militarism is a fatal mistake and does not bring lasting or temporary peace. Roger Kamenitz once commented: If one is compassionate, then one has a compassionate Torah. If one is angry, one’s Torah is also angry. All the more so if one believes that violence can ever be redemptive.
As Rabbi Brant Rosen taught on a bus to Persepolis in Iran during the 8th Fellowship of Reconciliation Interfaith Delegation to Iran, the concept of rodef (pursuer) in the context of permissible self-defense appears only once in the Talmud, briefly. However an entire perek~chapter is given to ‘gadol ha-shalom’, Great is Peace. Rodef Shalom the pursuit of peace is the core operating principle in the Torah. I believe the message of Torah and Talmud councils us to embrace the miracle of peace rather than place our faith in the sword. That is, I believe, also the message of Hanukah given to us by the sages. The Talmudic sages did not spend too much time on the Macabean victory. One sentence. After all, the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The people of Israel two thousand years ago were living under Roman occupation. Rather, the people and the sages emphasized a story about the miracle of the oil and proposed a new ceremonial way to proclaim continuity and hope: lighting a hanukiah in the window at dusk to proclaim the miracle of light in a time of darkness. Lighting candles was their form of resistance to death and persecution. It worked. We survived.
The VAST MAJORITY of teachers within our tradition have not been kind to warriors. There are so many hundreds of examples of the Jewish preference for ‘the book over the sword’, that one can easily argue that pacifism is a majority NOT a minority concept in Jewish religion. A few sentences about self-defense in our tradition can hardly compare to the overwhelming preference that “Individuals and entire peoples must order their lives according to what is taught: A human being should concern herself more than she not injure others than she not be injured.* For when a human tries to KEEP WATCH/shomer that his or her fist not injure others, by that very act she enthrones in the world, the God of truth and righteousness and adds power to the realm of justice. (*Tosafot of B. Kama 23b)
Pacifism is a highly rational system of belief with a long historical track record whose achievements can be measured. My faith is also rooted in the belief that, in the long run, constructive nonviolence is the better road to peace and security than use of arms or violence. I realize there is much more to say on the subject of nonviolence. Here is Rebbe Nachman of Bratislav on the topic:
”Many stupid beliefs people once held, such as idol worship that demanded child sacrifice, etc., thank God, have disappeared. But, as of yet, the foolish belief in the pursuit of war… has not disappeared. What great thinkers they must be! What ingenuity they must possess to invent amazing weapons that kill thousands of people at once! Is there any greater stupidity than this? To murder so many people for nothing?” Rebbe Nachman of Bratislav during the Napoleonic wars.
Here is Mariane Pearl, wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl: “They want to destroy hope, therefore I shall preserve it by any possible means. They want to kill trust. Thus I will reach out to others, Africans, Asians, Arabs, Americans and Jews alike. They want to imprison people in labels and stereotypes. I will strive to maintain a dialogue, always focusing on the individuals rather than the symbol. They want to kill joy in me, thus I will laugh again. They want to paralyze me, therefore I will take action. They want to silence me–therefore I will speak out. ”
Reb Zalman Schachter, Rabbi Everett Gendler and many others agreed to sit on the elders’ council of Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence to give witness to that faith. We are committed to a daily renewal of our intention to follow the path of nonviolence~shomer shalom. Like one who follows the practice of shomer kashrut and shomer shabbat, we are shomrei shalom. Our practice involves not causing intentional harm as well as a religions opposition to war and militarism as well as a commitment to constructing peace through positive action. While the ‘right’ to self-defense is embraced, it is embraced without resorting to intentionally causing physical, emotional or structural harm. Shomrei Shalom rely upon collective peace action, deep study and practice and a lifetime of choices. Like all religious action, teshuvah (repentance) is possible if one strays from one’s intended path. Teshuvah itself incorporates reconciliation and restorative justice.
For the sake of peace, mipnei darkhei shalom, let us place peace action as our shviti~our constant longing for the Presence to manifest before us. There are 10,000 paths of shalom.
Since when is dropping bombs upon innocent people one of those paths? Since when is starving people or denying them medicine justified under any circumstances? Since when is imprisoning people behind walled security fences, cutting down their olive trees, stealing their land, imprisoning them without legal access, deporting them and humiliating them at checkpoints in any way permissible under the category of self-defense? No matter how I turn it and turn it, I cannot find justification for the amount of suffering inflicted upon my brothers and sisters in Gaza, the West Bank or inside the Green Line. Let us join our voices to the voices of the Shministim, the young Israelis who are choosing prison rather than inflicting harm. Let us create a vast Jewish movement for change in our communities rooted in nonviolence. This is the time.
Violence is rooted in fear and despair as well as the ability to act without restraint. Let us embrace the miracle of hope and peace by calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the siege of Gaza. Let us be the voice of restraint. Make it a public witness. Place your faith in acts of peace. Do not be silent in the face of violence. Let your voice be another candle in the darkness,
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Shomeret Shalom