The Lessons of November 29
Why I am attending the J-Street conference next week
We now plow ahead into the month of December, but before leaving November behind, we should note one important anniversary that passed this week. November 29 marked the 75th anniversary of the U.N. partition vote that paved the way for the birth of the State of Israel the following May. You can see above Yediot's headline from Tuesday marking the anniversary (see full-size pdf here). In the blue and white it says, "Celebrating the historic date - 75 years for November 29." The date is so famous it needs no further explanation and in fact you'll find a street named for "Kaf-Tet (29) November" in Jerusalem. See on the left side of the front page Yediot's front page from Nov. 30, 1947, with the bold headline, "Hebrew (Jewish) State1 - 33 voted in favor, 13 opposed, 10 abstained." Below is that tally sheet in English, signed by Jewish leaders present. Click on it to see a packet detailing what led up to that dramatic vote and see part of how that drama unfolded just below the tally.
You can follow the six-month path from partition to statehood in this documentary.
It’s important to imprint this historic moment on our minds, for many reasons, but two in particular.
We need to learn more about November 29 recall those headlines because unfortunately the headlines out of Israel have been far more foreboding recently. With an increase in violence and the new government looking more xenophobic by the day, we're seeing headlines like:
With hardline Israeli coalition, US can only pretend business as usual for so long (TOI)
Israel's Far-right Coalition Presents Unprecedented Challenge to U.S. Jews (Ha'aretz)
Meir Kahane's "love and hate of his fellow Jews" Yossi Klein Halevi on what the election of a Kahanist might mean (Daniel Gordis podcast and transcript)
This is scary stuff, which must be taken seriously. This is a "Ford to N.Y., Drop Dead" moment, with Bibi is playing the role of Ford and American Jews are New York.
Here’s another lesson of November 29, 1947: The partition vote was headed for failure, but for some concerted last-minute diplomacy. There would have been no partition vote, no victory, and most likely no Israel, without some hard, real-world horse trading that got the job done, and an unshakable belief in the worthiness of their project. We need that now as well. Now is not the time to give up on Israel, but neither is it the time to be silent if we are concerned about the direction Israel is taking, or more accurately, the cliff it is veering toward. No less than Avigdor Liberman, hardly a friend of American Jewry, is pleading with us to make our voices heard.
That means activism... What we say matters.
Next week, I'll be attending (remotely) J-Street's National Conference, something I’ve rarely done before. I've been a member of their rabbinic and cantorial cabinet (along with over 1,000 others, including four - count 'em four - Hammermans) for many years. If you look at the principles I've signed onto, they are hardly controversial. While I don't agree with some of J-Street's tactics and positions, I'm proud that my synagogue hosted Jeremy Ben Ami, J-Street' s leader, at a time when few shuls were opening their doors to him (granted, the panel also included Alan Dershowitz and things got rowdy. You can watch the video and see for yourself).
There was a time, not long ago, when politicians and clergy were expected by some Jewish establishment leaders to avoid all mention of J-Street. In 2014 the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations decided to exclude them from the club, a summarily dumb move that alienated an entire generation of young Jewish activists. Strong armed tactics were not uncommon to keep pols and clergy in line - my own livelihood was threatened by an over-zealous J-Street hater. But times have changed. Like it or not, with Democrats in the White House, J-Street is now the establishment.
Admittedly, for years, J-Street, preferring its outsider role as provocateur, did not do itself any favors by opening itself up at times to voices representing extreme views, even if for the sake of honest dialogue.
Although J-Street opposes BDS, I think their nuanced position lends itself to dangerous loopholes. Still, while my vision of a final status agreement might be somewhat to the right of theirs, in this case nuance is helpful, as it lends to fluidity and creative initiatives. There are new facts on the ground that need to be accounted for, principally the Abraham Accords. Let’s see how J-Street will account for them.
Often in the past, J-Street conferences have veered sharply to the left, but this year, with plenary topics like "Defending Our Democratic Values," the speakers list could not be more mainstream: Ruth Messinger, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Sen. Chris Von Hollen, writer Yossi Klein Halevi, singer Ahinoam Nini, and a host of respected rabbis and journalists will be appearing next week. Oh, and Secretary of State Blinken will appear.
The point is not that suddenly I feel compelled to tap into a J-Street conference. The point is that American Jewry is turning a corner right now, guided by those who love Israel so much that they will no longer be cowed into silence. And Israel's existential purpose as a safe harbor for the Jewish people has never felt so necessary - particularly for Jews from Russia and Ukraine - and for us, right here in America. A former U.S. president just had dinner with two of the most vile, radical antisemites in this country. We are seeing emboldened neo-Nazis everywhere we turn, a dramatic rise in antisemitic acts primarily from that extreme right fringe. And with all this going on here, and with Russian aggression continuing relentlessly, Israel is signaling that it is about to metaphorically tell the vast majority of American, Ukrainian and Russian Jews to “drop dead” by writing many of us out of the Law of Return.
Two men were arrested in NYC last week with the intent of attacking a synagogue. One was wearing a Nazi armband, which makes me suspect that he wasn't coming from a BDS meeting to explore the finer points of intersectionality.
J Street won't stop Nazis, but anytime I can find a gathering of people who are moderate, who care about Jewish values like the love of neighbor, and who happen to love Israel to boot, sign me up.
Seventy five years ago this week, some brazen diplomats took matters into their own hands and changed the world. The question for us now: What else can we do?