Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 20, 2022

She was given a state funeral at the presidential palace in the de facto capital. She was a national hero. Children across the land mimic her voice and signature expressions. She was a household name

This past Friday, the day of Shireen abu Aklehs funeral in Jerusalem, I officiated at a funeral service and burial in Chicago. As always, every care was taken by the Jewish funeral home to convey the utmost respect to the deceased and gentle consideration to the family.

This may come across as strange to many people although not to most of my fellow clergy: I feel fortunate to do this work. Where else do people show up with, truly, the best version of themselves? Families trust me with their most tender stories and feelings. I love listening to the stories. I look for ways to help the families as I do my professional best to create a sacred space where the mourners can feel what they are feeling and honor their loved one.

This past Friday afternoon, when I got back home from the funeral, the images and stories and feelings from the day were still with me. It had been a long day. Between the service at the chapel and the ride to and from the distant cemetery, I had been out of the house most of the day.

I checked my news feed. The top item was the now famous video from Shireen al Aklehs funeral earlier in the day, in Jerusalem. The casket is shouldered by Palestinian men. They are surrounded by other mourners bearing Palestinian flags. But a phalanx of heavily armed Israeli riot police and secret service is moving in on the pallbearers. I dont understand what I am looking at. Why? The pallbearers stand firm. The armed men move in again, and again, wielding truncheons, lashing out at the mourners legs. Some fall to the ground.

And then, to my horror, the casket dips. One end slips to the ground -but the pallbearers immediately regain control. They stand tall, shoulder to shoulder, holding the casket steady.

This was so far removed from anything I have experienced in my work or mypersonal life. Why was a peaceful funeral being attacked in this way, and bythe same forces that apparently killed her?

I rarely call my elected officials. Yet I was so upset that I immediately contacted the local office of my congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky (9th district, IL). I registered my concern and called on her to condemn the violence and disrespect shown to Shireens remains and to her family at her funeral.

The next day, I met my Arabic teacher Sara, a West Bank Palestinian, for our regular online study session. We start our lessons with Arabic conversation about whatever comes to mind. Sara is usually upbeat, but not today. She opens with: kaana yawm thaqeel it has been a heavy day. Shireens death was a personal loss for her.

After expressing my condolences, I asked Sara for her take on the gross mistreatment of Shireen abu Aklehs body and the mourners.

Sara: All the Israeli police could see were the Palestinian flags, not the funeral. The Israeli police couldnt handle the flags. So they attacked the casket.

But, to tell you the truth, when I saw the same scene you saw I was happy. There were no factional flags of this or that political party or religion, just the one flag, over and over again: the flag of Palestine. We were all united as Palestinians under the flag of Palestine. I am a Muslim and Shireen was a Christian but she was and is my hero, as she is for all Palestinians.

I was proud that the pallbearers stood their ground. These unarmed men were performing a sacred task. They did not give way when they came under attack. They did not drop the casket.

Saras words were arresting. Seeing the events from the United States I was shocked and outraged. But she, a Palestinian living under the Israeli military occupation, saw something else that I had not been able to name: her countrymens bravery and sumud resilience.

Then the funeral procession passed by the Old City of Jerusalems Jaffa Gate [the main entry point for Israeli Jews to the Old City] and past alQalaah [Davids Citadel a Muslim minaret that since became a Jewish/Zionist icon]. That was really something! I had never seen such a sight before! A large group of Palestinians assembled outside the Old City, right in front of Jaffa Gate!

I dont believe I had changed anything by calling Rep. Schakowskys office; I dont even know if my message will be relayed to her or if I just entered the congressional districts tally of those supporting the Palestinians. When I told Sara in my halting Arabic about the call, she thanked me. She said that knowing that the U.S. Congress is hearing from Americans about the violence helps. Perhaps that is the one reliable benefit of any activism we do over here, letting the Palestinians know they are not alone.

Saras perspective was yet another reminder for me that however deeply involved many of us are with Israel/Palestine, this is their issue, not ours. To state the obvious, they are the ones living under military occupation and threat of violence, not us. So, how can outsiders living a different reality stand with the Palestinians living under the occupation?

I suggest that we can learn from the Palestinians how to stand in our own form of sumud resilience in the service of justice and security for Palestinians and Israelis. While we outsiders are far removed from the harsh realities of life in Palestine, our social lives also come under pressure from the Israeli occupation, albeit a far milder variety. This social pressure is particularly felt by those who affiliate with Jewish congregations.

I was an active member of a local Jewish congregation for many years. This congregation justifiably sees itself as progressive. Many of its members work professionally as leaders in various progressive fields. While most members of this Jewish community are Zionist, several are non-Zionist and support the Palestinian cause for justice too.

And yet, in one significant way, this community is uniformly reactionary. It imposes a double standard with regard to conversation about Palestine. The de facto rule is: pro-Palestinian posts must be labeled political even if the content is clear from the subject line; pro-Israel posts need no label whatsoever.

This has a chilling effect on any support for Palestinian rights. In our online community forum, while posts justifying Israels violence against the Palestinians are routine and pass without comment, statements made in support of Palestinian rights are rare and are treated as controversial.

During Israels last major attack on Gaza in May 2021, a pro-war post written by one of our members went up on the community listserv. The post rehearsed the Israeli armys talking points justifying the violence. The claims included falsehoods; in the context of the ongoing violence I found them inflammatory.

I posted a response. I challenged the veracity of the Israeli armys claims about Gaza. More importantly, I tried to humanize the Palestinians. I told of my Palestinian friends whose relatives had been wounded in the recent Israeli gunfire. Its hard to justify killing people you know.

I had anticipated the usual pushback from the usual suspects and that swiftly came. I received a warning that I would bring the wrath of the community down on my head. I was reprimanded publicly by the listserv moderator for not labelling my response political. But I was surprised when even several of my fellow supporters of Palestinian rights contacted me, faulting me for my post. They went so far as to tell me to be silent.

Not one member of the congregation spoke up for Palestinians human rights or to challenge the moderators call. I contacted one these pro-Palestinian friends and called her out for trying to silence me.

She asked: What is it you are you asking of me?

Me: I am not asking you support the Palestinians in public or even to defend my right to speak in their support in public. What I am asking you is not to ask me to be silent when I do speak up and for you to show me your support, if only in private.

She: I can do that.

And she followed through. We are still good friends. But, soon after this conversation, I left this Jewish congregation, one of my longstanding Jewish communities.

I still see myself as friends with many in this Jewish congregation and hope that they see me in the same light. But this incident crystallized what I had long felt: I can no longer pray with them. How can I open my heart in prayer in a community that is unanimous in its call to silence me about some of my most deeply held prayers?

This experience, since replicated in other settings, established for me the reality that all the members of this and other Jewish congregations across the world, Zionists and non-Zionists alike, adhere to the uniform code of silencing: Thou Shalt not oppose Israels War on the Palestinians in the Jewish Community.

Jews are allowed to question Israel privately but are required to remain silent in public, Jewish spaces. Thats the price of admittance that even non-Zionists must pay to be included in a Jewish congregation. Furthermore, selfcensorship is not sufficient. In addition to self-censorship, members are required to join in enforcing that censorship on all others.

My old friends in this Jewish community are right. Speaking up for Palestinian rights in the Jewish community is political and divisive. How could it not be when one of the organizing principles of Jewish congregations is supporting Israels agenda at the expense of the Palestinians.

I believe in inclusion of all Jews in Jewish congregations. I had been part of this congregation believing that it fully welcomed Zionists and non-Zionists alike. I was also the rabbi of a congregation where I successfully invited Zionists and non-Zionists to publish their views on Israel on the synagogue website. I believe is should be possible for Jews with different views on Israel/Palestine to worship together.

I therefore reject the accusation of divisiveness as I reject the demand for silence. The accusation of silencing and divisiveness is on them, not those of us who speak up for Palestinian rights in the Jewish community.

I am finding that its possible to live a happy life as a Jew and as a rabbi, without being a member of a Jewish congregation. After all, most Jews are not members of any synagogue and most of the minority who are synagogue members rarely attend religious services, if at all. With few exceptions, synagogue membership today is a statement of affiliation and identification, not fellowship or spiritual or even just ritual practice. Synagogue membership functions like museum membership. You pay your dues and visita few times a year. How many Jews go to shul outside of High Holydays and Barmitzvahs?

I think of the friendships I am forming in Chicago, across the United States and beyond, in Palestine, too. Friendships that dont require me to stifle my voice, friendships that give me hope for a kinder, more mentschlich future, friendships that nourish my soul.

As for being in the Jewish wilderness, I turn for instruction and inspiration to the Torah: Famously, most of the Torah is set in the wilderness, ending with the death of Moses at the end of the forty years of living in that wilderness. This journey extends across four of the Pentateuchs five books, from Exodus to Deuteronomy. The wilderness is where the Torah is given and where the Torah is written.

The wilderness is the less obvious path. Jewish tradition infers that four out of five freed Hebrew slaves refused to follow Moses. They never left the land where they had been slaves. But, per the Torah, the wilderness is a good place for a Jew to be.

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Bullets that silence, words that silence Mondoweiss - Mondoweiss

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