With the Jewish High Holidays, the first anniversary of October 7, and the American elections approaching in November, American Jews have plenty to reflect upon. Will the clergy delivering sermons in their synagogues talk about Jewish ethics and morality in conjunction with the war in Gaza? Will the focus be on antisemitism? Will anyone mention the role of the Israeli government in the ongoing events that have left their country stunned and bereaved, Palestinians in Gaza engulfed by ruins and hunger, and West Bank Palestinians terrorized by radical Jewish settlers?
I don't know if I will hear answers to these questions from the pulpit during the Days of Awe, but on Thursday, September 26, I did learn plenty during a demonstration in Dag Hammarskj??ld Plaza spearheaded by NYC4Kaplan and the American Progressive Israel Network. Those who came were American and Israeli Jews with a specific message for Benjamin Netanyahu, who was scheduled to speak at the United Nations that Friday.
Many factors were at play, reflecting the different backgrounds of those in attendance. However, the unrestrained contempt and revulsion for Netanyahu was a robust unifying thread.
I arrived just as the T'ruah prayer service ended. Before the program began, I spoke with Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the Executive Director of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. "The message of the High Holidays," said Jacobs, "is that we are in this together." She talked about the joint anguish of bringing the hostages home and ending the war in Gaza. Jacobs also pointed to the "poisonous agenda" the current government in Israel has been implementing, along with the messianic settler strategy of taking over Palestinian land. We then shifted to the homegrown venom that was flowing through American veins. Jacobs called out the insidiousness of Trump's comments, in which he suggested that if he lost the 2024 election, American Jews would be partially responsible.
Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson, Executive Director of Partners for Progressive Israel, related her thoughts about how "Americans, both in the Jewish community and beyond, had an opportunity to make their voices heard and to lift the messages that hostage families and protesters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and beyond have made clear." She emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution to the crisis while pegging Netanyahu as an impediment to "a future of peace for Israelis and Palestinians."
When I asked Jonathan Kopp, Chairperson of J Street New York, about his thoughts on co-sponsoring the event, he said, "We felt it was important to stand in solidarity with the hostages and their families along with the vast majority of Israeli citizens who want a ceasefire deal that gets the hostages home and clears the way to a constructive diplomatic process that will deliver security and stability to Israel and the Middle East."
Ameinu's Vice-President, Nomi Coltman-Max, reiterated the belief that the solution is not military. "We have to find a way to live equally in sharing the land"for the future of the next generation."
Despite the rain, a large crowd had assembled. Every contingent had signs. Standing Together folks were immediately recognizable by their purple shirts. ((Leaders Alon-Lee Green and Rula Daood have been named as two of Time Magazine's "Next 100.") The drums and whistles common at Israeli-American gatherings were in play, along with chants in Hebrew of busha (shame.)
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