Press
Contentions: Fake But Original
The New York Times memorable headline on the falsified documents relating to George W. Bush’s military service — “Fake but Accurate” — has almost been matched by a Haaretz columnist’s description of Peter Beinart’s theory on Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu: he writes that the theory “may not be accurate but is nonetheless spectacularly original.” Beinart’s theory — that what Netanyahu supposedly dislikes about Jews is what Vladimir Jabotinsky supposedly disliked about them — is not supported by the Jabotinsky essay Beinart cited as evidence for it. “Spectacularly original” does not seem quite the right phrase for what Beinart did. ... The debate regarding Beinart’s op-ed and book continued after March 19 – the contributions later in the week by Gary Rosenblatt, David Wolpe, Naftali Moses, and Ruthie Blum are particularly noteworthy. Your best 20 minutes today might be spent watching the video of the impassioned sermon by Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch (a self-described liberal) at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, entitled “Peter Beinart’s Offense Against Liberalism.”
An Anti-BDS Warrior Finds His Cause
The proposed boycott of Israeli products at Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Co-op, scheduled for a vote Tuesday night, isn’t the first such battle involving a community institution, and it won’t be the last. But in each of those fights, including the one in Park Slope, ordinary people who never before led a cause or campaign have emerged as leaders, keeping the story a fresh one. ... In an op-ed this week in The New York Times, Peter Beinart, a professor at the City University of New York and author of the upcoming book “The Crisis of Zionism,” argued that a global boycott is aimed not only at ending Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, but at dismantling Israel as a Jewish state. On the other hand, he wrote, a boycott of West Bank settlements could save Israel and is, therefore, one that American Jews should support. The op-ed has prompted a flurry of responses objecting to that view, including a letter to The New York Times from Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League; a statement from Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of Manhattan’s Stephen Wise Synagogue; and columns by others who, like Beinart, support a two-state solution.
Pushing Morality, A Victim of Myopia
When I asked a well-known journalist with expertise in the Mideast to review Peter Beinart’s new book, “The Crisis Of Zionism,” he first replied that he’d love to but was crushed with deadlines. When I e-mailed back, asking for suggestions for a knowledgeable reviewer who was relatively objective on the subject — not so easy to find — the journalist replied: “Your alternative is to treat it as the utter piece of $%& it is.” That’s the kind of response — though in more polite terms — Beinart is getting from a wide range of Jewish thought leaders these days. And that was before most had seen his op-ed piece in The New York Times on Monday, calling for the boycott of products made by Jews living in the West Bank settlements. ... Then there is Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, spiritual leader of the Reform Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan, who said this week that Beinart “crossed a line” in advocating a boycott of Jewish goods made in the West Bank. “It’s a highly immoral position to take, joining Israel’s worst enemies,” Rabbi Hirsch told me.
SWFS Interfaith Mission to Israel and the West Bank
Day three of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue senior religious leaders interfaith mission was filled with emotions, complexities, and a deeper understanding of everyday life in Israel. As you watch, follow us through the village of Moshave Netiv Ha'asarah on the border of Israel and the Gaza strip. Then follow us to Sderot where we met with Mayor David Buskilla who spoke about 8,000 Kassam rockets that have fallen causing destruction, loss of life, trauma, and strife for his citizens. Rounding out the day we then headed to the city of Bethlehem and met with the Mayor there, Dr. Victor Hanna Jubrail Batarseh (wearing a maroon shirt and tie) who expressed the difficulty of living on the other side of the security barriers. Then see as we visited Bethlehem University the first Catholic Christian four-year university in the Holy Land.
מבט מבחוץ Outside Perspective
Hebrew-language article on the SWFS Interfaith Mission: click through to page 5.
Participants in the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue clergy mission to Israel pose on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City
Participants in the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue clergy mission to Israel pose on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Turning Enemies Into Friends in Israel and the Palestinian Territories
In the post 9/11 world, religious rapprochement is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. To ignore dialogue is to invite destruction. If we do not find ways to live together in dignity we will die together in agony. Religious moderates must build new bridges of coexistence or religious extremists will burn the last bridges of peace. Our presence in the Middle East was intended to broadcast that we can live together, work together, travel together, dream together and build together. In a world awash in religious conflict, we wish to model a different way: the way of coexistence, respect and peace.
Recognizing Synagogue Inclusion
In recent years, UJA-Federation’s Caring Commission has funded several projects to encourage inclusion of individuals faced with disabilities, including educational training programs for synagogues, co-facilitated by the Jewish Education Project and Ramapo For Children, a nonprofit serving children with special needs. The Inclusion Award, thus far a one-time initiative, overlaps with Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month, taking place this month. Other awards were received by Lincoln Square Synagogue (Manhattan), Stephen Wise Free Synagogue (Manhattan), Westchester Reform Temple (Westchester), Congregation Sons of Israel (Westchester), Chabad of the Greater Five Towns (Long Island), Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (Bronx) and Beth El of Flatbush (Brooklyn). The awards include a stipend of several thousand dollars.
Visit Settlements
In your article “Mission Accomplished, Ecumenically” (Feb. 3), Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is to be commended for his interfaith trip to Israel. In doing so he has changed many attitudes toward Jews and Israel. I just wish that he would also visit Efrat and other well-established Jewish towns in the West Bank to try to give his guests a balanced approach to what some people call an occupation. I know he is against the settlements, but in the true nature of democracy, giving a chance to those he doesn’t agree with would make him more enlightening.
Council Members Talk Iran, High-Tech In Israel
“It is important to emphasize that the separation of religion and state is good for religion,” wrote Rabbi Hirsch. “The greatest disservice we can do to both religion and American democracy is to allow a creeping annexation of government over religious institutions. While government subsidies may temporarily appear to benefit a church, synagogue or mosque, in reality it is harmful to us. It ties us too closely to government and the strong political pressures inherent in a political environment.”
Why I Support the Ban On Worship In Public Schools
Both religion and democracy are social goods. The issue is not how to exclude one in favor of the other; it is how to balance these social goods in the healthiest way, consistent with the founding principles of American society.
Whose Name is on the Door, and How Did It Get There?
So King Solomon may have been noted for his wisdom, but not to the point of actually getting a synagogue named after him. However, three synagogues bear the names of two other Wise men, Isaac Mayer Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, and Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles. The Cincinnati congregation was founded as Kehilat Kodesh Bnai Jeshurun, was known during Rabbi Wise’s tenure as the Plum Street Temple, and was renamed in his honor after his death. Stephen Wise founded The Free Synagogue, on the principle of freedom of the pulpit, after having accepted a call to Temple Emanuel and then learning that his sermons would be subject to pre-approval by the lay leadership. The congregation continued to be known as The Free Synagogue during his lifetime, and his name was added after his death in 1949.
