Grappling with power

One of the greatest gifts of my rabbinate was the opportunity to participate in the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem (with the help of a JUF subsidy). Over the course of three-plus years, I was part of a group of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis. We came together to consider some of the most important issues facing the Jewish people, by studying texts and learning from some of the finest scholars that I’ve been blessed to know. It was an empowering experience that helped me to grow, and to shape the future of my rabbinate.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about one particular lecture delivered by Rabbi Donniel Hartman which focused on the historic experience of our people. He spoke on the theme of power; he noted that for 2,000 years, one of the hallmarks of our Jewish experience was our lack of power. While we had control over the internal affairs of our community, and the opportunity to grapple with ethical issues as they related to us, we exercised no power over larger issues that impacted the broader world. As a result, this ancient people of ours has had relatively little time to learn the consequences of exercising power.

Today, he said, the Jewish people sits in a very different place. We have two arenas in which we exercise power: in Israel, where we are the majority and difficult decisions rest in our hands; and in America, where the largest group of diaspora Jews, living in a democratic country, also participate in the exercise of political power.

So, here we sit, a people with strong ethical values and political power. And we’re faced with a challenge: How does one exercise political power when one’s decisions impact, not only our own particular community, but also the lives of others who live with us? Or taken more broadly, how does one determine the correct decision when it involves two opposing ethical principles; how do we determine which ‘right’ takes precedence?

As we draw near to Israel’s 75th anniversary, these moral dilemmas are on full display as its government takes on issues that impact everything from its relationship with the Palestinians, to altering its judicial system, to re-defining the status of large portions of the Jewish community that reside outside of Israel.

How are we to respond to these shifting tides? For some, the messy, even ugly, exploration of the line between the use of power, and Jewish ethical ideals, has led to withdrawal: ‘If Israel is not living up to my Jewish moral standard, then I cannot support it.’ For others, it has led to intensified communication.

It is this second result that is on display in Israel today, as tens of thousands of people gather each week to communicate their feelings to their government. And it is also this second result that the leaders of our American Jewish community have chosen, engaging in direct conversations with Israel’s leaders as they struggle to define their path forward. It’s the right path to take.

You know, it’s easy to have a relationship with someone who always makes us feel proud. It’s much harder to maintain that relationship when they’re moving away from the path we think is best. But when we care for someone, we don’t walk away, or ask others to talk to them for us. When we care for someone, we approach them with concern and honesty. We listen to them, try to understand their struggle, and we share what we need from them, to have a healthy relationship.

As Israel arrives at its 75th anniversary, we need to let go of our expectation that we will always only feel a sense of pride. The fact is, we don’t always feel proud of our own country either. But when we care, we don’t stop engaging, sharing, and being present with and for each other, working to move back towards the path that both of us can believe in. As Israel reaches 75, may we continue to build a strong, healthy relationship, one of open communication that brings out the best of both of us.

Rabbi Sidney M. Helbraun is the rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook.