{"id":892,"date":"2014-11-16T12:13:29","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T16:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=892"},"modified":"2014-11-16T12:13:29","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T16:13:29","slug":"hillel-international-on-jewish-identity-and-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=892","title":{"rendered":"Hillel International on Jewish Identity – and Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m here because my political views have left me without a Jewish community, yet I\u2019ve never felt more Jewish.\u00a0 I hope older Jews will listen. <\/em><\/p>\n

Student postcard response at Open Hillel Conference<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I know. I was supposed to write about our \u201cYavneh\u201d rabbis and their hopes for the say-so over Jewish communities of their time.<\/p>\n

I got sidetracked by today\u2019s Jewish leadership and its hopes for the say-so over Jewish communities.<\/p>\n

Just as we exaggerate the tolerance for diversity among our Talmudic sages in regards to points of law, so we downplay our leaders\u2019 intolerance for diversity of political opinions on Israel.<\/p>\n

Last October, I traveled to Boston for the first Open Hillel Conference, \u201cIf Not Now, When?\u201d<\/a> About 350 people \u2013 mostly college students, but also middle aged and senior folk \u2013 attended the three-day conference.<\/p>\n

Background material: Around two years ago, Hillel students in various college campuses began to protest the organization\u2019s recently adopted \u201cStandards of Partnership\u201d<\/a> rules. Those rules state, among other things, that campus Hillel groups may not collaborate with people or groups that \u201cdelegitimize Israel\u201d or support the Palestinian call for political pressure on Israel through boycott, divestment, and sanctions.<\/p>\n

Almost a year ago, Swarthmore College Hillel became the first Open Hillel, stating: \u201cAll are welcome to walk through our doors and speak with our name and under our roof, be they Zionist, anti-Zionist, post-Zionist, or non-Zionist.\u201d Other Hillels have joined them in making such statements, including Vassar College and Wesleyan University.<\/p>\n

I wrote about the conference for The Charlotte Observer<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

I joked about this piece with close relatives. I claimed that I had taken the great step forward and \u201ccome out\u201d on the topic in order to say, \u201chey, can we tolerate having a conversation with people who might seriously disagree with us?\u201d\u00a0 To whit:<\/p>\n

I went to this conference because I am \u2013 as both a teacher and a rabbi \u2013 deeply interested in understanding where the younger Jewish generation is when it comes to defining their Jewish identity. I learned this: They want to be included in Jewish communities, synagogues, and institutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

These students ask that all Jews be encouraged to come to the table to express their hopes and dreams for themselves, for Israel, and for peace in this world. They want older Jews to understand that they may feel differently than we do, and that they hold a wide range of opinions and positions. They ask that we assure them that no Jew is censored, rejected, or denied a hearing.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an important message. Open conversation is not na\u00efve; it is a basic necessity \u2013 for a democracy, for a healthy community, for a nation, and for the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pretty rad, I know. And that is what makes the situation so sad.<\/p>\n

Questioning my bona fides on Israel has been part and parcel of recent response to my editorial. Just wondering: Is it likely that someone who teaches course after course on the history of antisemitism (yes, that\u2019s me!) would feel that it\u2019s important to think about how to secure the survival of Jews and Judaism? It is. I do.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the ethical issue that concerns me: Both the \u201cStandards for Partnership\u201d and Hillel International\u2019s explanation of its vision on Israel link what is appropriately Jewish to the question of whether one supports Israel\u2019s right to exist.<\/p>\n

From the website<\/a>: \u201cHillel desires that students are able to articulate why Israel plays an important role in their personal Jewish identities\u2026Hillel views Israel as a core element of Jewish life and a gateway to Jewish identification for students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillel\u2019s policy, despite disclaimers that assert that the organization includes \u201cdiverse opinions\u201d on Israel, excludes Jews for whom the state of Israel is not a defining element in their Jewish identity.<\/p>\n

Those that Hillel International expects to fall outside their definition and vision of Jewish identity are not only to be found on the left of the political spectrum. There are those on the Jewish right<\/em> who unequivocally deny today\u2019s Israel a right to exist.<\/p>\n

See, for example, the website of Neturei Karta<\/a>, a Haredi group that strenuously objects to Zionism and calls for a peaceful dismantling of the State of Israel. For such Jews, no state of Israel can be permitted until the coming of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

If just such an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student walks into any Hillel on any campus seeking, perhaps, a place to davenn<\/em> with others, to learn about Talmud, or to attend any of a thousand possible programs Hillel students and their advisors might be supporting and arranging, that particular Jew cannot be welcomed and given a place at Hillel\u2019s table.\u00a0 That student utterly and unequivocally rejects the state of Israel’s right to exist.<\/p>\n

Hillel\u2019s vision of Jewish identity will inevitably exclude some Jewish students, in clear contradistinction to the organization\u2019s claim that it \u201cwelcomes Jewish students of all backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

I used to think of college Hillel\u2019s as another (lovely) form of Jewish community, a place for college-aged Jews to explore their Jewishness. I assumed Hillel leaders knew that \u201cJewish identity\u201d has an extraordinary and very wide bandwidth in practice, in ritual, in belief, and in political expression. Not all Jewish college students see their Jewish identity as related to the state of Israel. Must they do so, in order to participate in Hillel International?<\/p>\n

As a rabbi, I do not apply a political litmus test to my congregants. Our membership forms don\u2019t ask people to state their political views before we will allow them to participate in Jewish communal life.<\/p>\n

We all want Jews and Judaism to survive \u2013 healthy, independent, and strong. On ethical grounds alone we should not insist that Jews who want the right to belong to Jewish<\/em> community first pass a political<\/em> litmus test on Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not all Jewish college students see their Jewish identity as related to the state of Israel. Must they do so, in order to participate in Hillel International?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[225,189,224,223],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hillel-international","tag-israel","tag-open-hillel","tag-standards-of-partnership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=892"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}