*The Ongoing Destruction of Jerusalem*

*The Ongoing Destruction of Jerusalem*
(c) Rabbi Menachem Creditor

When Israel has needed us, we have shown up in numbers. On the UC Berkeley
Campus, at Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission, at Richmond City Hall,
at San Francisco City Hall, and many other places, publicly and privately.
When Israel will, in all likelihood, need us again, we will show up based
on an unconditional love for our family, for our homeland, for the Jewish
People. *But this is meant to be a mutual love, a visceral family bond, an=
d
Israel is not doing its part.*

This past week, on Rosh Chodesh Av, two events in Israel fulfilled the
Mishna's teaching that "when we enter the month of Av, joy is reduced. (Ta'=
anit
4:6)" Anat Hoffman, director of Women of the Wall, was arrested by Israeli
police who violently wrested a sacred Torah scroll from her
armsas she and a large
group were singing their way from the women's side of the
Kotel to Robinson's Arch. Not 30 minutes later, Yisrael Beiteinu Minister
of Knesset David
Rotem=
presented
a bill to hand all power over conversion into the hands of
Israel=92s Charedi-dominated Rabbinate. The bill passed through its first
reading (of three required before final presentation) in the Knesset law
committee by a 5-4 vote.

If you have not yet fasted on Tisha Be'Av, perhaps because you do not mourn
the Destruction of the Temples, or the Destruction of Jerusalem, *I ask you
to fast this Tuesday for Tisha Be'av, because Jerusalem is not finished
being destroyed*. Fast for spiritual reasons or fast for the despair of an=
d
hope for Jewish Peoplehood - those should be, and must again become
synonymous.

Religious pluralism is both an Israeli national security issue (only a
handful of Charedim serve in Tzahal) and a Business issue (Charedim spend
however their leadership directs them). In a few years, more than 50% of
the Israeli children who enter first grade will be Charedi, thanks to
government subsidies for Charedim to have more children. In 12 years more
than 50% of Israeli 18-year-olds won't join the army. In 15 years, more
than 50% of them won't go to university or join the workforce. Israel's
fabric is being torn. I will not dehumanize Charedim, but I'm reframing m=
y
perspective. They act as a dynamic political block despite the differing
views of various sects -* we must too. *

I am seething with hurt and anger. Israel is my home, and I will not be
alienated from it. Not by extremist politicians nor by those who serve
neither its army nor the spiritual interests of their global family. I pra=
y
that the soul we all share has its home reaffirmed by our homeland.

Become a supporter of the Masorti Movement 's
commitment to changing the fabric of Israel's Jewish experience. It isn't
Movement-building for the sake of a Movement being built. Israeli Arabs an=
d
Ethiopian Olim, Sephardim and Russians - we claim their presences in Israel
as success stories but the societal bigotry and government inaction that ha=
s
been their experience for decades is finally touching closer to home. I am
a champion of Masorti Judaism because it believes righteous insitutions
exist for purposes greater than themselves. * Israel should too. *Segregat=
ed
schools and anti-pol=
ice
violence make
all the very real triumphs and advances in Israel seem less. It is harder
to lobby against Iran's nuclear program (again, for Israel's sake) with a
crushed Jewish heart.

From the depths of my Zionist heart, I encourage you to join the fight
against this bill and all i=
t
represents. I ask you to rage at the vile remarks made by Charedi and Yisr=
ael
Beitinu MKs against non-Orthodox Jews durin=
g
the bills reading, to rage at the arrest of Anat Hoffman. I'm asking you
to join the urgent fight against the worst enemy of the Jewish People:
spiritual and physical violence being done by Jews to the Jewish People one
by one, and as a whole.

Here in the States, and particularly in the Bay Area, Jewish Pluralism is
alive and well, affirmed and lived by rabbis and communal leaders. How
terrible that to experience Jewish Sisterhood and Brotherhood I cannot (so
far) turn to Israel. Change is hard, and this is a moment that demands
action. The Knesset need not be the current elected officials. Therefore
the symbol of Jewish National sovereignty is redeemable. It is up to us to
mobilize the Jewish People, and Israeli society to recognize that the
symbols are the people, not relics controlled by fundamentalists. *Extremi=
sts
can be permitted to determine Israeli politics and "Jewish authenticity" no
more.*

There is an election to win - it just hasn't been announced yet. It begins
this week with a fast, but we have a lot of important work ahead of us.

"*For Zion's sake I will not keep silent* (Isaiah 62:1)."