Letter for rabbis
We encourage you to send this letter to your rabbi. You can even send it via email from our site.
Why Mentioning Israel-Palestine During Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is Vital
The High Holidays bring us back to a place of reflection and introspection. We do this as individual Jews, but also as a community, together. We use the plural when we recite the vidui, on Yom Kippur. Whether or not I committed the act spoken of, or we did, or just one person in another country whom I have never met did, as Jews, we are one in our prayer.
It is a season of realizing that if one of us sins, we all have sinned, for we are all working for the repair of the world, and in the world we are working toward, we take responsibility for one another. Kol yisrael arevim ze la ze. All of Israel is responsible for one another.
In 2009, here as 5770 is upon us, we, the Community of Israel continue the need to resolve that which is happening in the State of Israel. How can we do this? When members of our people pull triggers, when members of our people order the pulling of triggers, and when members of our people defend the pulling of triggers, we all must take stock and ask: how can this year be different? What can I do?
The High Holidays bring together the largest gatherings of the Jewish people in the United States. And the United States plays an important role in ending the conflict, occupation, fear and hurt that so many have experienced in Israel and Palestine. We ask, humbly and respectfully, that you, a community leader who will have an audience this Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, address the conflict, and do so with compassion.
This issue is dividing our community, and as leaders in the community, we must work to repair this divide. In your literature, your programming calendar, your messages of welcome and inclusion, your announcements, and yes, your sermons and d’vrai torah, open wide the conversation about Israel’s conflict with the Palestinian people and state. And thus liberate us, your people.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews, if not millions, have asked for an end to Israel’s occupation. Have asked for a time when its young women and men need not serve army. Have asked for a time when their close neighbors, the Palestinian people will have sovereignty of their own.
With the largest captive audience of any other day of the year do not miss this opportunity to name what is staring us in the face. Make it okay to question again, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did. Just as Moshe did. Open the door to a revitalized community by beginning the conversation these High Holidays. You will hear the exhale.
Thank you,