An
amazing CNS Shabbat: Great davening and Torah, celebrating an aufrauf
of two precious souls, marking a sweet young person becoming bar
mitzvah, hosting the HIAS Country Director in Uganda to learn about how
we, as a Shul, can participate in refugee resettlement, and standing
together praying for three kidnapped Jewish boys to be redeemed from captivity. It felt like the five years we prayed every Shabbat for Gilad Shalit were back, and the pain was and is just so deep. 
We
are a special kind of shul whose members support New Israel Fund,
AIPAC, J Street, Rabbis for Human Rights, FIDF, and others. But today we
all left our politics behind and just held our boys in our hearts and
wept as part of the larger Jewish family. All this is what makes our
community so amazing.
I
knew, when I plugged back in, after Havdalah, that I'd see some
continued anti-Israel comments on my social media platforms. But the
magnitude, volume, and tenor was a harsh reminder that all is not well
nor stable for Jews in the world.
I deleted most of the hatred on my various media streams, but took a screen shot of a random selection
and saved it as a reminder of an important point: there are some who
believe that anti-Zionists are not anti-Semites. I reject the
dichotomy, not because (politically speaking) a theoretical formula is
impossible, but rather because the reality is that the two are
conflated and overlap and are inextricably bound (which is how, as a
religious Zionist I believe it should be in the first place). But my
point is that, even if I believed they were separate, that "careful
thinking" is eviscerated by the hatred of both.
I
could point to the Shoah as "proof" that the world sees Jews as an
identifiable global People, but we need not go that far for evidence.
All I had to do was turn my phone back on.
Even
if we would (God-forbid), try to forget that Eyal , Naftali, and Gilad
are our sons, their abduction and our hearts' collective ache remind us
that their fates are bound with ours, and that reality trumps
theoretical constructs every time.
I
highly recommend Ari Shavit's "My Promised Land," as its pain is all
our pain. He doesn't let anyone off the hook. And his critique of the
left's approach rang in my ears when I read some of the antisemitic
comments on my social media streams tonight. My personal commitment to
Two States for Two Peoples is well-addressed by his analysis, and I
believe his critique of the messianisms of the "right" and the "left"
when it comes to Israeli politics should be required reading for all
Jews.
But
really, what I want more than sympathy for my discomfort at some
online hate-speech is to #Bring Back Our Boys. We can soothe each
other's wounds and sort out political theories later, once they're
home.
May
Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devora, Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim, and
Eyal ben Iris Teshurah be returned safe and healthy to their homes
very, very, very soon.
May all children be safe.
Shavuah Tov - may it be a good week,
Rabbi Creditor
