REFORM JEWS AND ISRAEL: ADDRESSING THE GENERATION GAP

Rosh Hashanah Morning, 5785

Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz

Friends, it should be no surprise that I am going to speak this morning about Israel. After the year we have had. And now, days before the first anniversary of Oct. 7. A date that will forever afflict Israel and the Jewish people… like 9-11 will forever afflict Americans.

But specifically what I am going to talk about is support of Israel, and the next generation.

It’s on my mind; it’s on your mind. It’s just one issue, but it’s a big one and it’s an emotional one. Because it’s about the gap- the widening gap between old and young; between parents and children.

Waning support for Israel is hard enough to talk about. The generation gap is hard to talk about. Put them together, and it is doubly hard, but doubly necessary.

Disclaimer: When I talk about Israel it’s always personal. That’s because, as many of you know, I spent six years there, was a student there, got married there, served in the army there, and served as a Reform rabbi there. It’s personal because I’m a dual citizen, as are my wife and children. My family of five carries ten passports. And we carry big hearts.

Many of you know that we have family in Israel. In fact my wife Debby’s entire family continues to live there- they made Aliyah when Debby was 13 years old.

But I would say that we all have family in Israel. Our tradition teaches, kal Yisrael aravin zeh b’zeh—every Jew is connected to one another. Are not Jews everywhere one big mishpacha. A raucous lot, but family.

Shakespeare’s Shylock said, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” When Israel bleeds, do we not bleed?

He also said, “And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” When Israel strikes back, do we not stand with her?

Apparently not… among some of our people; and among too many, of our young people.  

Here are the statistics:

First the good news that among Americans in general, support for Israel remains strong. Back in January the Harris poll found that in aggregate 80% backed Israel over Hamas. Among seniors, the figure was 93%. Even among millennials age 25-34 support stood at 70%. And that support has by and large continued to hold steady, even with reservations about how Israel has waged war in Gaza.

But the bad news-among Gen.Z, age 18-24, in the same survey only 57% supported Israel. And that needle has not moved much.

You would hope that this would look different among young Jews. Apparently not. A different poll, conducted in November only a few weeks after the start of the war, found 82% of those Jews 36 and older supported President’s Biden’s strong stance on Israel. Among those young Jews 18-35, and this is striking, only 53%.

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that, even though for years the research has reported that younger Jews are generally less attached to Israel than their elders.

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that when in November the memory of Hamas’ massacre and mutilation of 1200 Israelis was still shockingly fresh in everyone’s mind.  

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that even when I know firsthand that young people have little or no memory of heroic Israel, underdog Israel, miraculous Israel; of the Six Day War; Yom Kippur War; Entebbe, Operation Magic Carpet; Operations Moses and Solmon; never mind the Holocaust and Israel’s Declaration of Statehood and War of Independence.

And I’m still having a hard time fathoming that even knowing what we saw happen on college campuses around the country, and the high visibility of the anti-Israel Jewish far-left organizations.

How does this make you feel?

Speaking for myself, and I know for many others, I am perplexed. I am not very understanding. I am upset and even angry.

Should we be. Yes, again. To deny our anger would be disingenuous. And anger adds urgency. But anger will not get us far. It is not a strategy.

So what can we do about this generational gap; this fracturing of, dare I say, the sacred bond with Israel that so many of us “older folk” feel?

Obviously I have been thinking a great deal about this… and listening to the anguish of others, in this very congregation and beyond.  

Herewith, my three-point response: Solidarity; Education, Empathy. S.E.E. SEE for short.

Solidarity: Now, more than ever, we must communicate that we continue to stand with Israel. That our hearts are with Israel. That the bond with Israel cannot be broken.

We must communicate that three things are non-negotiable: Israel’s right to exist; Israel’s right to self-defense; Israel’s imperative to combat evil.

Anyone that call into question Israel’s right to live, to live with secure borders, and to fight those who seek to destroy her, needs to be called out.

Every nation in the world has those basic rights, and would act to preserve itself.

Our kids our watching us, they always are, and they need to see our passion.

Education: Now, more than ever, we need to teach our kids the history of Israel; the history of Zionism, and the history of antisemitism.

History matters. Facts matter. Truth matters.

Let my people know.

And crucially, a piece of that education should happen in Israel. There is nothing like being there to touch your heart. Whether it is a NFTY trip, a Birthright Trip, A Gap Year Trip; a semester abroad; a year abroad—we need to redouble our support for every venture that gives our kids a glimpse of the Jewish state in the Jewish homeland.

Related to this, something else matters: literacy- Hebrew literacy. Literacy builds pride. When you speak the language, you’re in. It’s the language our Tanakh and of our prayers. It’s the language of Jewish thought and yearning. It’s the language of modern Israel. I know we don’t have the hours to attain fluency. But every Jewish kid should have a basic Hebrew vocabulary. An essential lexicon. So that when we say am echad, and am Yisrael hai they nod knowingly. When we say k’lal Yisrael and kol Yisrael aravin zeh b’zeh they recognize these expressions of Jewish unity. When we sing HaTikvah they join in.  

Solidarity, History, and finally, Empathy.

Empathy means not just talking, but listening. Hearing the concerns of our young people. Acknowledging what is on their minds. Validating their struggles.

Empathy means honestly admitting to the challenges Israel faces internally and externally.

Empathy means openly discussing the plight of the Palestinians.

Empathy means grappling with when anti-Zionism is antisemitism, and when it is not.

I read a piece about four families with college age kids; all of whom came back from their campuses much less pro-Israel than when they left. (For this we are paying a fortune?!) The kids talked about how narrow their parents’ viewpoint was. The parents talked about how narrow their kids’ perspective was.

One son said he was torn between wanting to identity with his mother’s fears yet feeling uneasy with her exclusive focus on Jewish pain. “I was trying to hold both sides,” he said, “a progressive left one, and a defensive Jewish one. It’s a feeling of discomfort—how do I manage this; how do I bridge this? It’s an extra layer of pain.”

One parent wondered, “Did we not talk about antisemitism and the Holocaust enough with our children?

This is tough stuff. I believe that we shouldn’t be afraid to call out words and actions that cross the line; that breach the principles about Israel’s right to exist and defend herself that I established earlier. But on the other hand, we shouldn’t be afraid to air out the ways Israel is falling short, and the suffering of the Palestinians. After all, empathy for the downtrodden is central to our ethics.  

Often we just try to avoid talking about hard problems in our families. We have enough conflict at home as it is, and talking about politics and the world only exacerbates it.

But we owe it to our kids, and to Israel, to deal with it.

I don’t know if we can bridge the gap. There are many variables, and the problems are intractable. But solidarity, education and empathy might go a long way; longer than we think. SEEing is believing.

Show your kids where you stand on Israel. Show it with passion.

Give them every teaching opportunity you can, and get them to Israel.

Listen to them and empathize with their concerns.

Tell them that you love them, and you love Israel.

Tell them that this love is unconditional, but it is not uncritical.

Tell them that disappointments and disagreements test families, but should not break families.

Remind them that you care so much because they are the next generation of your family, and the next generation of the Jewish people.

Then maybe, just maybe, in the ancient words of the prophet Malachi (4:6), “the hearts of the parents shall be turned to their children, and the hearts of the children shall be turned to their parents.”

Ken y’hi ratzon; so may it be.