R’ Alan Lew suggested that we need to prepare ourselves if we expect to embrace the full potential of the High Holy Days of Awe. Thanks to KSS Social Action Team Leader Debra Seltzer for spearheading our activities this season.
This is your formal invitation to join Sukkat Shalom for another seven week cycle of self-reflective provocations in the lead up to our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur days of worship. The process will be independent and asynchronous. Each week beginning the day after Tisha b’Av and ending at the start of Rosh HaShanah, we’ll focus on a social justice issue through seven of the ten Kabbalistic sefirot, or elements of the Divine – Loving Kindness, Strength, Beauty, Persistence, Humility, Foundation, & Sovereignty. This is similar to what we did during the Omer— the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot— although this time we’ll move backwards through the sequence. Topics to be addressed will include Israel-Palestine, climate justice, food justice, reproductive justice, refugees, and anti-racism. Each week’s offering will be written by a different member of our sacred community.
We will gather in person at the conclusion of this series for a community Selichot / Havdalah event the evening of Saturday, September 9th. Detail to follow.
WEEK ONE: Malkhut/Reflections of an American Jew on Israel-Palestine
by Debra Seltzer
Welcome to week one of the Sukkat Shalom 2023 seven week cycle of self-reflective provocations in the lead up to our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur days of worship. Each week we will focus on a different social justice issue through the lens of the Kabbalistic sefirot, or elements of the Divine.
Week one starts as Tisha B’Av ends, on the evening of July 27. This summer holiday is one many of us know very little about; it is a day of communal mourning commemorating many tragedies from Jewish history, starting with the fall of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem.
For this seven week cycle moving through the Sefirot, we start with what is most traditionally referred to as Malkhut, translated as “Sovereignty”.
As described in The Omer Workbook (by Amanda Herring and Mo Golden), the quality of Malkhut (Kingdom) or Shekhina (Queendom) is “the base of the physical representation of the sefirot, associated with the feet and also the mouth. It is time to open up to the divine presence within ourselves and within the world. Now is time to actualize or manifest. It is also time to lead others around us.”
Earlier this year, Sukkat Shalom hosted a two-part series on “talking about Israel-Palestine,” which provided those of us who participated an opportunity to explore our own barriers to action on this topic. I also have had the opportunity to participate in a series of presentations hosted by several Reconstructionist congregations, learning from both Jewish leaders and Palestinians. Many of the speakers shared from their perspectives about what is happening in Israel-Palestine as a nation. Some talked about the role of Jews in America related to Israel-Palestine, and how we as American Jews engage with “Yisrael” as an element of our Judaism. Israel shows up in our liturgy, in our understanding of ourselves as Jews, and in how we do (or don’t) talk about these complex issues among ourselves and as we invite and welcome others to our Jewish community.
One question that caught my attention was whether we should in fact mourn the loss of the temples in Jerusalem, as is tradition. The loss at the time that it happened was a tragedy; a military loss and the end of an autonomous Jewish state for millennia, followed by a bitter history of marginalization and antisemitism. However, much has changed since then. The end of the Temple era also meant an end to animal sacrifice and the rigid control exerted by priests. We cherish the many rich and beautiful outcomes of the diaspora, which created diverse traditions that we can celebrate and learn from. I personally do not long to “return” to Israel to live – the United States is my country, with its own challenges that I am committed to addressing. I had a wonderful and deeply meaningful experience living in Israel for a year, and appreciate and honor much good that has come as a result of its existence, and I am increasingly deeply troubled by what is happening there now with regard to challenges to democracy, the on-going and escalating oppression of Palestinians, and what I have learned about the broken foundations of the country with regard to the Palestinian people.
I am also interested to re-visit places in our liturgy that talk about longing for ”Israel,“ to consider what about this is deeply meaningful for me, and if there’s something different that works better for my own worship. Rabbi Brant Rosen, who has written liturgy in keeping with his concerns related to the creation of and on-going policies of the country of Israel, says “I’ve written prayers and written liturgies that talk about understanding that anywhere you live has the potential to be your Zion. If we understand Zion as the most transcendent aspirations of liberation and justice in our world.” (For more on this, see the link below for an interview with Rabbi Brant and Professor Susannah Heschel).
As someone who struggles with the topic of Israel/Palestine as a nation, and with the concept of “Yisrael” in my spiritual life and my worship, I commit to wrestling (one meaning of the word “Yisrael”) with these topics both now and in the coming year, seeking action (feet/walking) on my beliefs with regard to justice for Palestinians and safety and security for “all the people of the land” in what is now Israel/Palestine, and using my mouth/voice more both to engage with others on the politics of what is happening and to work through for myself and share with others what is important for me to keep from our tradition and liturgy about honoring and connecting to Yisrael/Zion.
For this first week of self-reflection as we prepare for our days of deep spiritual engagement, I invite others to explore these ideas and questions. What active steps do you feel called to around justice for all the people of the land of Israel-Palestine, in keeping with your values?
If you want to continue to explore ideas and possible actions –
Check out this video (and Transcript): Re-Imagining and Re-writing Jewish Liturgy with Rabbi Brant Rosen and Professor Susannah Heschel
For action related to what is happening now in Israel – American Friends of Combatants for Peace – They host online events and are always appreciative of donations.
From their web page: Combatants for Peace (CfP) is a grassroots movement of Palestinians and Israelis, working together to end the occupation and bring sustainable peace, equality, and freedom to our homeland. CfP envisions a just future where the inherent equality and dignity of all are fully realized. Committed to joint nonviolence since our inception, we use civil resistance, education, human rights campaigns, and other creative means of activism to transform systems of oppression and build a democratic and equitable society. Launched in 2005, we are the only movement worldwide that was founded by former fighters on both sides of an active conflict. As a result, we were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018.