Engaging Israel: Foundations for a New Relationship The Need for a New Israel Narrative We are living in an era unprecedented in Jewish history. Two vibrant, powerful Jewish communities—one in Israel and the other around the world—are each contributing to and defining the content and future of Jewish life. In Israel, this life is developing within the context of a sovereign Jewish state that boasts a Jewish majority, while the community that is cultivating Jewish life outside of Israel is an established, successful minority in open dialogue with the larger world. A Jewish future without either of these two communities will inevitably be an impoverished one, whereas collaboration between these two communities can stimulate a renaissance in Jewish life, based on mutual learning, adaptation, challenges, and even criticism that may ensue from the cross-fertilization of two distinct torahs. This context of unison coupled with fresh opportunities also presents new challenges: What kind of relationship will these two communities have? Will we continue to be one people with different yet equally important and mutually beneficial centers,or will each center create its own exclusive, independent sphere, leading to a bifurcation of the Jewish people? These challenges are exacerbated by the growing phenomenon of the delegitimization of the State of Israel. Within the Jewish community, an increasing number of people are questioning the significance of Israel to their lives and even the legitimacy of and importance of Jewish sovereignty. Many Jews feel alienated from Israel and self-contained within the Judaism of their home community. This reality threatens the quality and vitality of Jewish life. While a Jewish state without world Jewry would be an impoverished one, so too would Jewish identity without Israel. The Jewish Reality Today The Jewish community is largely unprepared for today’s uncertainties about the relationship between Israel and world Jewry. The core feature of the "traditional" Israel narrative was the precariousness of Jewish survival. In this narrative, Jewish existence, both in Israel and around the world, was viewed as threatened by inevitable and sometimes imminent danger. This inspired the creation of a Jewish identity in which the survival and perpetuation of the Jewish people and the defense of Jews in danger became central values. Political, economic, and cultural success among world Jewry, coupled with a growth in their own Jewish vitality and creativity, have diminished the compelling nature of this narrative as has the success story that is Israel. Without denying the dangers that Israel still faces on a daily basis, its military power and prowess along with its economic vitality render a narrative of crisis less meaningful. When danger and crisis are imminent, all other issues are naturally relegated to a proverbial tomorrow. However, as the old narrative recedes, there is an increased sense that “tomorrow” has arrived and that the actual or perceived values represented by Israel regarding war, settlements, religious pluralism, and the treatment of liberal Jews and non-Jewish minorities do not necessarily coincide with the values that are central to the lives of Jews around the world today. Some people even feel forced to choose between support for Israel and loyalty to their Jewish or democratic values, a choice that leaves their relationship with Israel in a precarious position. The crisis narrative, which continues to demand unquestioning support and a rallying around the flag to protect Israel from its enemies, is inadequate to curb or contain these new and increasingly predominant sentiments of discomfort. The time has come to move forward—to construct a foundational narrative that will redefine the relationship between Israel and world Jewry. Free to select their identity, affiliations, and loyalties, Jews will choose to relate to Israel only if it generates vitality and meaning in their lives. If Israel is to succeed in reclaiming a central place in the lives of Jews worldwide, it must lay claim to its role as a standard of morality, spirituality, and intellectual excellence. Guiding Principles for the New Narrative A new covenant between Israel and world Jewry must be based on a narrative that encourages Jews to reflect on what Israel means to them "Jewishly" and to act on their vision of what they believe can and ought to shape the modern Jewish nation and its policies. Thus, a relationship with Israel must be placed within a larger conversation of Jewish values, a conversation that will challenge Jews around the world to think about the meaning that Israel and Jewish national sovereignty can have in their lives. The Engaging Israel project attempts to construct a new narrative and language for establishing this covenant between Israel and world Jewry, a narrative responding to the central dilemmas that are increasingly causing alienation among Jews. Currently focused on two core issues—why Jews need a Jewish state today and whether this state can be a moral and democratic one, this project endeavors to define a covenant that will enable Jews to put both the aspirations and the difficulties that they experience with Israel on the table. In this manner, a relationship can be created that does not demand blind acceptance but rather calls for a commitment to participate in a conversation that will contribute to the nation that each Jew believes Israel can and ought to be. To succeed in re-engaging world Jewry in a covenant with Israel, the new narrative must reshape both the content and the assumptions that have defined the Israel-“Diaspora” relationship for decades. Only a narrative that gives meaning to Jewish statehood and sovereignty and that articulates a vision of Israel that lives up to the highest standard of Jewish values, morality, and democracy can form the basis for a new covenant for Jews around the world and the loyalty that it will engender. The Engaging Israel Project at the Shalom Hartman Institute In order to create a narrative that will serve as the foundation for a renewed covenant between Israel and world Jewry, an international Engaging Israel research team has been formed. This team is tasked with: › Analyzing the issues leading to the bifurcation of the world Jewish community from Israel. › Creating a set of "rules of engagement" that will be used in shaping the new values-based conversation and governing the ensuing relationship between Israel and world Jewry. › Identifying specific issues to be addressed and articulating a variety of answers to suit the diverse populations constituting the Jewish people. › Developing new thinking and approaches combining Jewish thought, law, political philosophy, and international law to serve as a resource for a wide range of educational initiatives to engage Jews around the world. › Producing a corpus of easily usable and accessible content that will be made available to the public via a wide range of multimedia venues. Engaging Israel: Foundations for a New Relationship Video Lecture Series The Engaging Israel: Foundations for a New Relationship video lecture series is the first educational product of the Engaging Israel project. The series, already being used as the curricula for adult study groups across North America, focuses on the critical questions facing world Jewry with regard to Israel. The video lecture series package comes complete with 9 lectures by Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, followed by an interview with an Engaging Israel team member or leading subject matter expert, source book containing all relevant study materials—Biblical, Talmudic, philosophical, and contemporary—and background readings, and leader's guide for the rabbi/educator. To order Engaging Israel: Foundations for a New Relationship and start a study group in your community, share this link with your rabbi or educator: www.hartman.org.il/eiseries The Engaging Israel Team The Engaging Israel project has evolved based on the core Shalom Hartman Institute methodology of producing new and innovative ideas and developing original educational initiatives via which to deliver these ideas to key change agents in Jewish life. In support of this, the Engaging Israel team, comprised of two units that work out of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, has been assembled. The Israel-based unit led by Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, includes: Dr. Tal Becker, International Associate, Washington Institute for Near East Policy Yossi Klein Halevi, Author; Political Journalist Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Vice President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America; Director, Rabbinic Leadership Programs Professor Gil Troy, Professor of History, McGill University; Visiting Scholar, Bipartisan Policy Center Noam Zion, Shalom Hartman Institute Research Fellow The North America-based unit, headed by Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, includes: Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Dean, Hebrew College Rabbinical School Professor Steven M. Cohen, Professor of Jewish Social Policy, Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion; Director, Berman Jewish Policy Archive, NYU Wagner Professor Suzanne Last Stone, University Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Cardozo School of Law; Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law; Director, Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Yeshiva University Professor Jack Wertheimer,