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Shalom Shaarei Kodesh,
For those who may not be aware, this week, the World Baseball Classic is holding their tournament here in South Florida. The WBC, which takes place roughly every four years, is a relatively new tournament that began in 2006. There are twenty countries represented who must qualify for the tournament, and Team Israel once again qualified and played in this week’s games. Baseball is not really Israel’s sport, which is dominated by soccer and basketball, but it is growing in popularity. Therefore, most of the players on the team aren’t Israeli citizens, but American Jews. Since the WBC rules state that a player is eligible if he would be granted citizenship or a passport under the laws of the country, they are eligible to play and represent Israel on the world stage.
Unfortunately, Team Israel did not repeat the miracle of their last run in 2017, but it was still historic in many ways. As we know, Israel is arguably going through one of its most challenging moments internally, with protests against Judicial reform, that is being touted by the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. I am attaching a great article that describes the intricacies of the situation. If you are going to click on any article, I highly recommend this one by Unpacked, a Jewish organization that specializes in Israel education.
You might be wondering: How are Israel’s baseball team and the current Israeli government/Israeli politics connected? Dr. Yitzhar Hess, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Conservative Judaism movement in Israel, also known as Masorti, and the current president of the World Zionist Organization, tweeted the picture above.
Dr. Hess is pointing something really interesting out to us. The new Israeli government proposed a change to the Law of Return which gives an expansive view of the question of who is Jewish. The current government proposed eliminating the grandchild clause which grants anyone with a Jewish grandparent citizenship in Israel as well as not allowing those who converted through Reform or Conservative Judaism eligible to make aliyah. This would mean that most of the players on Team Israel would not be eligible to be on the team because they would not be able to become citizens.
Many Jewish Americans have, for years, refrained from getting involved in Israeli politics or even openly expressing their opinion, but we see that decisions by the Israeli government affect us directly.
In this week’s parashah, Vayakhel-Pekudei, we read the following (Exodus 35:1)
וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת־כׇּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה יְי לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם׃
Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them:
These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do…
After Moses gathers the community together, he teaches them about Shabbat, the values of giving to the center of the camp, the Tabernacle, and more. The question that the commentators ask is, "Who is the ‘whole’ Israelite community? Who is included, and who might be excluded?"
We can ask this same question about our relationship to Israel as Jewish Americans and Team Israel’s baseball team: The entirety of Team Israel, representing the Jewish state, was made of Jewish Americans. Does this mean we are also part of ‘Team Israel’ in the larger sense? How much are we involved in this debate and how do we navigate this current moment?
I’ve spoken about our relationship with Israel often, and as recently as two weeks ago. Now, I’d like to hear from you all. I am attaching two articles that speak about our role as Jewish Americans at this moment in Israel. Following services on Shabbat, we will discuss these two articles together in a respectful and loving way.
A rabbi’s contrary view: Can we all just get along? by Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt
An open letter to Israel’s friends in North America By MATTI FRIEDMAN, YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI and DANIEL GORDIS
During our conversation, our teens will be meeting with a special guest speaker about Israel (see the flyer with the information below).
I hope you can join us for this important conversation which I hope will be the beginning of many.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!
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