Are we being honest about the war in Afghanistan?

First a little background. Our congregation has two members currently serving in Afghanistan. Both by the way have been previously deployed in Iraq.

I have heard from some who have been deployed there that in addition to being hot and having lousy living conditions, the security situation there was much worse than in Iraq and that the level of personal danger to US soldiers was quite high. I have also heard some reservations that the current government would ever be able to control the country.

I remember so well that during the Bush Presidency, our movement made a controversial resolution concerning Iraq and calling for a timetable for withdrawal.

With General McChrystal’s statements, it has become clearer to me that President Obama has listened to the voices of the military who have called to an ill thought-out escalation. I was against the escalation at the time and actually wrote a possible resolution calling for the President and Congress of the United States to bring swiftly and safely home all US troops and military, CIA, and similar contract personnel from Afghanistan. There were other points in this resolution which I am willing to share later.

In addition, it seems to me that the US war in Afghanistan has paralyzed and distorted US foreign policy in other, far more crucial areas of the world. Over the last decade, the coalition of forces led by the United States has been preoccupied first with Iraq and now with Afghanistan. While this has occurred, the present Iranian government has pursued the development of a nuclear technology and despite the fact that it has repeatedly asserted is aimed at civilian nuclear energy, most observers have found much evidence to suggest that Iran is indeed pursing a nuclear weapon.

So here is my point.

Why are we being so silent about this war?

Is it because we received a lot of blowback on the Iraq resolution and given our current financial problems we do not wish to aggravate our congregations? If so, then beseder but only to a point, and that point is reflected in the first paragraph above with the current danger being faced by our troops.

Or, is it because we are hesitant to criticize the policies of a Democratic administration with whom we frequently agree? We were not hesitant to criticize the foreign policy of a Republican administration with which we agreed on little. If this is the case, then this type of “real politic” is highly problematic in my view and this leads to the question, “Are we in the Reform Movement being honest about the war in Afghanistan?

Fred Guttman

My J Street problem

In the past several months, J Street has attempted to offer alternative letters in Congress which were not helpful in my opinion. One was a letter circulated in the beginning of May by Representatives Delahunt, Price, Snyder and Kind is unnecessary . This letter was a bit unnecessary since over 80% of Congress, on a bi-partisan basis had already sent a letter to the President supporting the U.S.-Israel alliance and American involvement in peace efforts. All of those Members offered to work closely with the Administration to support common interests between us and the Israelis. In addition, the Delahunt, Price, Snyder and Kind letter seemed somewhat unhelpful since it took the remarks by General Petraeus out of context (about Israel being a strategic burden to the US) and wholly ignored his subsequent clarification of those remarks. The Delahunt, Price, Snyder and Kind letter was not bi-partisan.

Then there was the Diane Feinstein letter which encouraged the President to “drive” the parties towards a peace agreement. The word “drive” was basically a synonym for imposing a peace agreement on then parties. This letter was unnecessary because there had already been a letter in support of the President’s efforts cosponsored by Senators Boxer and Isakson. Again this letter was bipartisan and did not have the word “drive” in it.

Recently, there are letters in the House and Senate in support Israel's Right to Self-Defense in the Gaza Flotilla Incident. To date 79 Senators and 279 House members have already signed the letters. Among other issues, the letters request that the administration use its veto power, if necessary, against any biased or one-sided resolutions emanating from the U.N. Security Council on this issue. The Senate letter is authored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The House effort is being led by Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX), Gary Peters (D-MI), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

Incredibly, J Street sent a letter urging Senators and Congressmen not to support these letters because they do not call for an end to the blockade of Gaza something which by the way, officers in the Israel army are strenuously warning against. I would have had less of a problem had they sent a separate letter urging support for some resolution calling for the end of the blockade. To go against the bipartisan letter seems to be self destructive. These letters may not have everything that J Street wants in them, but what their merits are pretty good. My feeling is that J Street is so intent on pointing out that it is not AIPAC or the rest of the organized Jewish community, that if AIPAC supports something, it will not do so, regardless of the merits.

Perhaps this aids their fundraising, but it does not serve the pro Israel community well and calls into question J Street’s assertion that it is both pro Israel and pro peace.

An Understanding of the Flotilla Controversy

At the end of May, Israel boarded a flotilla of six ships trying to break the blockade to Gaza. Five of those ships were successfully boarded and on the sixth, Israel was met with a violent reaction from the people on the ship. Many of the videos posted on YouTube point out the validity of Israel’s claim that the people that attacked the soldiers on the sixth ship were not peace activists, but people who had been trained for confrontation and violence. The videos posted include not only those taken by Israel, but also ones confiscated from the ship from journalists aboard the ship. These videos show violent attacks on Israeli soldiers including one in which an Israeli soldier was stabbed twice in the back.

In the world, this attack on the Mavi Mamara has been met with almost universal condemnation. In Israel, there is much discussion about this as well. Recently, Israel has agreed to a Commission of Inquiry to be headed by Justice Jacob Turkel. Professor of international law and Israel Prize laureate Shabtai Rosen, and Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Horev, former president of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, will also participate. Two foreign observers will take part in the commission's deliberations: Nobel Peace Prize laureate William David Trimble of Ireland, and Ken Watkin, former military judge advocate general from Canada. They will examine both the role of the Israeli Army as well as the people who were on the Mavi Marmara.

This inquiry will stand in marked contrast to previous inquiries by the United Nations such as the slanderous Goldstone Report which accused Israel of seeking to purposely kill civilians during the Gaza war. Two weeks ago, the United Nations passed a resolution in which it first condemned Israel and only then called for an International Commission to investigate the incident. Condemn first, then investigate!

In Israel being the democracy that it is, there is more than adequate condemnation of this event. This condemnation includes the failure of Israeli intelligence to know that the people onboard the ship were indeed looking for a fight. It also includes the fact that Israeli P.R. mechanism was woefully inadequate in getting the films out in a timely manner and explaining Israel’s case to the world.

In recent polls in Israel, there has been an overwhelming majority of the people who were in favor of the interception of the ship. Why is this so?

First, it has become clear that the purpose of this flotilla in the minds of the leaders of Hamas was not necessarily to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. Israel offered the ships to dock in Ashdod port and they would transfer the aid to Gaza. This offer was made again and again and was met with refusal each time. Eventually, all of the six ships were taken into the Israeli port of Ashdod and their cargo was loaded on to trucks and sent to Gaza. Hamas refused to accept the supplies. By the way, Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.

So if the real purpose of the flotilla was not to provide aid, then what was the purpose?

To answer this, let us look at a little recent history. In January 2003 before there was a blockade on Gaza, Israel intercepted a ship named the Karine A. On that ship, there were fifty tons of weaponry. These included short-range Katyusha rockets, antitank missiles, and high explosives. Since that time, Israel has incepted numerous attempts to smuggle weapons into Gaza including one in 2009 in which weapons were hidden among sacks of flour.

In September 2005, Israel withdrew from every single square inch of Gaza. Every Jew living in Gaza was evacuated as part of Israel’s disengagement.

In June 2006, elections were held and these elections were won by Hamas, a violent Islamic radical group . One year later, Hamas violently seized Gaza and threw out or murdered all of its political opponents. This internal Palestinian coup is rarely cited in the media.

From 2006 until December 2008, more than 8,000 rockets were fired from Gaza into Southern Israel and fell on cities and town such as Sderot and Ashkelon. These rockets made life unbearable for more than 1,000,000 Israelis who were living in rocket range. This is especially true in Sderot which is close to the border. I have been told that there are children in Sderot who still wake up with nightmares and who have bed wetting problems at an age when they should not have them. For the most part, the terror of the rockets ended in December 2008 with Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s war in Gaza.

Meanwhile to the north of Israel in Lebanon, a place wherein there is not blockade on weaponry, Hizbullah, a radical Shiite Islamic terror group, has now amassed more that 40,000 rockets which can be fired into Israel as far as Tel Aviv.

The huge arsenal of weapons amassed by the Hezbollah, in spite of the presence of UN monitor forces in Lebanon, is in direct defiance of UN Resolution 1701, which called for the ""full implementation ... of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state." Given the failure of the international community to implement that Resolution, it is understandable why Israel should be wary of any kind of imposed settlement.

Therefore for Hamas, the purpose of the flotilla was to break the blockade in order to allow for the unfettered importation of weaponry via the sea into Gaza. Here they would find an ally in the Iranians who were willing to provide them with such weapons. By doing this, the Iranians hoped to create a port in the Mediterranean. The flotilla incident was also convenient for Iranians government to divert the world’s attention, especially in the UN, away from their violations of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty of which they are a signatory and to avoid being sanctioned by the UN. This strategy by the way, would not work for the Iranians. Just this week, the UN did vote to sanction Iran for its efforts in trying to become a nuclear power. Do not however get too excited about this bit of “good” news, for most feel that the UN sanctions are very weak and will have little effect in preventing and even slowing down Iran’s nuclearization.

Finally, let us not forget that on June 25th , Gilad Shalit, whose picture is sitting on the chair over here, will conclude his fourth year of Hamas captivity. During this time he has not been seen by the Red Cross and we are not clear as to his welfare. Lawyers representing the family of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier held in isolation, had asked the protestors to take aid for him, they refused. People on boats might have the words Free Gaza as a convenient slogan. Yet Gaza is not under Israeli rule. In fact, only one Jew lives there, against his will. If anything, “Free Gilad Shalit” should be the rallying call heard around the world. As Jews we will continue to pray for his release. It is time to bring Gilad home!

A friend of mine, Rabbi Mickey Boyden from Israel wrote simply the following, “Israel makes mistakes, what country does not? But there are far more serious issues out there than Israel’s interception of the Mavi Marmara. However, it is in the interests of many of the players on the world stage to put the blame and focus on Israel which has become the world’s “Jew” rather than addressing the serious threats that face the civilized world.”

Another friend, Rabbi Jonathan Miller, wrote “Israel is a young, lovely, and vibrant country. It is imperfect, yet it is, to a large extent, the fulfillment of our people’s dreams and hopes. Israel faces many challenges. There are many people out there, including some very real enemies and others who are only the fairest of weather friends, who focus on every mistake that Israel makes and who are critical of each and every fault. These faults are acceptable when made by almost every other nation, but not when made by Israel.”

More than 3,200 years ago, the Jewish people faced very serious challenges on the way to the Promised Land. After more than forty years, the Jewish people did reach the Promised Land. Despite all of these difficulties of achieving peace, more than three thousand years later, we are hopeful and prayerful that Israel will indeed know peace, tranquility and security within her borders.

Teen Education for Reform Jews

Can we do Better?

(The following is a letter sent by Rabbi Guttman to the Reform Rabbis and educators list on June 14, 2010.)

As Reform Jews, can we do a better job in preparing our young people to be Jews? In general, we have not been successful in educating our community, especially our teens and college students. I am particularly worried that our teenagers are inadequately prepared for the onslaught on anti-Israel propaganda that they will face on college campuses. All too often, they have very little understanding of the nature of Israel’s security needs

In 2003, the pollster, Frank Luntz, pointed out that young American Jews are feeling a greater distance from Israel, the nation, and its future. Last month, a columnist named Peter Beinert said that in his opinion, the distance felt by young American Jews was due to the fact that as Liberals, they opposed the policies of Israel and that they were specifically turned off by the American Jewish establishment’s support of Israel’s policies.

The new lobby called “J Street” would represent a protest against the pro Israel lobbying of the American Jewish establishment. “J-Street” has been critical of Israel’s policies and supportive of a proscriptive approach to the Middle-East conflict. In J-Street’s view, the Obama administration should “drive” the parties towards a peace settlement. Another way to look at this is that the peace settlement should be enforced from the outside by the Obama administration and the rest of the world upon Israel. When talking to J-Street activists, I’ve heard two statements. One is, “Israel has had sixty years to solve this conflict and has not been able to do so. Therefore the United States needs to do it.” The second statement that I’ve heard is, “We need to save Israel from itself.”

I have several problems with the J Street position. First, I seriously doubt that any imposed settlement will work for either the Palestinians or the Israelis. There must be “buy-in” from both sides. Second, J-Street’s position does not acknowledge the vibrancy or legitimacy of Israel as a representative democracy which should be in control of its own destiny. Finally, I think it is very sad that the emergence of J-Street does not seem to have brought American Jews who disagree with Israel closer to Israel or back to Jewish commitment. Rather it just seems to have provided to them an outlet for criticizing Israel and thereby becoming even more distant from Israel and the state.

In my opinion however, the distancing of young American Jews is not due to Israeli’s policies as much as it is to the abject failure of Jewish education. This past week in a speech to the Union for Reform Judaism Board, President Eric Yoffie wrote that 80% of those children in the who become Bnei Mitzvah in Reform congregations will have no connection to the Temple or synagogue by the time they are in the 12th grade. I have been aware of this statistic for several years, but now that it is publically out there it is indeed shocking.


Here in Greensboro, there are some significant forces counter to this, but we are only one small Jewish community in America. One of them is, of course, the American Hebrew Academy which is a pearl of the Jewish world in that it is succeeding in creating a strong Jewish identity in teens. The dedication to sending kids to Israel is also seen in the fine program at the American Hebrew Academy wherein the 11th grade spends its fall semester of their junior year in Israel.

The second is the dedication of our congregations toward the education of our teens. Last year in addition to taking kids to Israel, Temple Emanuel organized a teen trip to the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC and a “Disaster and Rebuild” trip to New Orleans and a teen trip to Poland and Israel.


The third factor is the generous support of many philanthropists in our community and most especially, the Greensboro Jewish Federation towards making such trips possible.

The results of our effort to educate teens in our community is to be seen in the following statistics. We retained 80% of our recent twelfth grade class after Bnei Mitzvah. In the past few years, we have maintained somewhere between 70-80% of all of the kids who have become a Bnai Mitzvah Three quarters of those we have retained go to Israel before high school graduation. This year, incredibly, 100% of our teens had been to Israel.

I am more convinced of the importance of such trips. By taking kids to Poland and then to Israel, we are indeed giving to our young people a narrative of why there must be a state of Israel as a refuge for our people and a place wherein Jews can be in control of their own destiny.

The Reform movement, being the largest Jewish movement in America, contains a million and a half Jews and almost a thousand congregations. I have no idea how many kids become Bnai Mitzvah during the year, but for 80% of them not to be connected 5 years later is indeed appalling! This statistical phenomenon is a threat to the future viability of the Reform movement. It is THE major reason why so many non-orthodox Jewish kids are not well prepared to encounter pro-Palestinian propaganda on college campuses. It affects the future viability of the future Jewish-American community, including the Jewish Federation movement.

Friends, we can do better! We can do better in presenting Israel’s case for the world. We can do better in terms of educating our young people to defend Israel from propaganda which seeks to delegitimize her right to exist. We can do better when it comes to turning our Bnei Mitzvah factories with their appalling dropout rates into real schools wherein students remain engaged throughout high school. We can do much better when it comes to educating our young people to love the Jewish people, the State of Israel and Torah. We can do better!