Yasher Koach to Brant Rosen

The news that Brant Rosen has resigned from Evanston’s JRC is disappointing to me on a couple different levels. At the broadest level, I am disappointed that a Jewish congregation cannot stand behind a leader who bravely upholds the (what my Jewish loved ones have taught me are intrinsically Jewish) values of Kavod, respect for human rights, social activism, and standing with the oppressed. Apparently this is not a spiritual or moral leader that a congregation can “get behind” when it counts the most: when discussion of Israel’s actions in Palestine moved from a theoretical, historical, or otherwise seemingly remote debate to a palpable and current event, when civilian lives were not only at stake, but indeed lost by the hundreds. Just as this congregation’s morality wavers as it chooses land over humanity, my faith in Judaism and indeed any organized religion is similarly shaken. This brings me to the more personal level on which I am disappointed.

I am not Jewish or otherwise religious, but my fiancé is Jewish. He and his family have taught me that many of the (aforementioned) values that I grew up with and hold dear are also paramount to the Jewish religion. For this reason, I have been committed to including Judaism in the way that he and I would raise a family. Unfortunately, the blatant hypocrisy I keep observing within the Jewish community on the issue of these values shakes the hell out of that commitment. I truly wish that this was not the case, but the duplicity I find in the practice vs. preaching of Judaism serves to reinforce my non-adherence to religion in the first place. I do not say or take this lightly; being honest with myself on this issue carries with it a burden, a huge sadness, and an obstacle for my relationship and my family.

A few days ago we reached out to JRC about making a decision to become members, because I felt that a congregation that supports a leader such as Brant Rosen would be a community that I could count on to help me navigate through these questions and reservations I have about Judaism. A community that would support me, a non-Jew, trying to incorporate Jewish values into my family without feeling like I was preaching one thing and inherently supporting another. A community where I could find honest discussion and education, no matter how difficult. This is the Jewish community in which I wished to grow, to raise the children I hope to have one day, and to work with others to reconcile my own misgivings.

Unfortunately those hopes may have been too high, as I am unsure whether JRC under another Rabbi will be that community which I envisioned. I am less convinced that I will find a Jewish congregation that serves my needs and upholds our shared values in both rhetoric and practice. But I am still hopeful. I am sorry for JRC’s loss of Brant’s moral leadership after 17 years, and sad for those members that were proud to call him their Rabbi, but I look forward to following his work within Jewish Voice for Peace, on his blog, and elsewhere. Yasher Koach to you, Brant Rosen.