What are the costs of the inhumane Israeli blockade? A reported 250-300 Gazans fleeing to Europe from the open-air prison that is Gaza were killed in the Malta boat sinking last week
The reckoning that should have happened after Gaza isn’t happening. Only a collective effort can reverse the course of destruction and profiting from the destruction. Maybe because European governments and corporations are implicated in Israel’s policies? Marc Ellis at Mondo.
Is the professional rabbinate’s role to reconcile Jews to violence in Israel and the U.S. Marc Ellis reflects on the post-mortems in the Jewish press describing the split in Brant Rosen’s Chicago-area Reconstructionist synagogue between left and right on Israel that broke out over the Gaza slaughter.
Marc Ellis writes: “Reading Rabbi Rosen’s letter of resignation and the Tribune article I can’t help but think of the Biblical saga. Out of the blue the prophets arise, are shot down, then reappear. It hasn’t changed much in thousands of years. The prophetic is too deeply ingrained in Jewish life to pass quietly into our newly embraced colonial night. Apparently, synagogues are not for prophets. Those who practice the prophetic and attend synagogue, should take note. Your expulsion is inevitable.”
The Jewish Reconstruction Synagogue in Evanston, Illinois is looking for a new rabbi. Rabbi Brant Rosen is moving on. In a letter to the congregation Rosen wrote: “it has become clear that my [Israel/Palestine] activism has become a lightning rod for division at JRC. This crisis has taken an increasingly emotional toll on our community – and it has taken a considerable toll on my own well being as well. Given the current environment in our congregation, I believe my decision to resign is the healthiest one for all concerned.”
J Street had trouble finding its voice during Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza. Now after some internal infighting and desertions, J Street is back, ostensibly seizing the moment with Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land on the West Bank. Yes, back it is, but to where is the important question.
Israel isn’t resting content with its gains in Gaza. Hence the new settlement expansion and the confiscation of land in the West Bank. So having withdrawn troops from Gaza, though still keeping its (somewhat adjusted) blockade in place, Israel is pushing the international Israel-gets-to-keep-all-it-has-taken envelope.
Alvin Rosenfeld accuses anti-Zionist Jews of being “Jew-haters.” Isn’t he showing some ageism when he seeks to discredit Hedy Epstein by citing her age, 90, as alleged evidence against her rationality? Marc Ellis at Mondo
The Gaza war appears over – for now – but while Gazans are picking up body parts amid the rubble, the settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are expanding. There’s even a yeshiva set to open in East Jerusalem. Just what the (un)Holy Land needs, more – occupied – religion. After all that’s where this invasion of Gaza ostensibly started.