By Kathy Carlson
The rabbis of Nashville’s five congregations have endorsed the Jewish Federation of Nashville’s initiative to develop a consensus and ground rules for how we talk about Israel.
The initiative, Conversations about Community and Israel, is designed so every member of the community age 16 and above has the unprecedented opportunity to share their thoughts on goals for the community when people disagree strongly about Israel.
The program begins in late March with a quick online or paper survey. Guided group conversations will take place in April, after the survey, and all opinions are welcome. Detailed information will be forthcoming in the March 2 Observer and on the Jewish Federation Website, www.jewishnashville.org, after March 2.
“Generally, it’s a good idea in any society to have an exchange of viewpoints that helps people grow, and certainly regarding Israel, we would love to grow together as a community,” Rabbi Saul Strosberg of Sherith Israel said. “… I hope we can characterize as little as possible, judge as little as possible. At the end of the day to really come together as a community (we) need to put politics aside.”
“Israel is an essential part of our identity as Jewish people,” said Rabbi Kliel Rose of West End Synagogue. “We have an obligation as Diaspora Jews to be in conversations about her and her well-being. We have an obligation to care and support and dialogue seriously about what is taking place in Israel; every Jew has that obligation.”
“We as Jewish people who live in the Diaspora, especially leaders of the Jewish community, are always looking for ways to engage people, and so we support the effort of Federation to reach beyond or outside and to host these dialogues,” said Rabbi Philip Rice of Congregation Micah. “Participating in the conversations will allow people to engage and connect. … Hopefully (everyone) will be able to contribute something and open their minds as well.”
In Nashville, as in many communities, “there’s a wide range of opinions that people carry regarding their own relationship to the state of Israel and the Jewish nature of the state of Israel and the way in which Israel should respond to the realities of the neighborhood in which it lives,” said Senior Rabbi Mark Schiftan of The Temple. “The real challenge (is) – can you voice criticism, can I voice concern even including concern and criticism that is sincere and genuine, and do so in a forum where you’re not labeled as treasonous or heretical to the ideals of the Jewish community.”
Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel of Chabad of Nashville said, “In a nutshell, there are always going to be two Jews with three opinions. It’s important to find areas we agree on, especially on contentious issues” regarding Israel.
“Sometimes the topic divides more than unites,” he said. “Mutual respect is needed, to have trust in each other and then try to build on the sense of community. The conversations are a great idea as long as we remember we all are the people of G-d and we have to speak with respect to one another.
“At the same time,” he continued, “we have to be honest with ourselves. The non-Jewish world respects Jews who respect Judaism. … (We should) not try to appease world opinion in order to be part of the (larger group of) people. The secular world respects Jews who respect Judaism and respect themselves.”
“The conversation seems to me to be a wonderful way of engaging with different segments of this Jewish population of Nashville about Israel,” Rose said. “… Everyone is welcome at the table regardless of where they come from,” whether they offer criticism or are staunch supporters of the Israeli government.
“No one individual Jew owns the exact right opinion about Israel,” he continued. “It’s all something that we’re wrestling and struggling with – hugging and wrestling and trying to figure out our relationship to Israel.”
Schiftan pointed to “our own communal values and our ability to disagree, to debate passionately those heated opinions in a way that is done so with honesty and with mutual respect between the parties. I think the past year has proven to us – there are those in our community that would choose to shout out or drown out the voices or opinions they would not wish to hear, but that has never been the Jewish way,” Shiftan continued.
“If you look back as far as the Talmud,” he said, “the rabbis are seen as openly, purposefully debating, disagreeing and deliberating on every possible issue of Jewish life. And so our ancestors saw tremendous value in that the entire community is made better because of that vigorous discussion and that the finest truths emerge. The hope would be to use that as our model so that creating these forums not only for discussion, but how we speak to one another and listen to one another go directly to the health of the community.”
“We have to find a common denominator on how to be a unified people … to respect who we are and where we come from,” Tiechtel said. “That can be the road map to where we’re going.”
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These Conversations about Community and Israel are sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Nashville’s Community Relations Council as a way to foster open conversations on issues concerning Israel within the Nashville Jewish community. They have been funded through the New Initiatives Grants created through the 2010 Best Jewish Nashville process. For continuing information on the initiative, go to jewishnashville.org.