Zionism, Minorities and Loyalties Democracy Conference March 9, 2015 18 Adar 5775 Dr. Elana Stein Hain 1. David Ben Gurion (1886-1973), National Autonomy and Neighborly Relations, Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea 2. Esther 3:1-11 3. A Lesson from the Purim Story 4. Exodus 1:6-14 5. Book of Jubilees 46 6. Louis Brandeis, The Jewish Problem: How to Solve It (speech at the Conference of the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis, April 25, 1915) 7. Israel Democracy Institute, Israeli Democracy Index 2013 [Selected] Dr. Elana Stein Hain is the Director of Leadership Education for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as a lead faculty member and oversees the content of lay and professional leadership programs. A widely well-regarded teacher and scholar, Elana earned her doctorate in Religion from Columbia University with a dissertation sponsored by Professor David Weiss Halivni on the topic of legal loopholes in rabbinic literature. She served for eight years as a clergy member at Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Jewish Center in New York City, and was recently an adjunct faculty member at NYU. A graduate of Columbia University, the Yeshiva University Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies, and the Cardozo Interdisciplinary Fellowship in Jewish Law and Legal Theory, Elana has taught around the country, including as a member of Wexner Institute faculty.
Dr. Stein Hain co-founded the OLP (Orthodox Leadership Project) to support female leaders working in the Orthodox Jewish community and the pluralistic Seminarians for Social Justice in response to crisis in Sudan, and was recognized by the Jewish Week as an emerging Jewish leader in its first 36 Under 36 listing. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband Rabbi Yonah Hain and her sons, Azzan and Navon. Elana.steinhain@shalomhartman.org 1. David Ben Gurion (1886-1973), National Autonomy and Neighborly Relations, Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea Our attitude [toward our neighbors] will be tested by our deeds, not by our words. The question is: we who come to the Land of Israel in order to resolve the question of our historical existence on a territorial basis, what is our attitude toward the non-jewish residents present in the land? The answer can only be this: We demand for ourselves that which we demand for others. That which we wish others to give unto us we are prepared to give [unto them]. There is one criterion for evaluating all attitudes, personal and political: whether what I wish others to do unto me (both positively and negatively), I am also prepared to do unto them. We wish that others not act unjustly toward us in exile by denying rights and obstructing justice, and we do not want or intend to act thus in our land to others It makes no difference whether we are the minority and others the majority or we are the majority and others the minority. Just relations between peoples cannot be dependent upon [this question]. This is the fundamental assumption guiding and determining the relations between us and our Arab neighbors, and all practical consequences are to be derived therefrom. Our moral attitudes will not be revealed by words and declarations but by actions. We will be tested by our actions. The test is not before others. Although that too is of political and practical significance, it does not interest me at all; it is not the main issue. We must be tested before ourselves. We must have the consciousness that what we do and aspire to do is just. Our Zionism is rooted in the consciousness that what we aspire to in the land is just and moral. 2. Esther 3:1-11 א אח ר ה ד ב רים ה א ל ה, גד ל ה מ ל ך א ח ש ו רו ש א ת-ה מ ן ב ן-ה מ ד ת א ה א ג גי--ו י נ ש א ה ו; ו י ש ם, א ת-כס או, מ ע ל, כ ל-ה ש רים א ש ר א ת ו. ב ו כ ל-ע ב ד י ה מ ל ך א ש ר-ב ש ע ר ה מ ל ך, כ ר עים ומש ת ח וים ל ה מ ן--כי-כ ן, צ ו ה-לו ה מ ל ך; ומ ר ד כ י-- לא יכ ר ע, ו לא יש ת ח ו ה. ג ו י אמ ר ו ע ב ד י ה מ ל ך, א ש ר-ב ש ע ר ה מ ל ך--ל מ ר ד כ י: מ ד וע א ת ה עו ב ר, א ת מצ ו ת ה מ ל ך. ד ו י הי, באמרם )כ אמ ר ם( א ל יו יו ם ו יו ם, ו לא ש מ ע, א ל יה ם; ו י גיד ו ל ה מ ן, לר או ת ה י ע מ ד ו דב ר י מ ר ד כ י--כי-הגיד ל ה ם, א ש ר-ה וא י ה ודי. ה ו י ר א ה מ ן--כי-א ין מ ר ד כ י, כ ר ע ומש ת ח ו ה ל ו; ו ימ ל א ה מ ן, ח מ ה. ו ו יב ז ב ע ינ יו, לש ל ח י ד ב מ ר ד כ י ל ב ד ו--כי-הגיד ו ל ו, א ת- ע ם מ ר ד כ י; ו י ב ק ש ה מ ן, ל ה ש מיד א ת-כ ל-ה י ה ודים א ש ר ב כ ל-מ ל כ ות א ח ש ו רו ש--ע ם מ ר ד כ י. ז ב ח ד ש ה ראשו ן, ה וא-ח ד ש ניס ן, בש נ ת ש ת ים ע ש ר ה, ל מ ל ך א ח ש ו רו ש: הפיל פ ור ה וא ה גו ר ל לפ נ י ה מ ן, מיו ם ל יו ם ומ ח ד ש ל ח ד ש ש נ ים-ע ש ר--ה וא- ח ד ש א ד ר. }ס{ ח ו י אמ ר ה מ ן, ל מ ל ך א ח ש ו רו ש--י ש נו ע ם-א ח ד מ פ ז ר ומ פ ר ד ב ין ה ע מים, ב כ ל מ דינו ת מ ל כ ות ך; ו ד ת יה ם ש נו ת מכ ל-ע ם, ו א ת-ד ת י ה מ ל ך א ינ ם ע שים, ו ל מ ל ך א ין-ש ו ה, ל ה ניח ם. ט אם-ע ל-ה מ ל ך טו ב, יכ ת ב ל א ב ד ם; ו ע ש ר ת א ל פים ככ ר-כ ס ף, א ש קו ל ע ל-י ד י ע ש י ה מ ל אכ ה, ל ה ביא, א ל-גנ ז י ה מ ל ך. י ו י ס ר ה מ ל ך א ת-ט ב ע תו, מ ע ל י ד ו; ו י ת נ ה, ל ה מ ן ב ן-ה מ ד ת א ה א ג גי--צ ר ר ה י ה ודים. יא ו י אמ ר ה מ ל ך ל ה מ ן, ה כ ס ף נ ת ון ל ך; ו ה ע ם, ל ע שו ת ב ו כ טו ב ב ע ינ י ך.
1 Some time afterward, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials. 2 All the king s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low. 3 Then the king s courtiers who were in the palace gate said to Mordecai, Why do you disobey the king s order? 4 When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai s resolve would prevail; for he had explained to them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or bow low to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone; having been told who Mordecai s people were, Haman plotted to do away with all the Jews, Mordecai s people, throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus. 7 In the first month, that is, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, pur which means the lot was cast before Haman concerning every day and every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar. 8 Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty s interest to tolerate them. 9 If it please Your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the stewards for deposit in the royal treasury. 10 Thereupon the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of the Jews. 11 And the king said, The money and the people are yours to do with as you see fit. 3. A Lesson from the Purim Story Letter Permitting Massacre Septuagint Esther III:13 After I had become lord over many nations, and had dominion over the whole world, not inflated with overconfidence of power, but conducting myself ever with justness and mercy, I planned to settle on my subjects a continually peaceful life Yet when I asked my counselors how this might be brought about, Hama, - who excels in wisdom among us, and who has been manifestly of constant good will and unswerving fidelity, and has risen to second in rank in the kingdom, - informed us that among all nations throughout the world there was dispersed a certain invidious people that had laws contrary to all [other] nations, and who continually ignored the commands of kings, so that the uniting of our kingdoms, in unexceptionable good faith planned by us, cannot proceed. Letter Permitting Self-Defense Septuagint Esther VIII:13 For Haman, a Macedonian, the son of Adamathes, actually alien to the Persian blood and far removed from our practice of beneficence, hospitably received o us, had obtained so large a share of the generous favor we extend toward all peoples as to be called our father, and received continual reverence from all as the person next to the royal throne. [But he,] not having borne [properly] the dignity of his great station, tried to deprive us of our kingdom and our life; having by varied and guileful devices sought the destruction, both of Mordecai, our rescuer and benefactor throughout, and of blameless Esther, sharer of our kingdom, together with all their nation. For by these tactics he planned, having us in a helpless state, to transfer the dominion of Persia to the Macedonians.
4. Exodus 1:6-14 ו ו י מ ת יו ס ף ו כ ל-א ח יו, ו כ ל ה דו ר ה ה וא. ז וב נ י יש ר א ל, פ ר ו ו יש ר צ ו ו יר ב ו ו י ע צ מ ו--במ א ד מ א ד; ו תמ ל א ה אר ץ, א ת ם. פ ח ו י ק ם מ ל ך-ח ד ש, ע ל-מצ ר ים, א ש ר לא-י ד ע, א ת-יו ס ף. ט ו י אמ ר, א ל-ע מו : הנ ה, ע ם ב נ י יש ר א ל--ר ב ו ע צ ום, ממ נ ו. י ה ב ה נת ח כ מ ה, לו : פ ן-יר ב ה, ו ה י ה כי-תק ר אנ ה מל ח מ ה ו נו ס ף ג ם-ה וא ע ל-ש נ א ינ ו, ו נל ח ם-ב נ ו, ו ע ל ה מן-ה אר ץ. יא ו י שימ ו ע ל יו ש ר י מסים, ל מ ע ן ע נ ת ו ב סב לת ם; ו יב ן ע ר י מס כ נו ת, ל פ ר ע ה--א ת-פת ם, ו א ת-ר ע מ ס ס. יב ו כ א ש ר י ע נ ו א ת ו, כ ן יר ב ה ו כ ן יפ ר ץ; ו י ק צ ו, מפ נ י ב נ י יש ר א ל. יג ו י ע בד ו מצ ר ים א ת-ב נ י יש ר א ל, ב פ ר ך. יד ו י מ ר ר ו א ת-ח י יה ם ב ע ב ד ה ק ש ה, ב ח מ ר ובל ב נים, וב כ ל-ע ב ד ה, ב ש ד ה--א ת, כ ל-ע ב ד ת ם, א ש ר-ע ב ד ו ב ה ם, ב פ ר ך. 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of persons that were of Jacob s issue came to seventy, Joseph being already in Egypt. 6 Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them. 8 A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. 10 Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground. 11 So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites 14 the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field. 5. Book of Jubilees 46 And it came to pass that after Jacob died the children of Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt, and they became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart 2. And there was no Satan nor any evil all the days of the life of Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all the Egyptians honoured the children of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph. 3. And Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old 4. And he died and all his brethren and all that generation. 5. And he commanded the children of Israel before he died that they should carry his bones with them when they went forth from the land of Egypt. 6. And he made them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not again bring forth and bury him in the land of Canaan, for Makamaron, king of Canaan, while dwelling in the land of Assyria, fought in the valley with the king of Egypt and slew him there, and pursued after the Egyptians to the gates of Ermon. 7. But he (=Makamaron) was not able to enter, for another, a new king, had become king of Egypt, and he was stronger than he, and he (=Makamaron) returned to the land of Canaan, and the gates of Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into Egypt...9. And the king of Egypt went forth to war with the king of Canaan and the children of Israel brought forth all the bones of the children of Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the field in the double cave in the mountain. 10. And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy father remained with them. 11. And the king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt. 12. And he devised an evil device
against the children of Israel of afflicting them, and he said unto the people of Egypt: 13. Behold the people of the children of Israel have increased and multiplied more than we. Come and let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us afflict them with slavery before war come upon us and before they too fight against us; else they will join themselves unto our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are towards the land of Canaan. 6. Louis Brandeis, The Jewish Problem: How to Solve It (speech at the Conference of the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis, April 25, 1915) Let no American imagine that Zionism is inconsistent with Patriotism. Multiple loyalties are objectionable only if they are inconsistent. A man is a better citizen of the United States for being also a loyal citizen of his state, and of his city; or for being loyal to his college... Every American Jew who aids in advancing the Jewish settlement in Palestine, though he feels that neither he nor his descendants will ever live there, will likewise be a better man and a better American for doing so. There is no inconsistency between loyalty to America and loyalty to Jewry.
7. Israel Democracy Institute, Israeli Democracy Index 2013 [Selected] Jews and Others Rifts in Society The overall sample (68%) sees the rift between Jews and Arabs as the greatest area of friction in Israeli society. This is followed, in descending order, by tensions between rich and poor, the religious-secular divide, differences between right and left, and friction between Mizrahim and Ashkenazim.