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October 18, 2002
Rabbi brings a ray of hope
MK seeks unity of the left, right, religious and secular.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
After peace and oil, the commodity Israel may lack most is optimism.
However, a rabbi who was in Vancouver last week is an articulate
new voice for moderation in Israel's parliament and offers a vision
that is striking for its bright outlook.
Rabbi Yehuda Gilad became a member of the Knesset just four months
ago as a midterm replacement for another MK who resigned. Gilad
became just the second member of his Meimad party in the Knesset
(deputy foreign minister Rabbi Michael Melchior is the first), but
he hopes to create a movement that alters the way Israelis view
themselves and their region.
Meimad was founded in 1988 and first elected a representative in
1999, seeking a middle ground between the often irreconcilable secular
and religious segments of Israeli society. Gilad, who is a rabbi
in the religious kibbutz movement, said the traditional religious
parties have moved to the extreme right both religiously and politically
and no longer offer a platform that is palatable to the majority
of Israelis who are not religious. He describes Meimad, which is
part of the One Israel coalition government, as a religious party,
but carefully explains the differences between his vision and that
of others, such as the National Religious party. As an observant,
Orthodox Jew, Gilad believes the Sabbath should be a day of rest
and reflection; a time when the ordinary processes of the material
world are suspended. But he also recognizes that there is a sizeable
number of Israelis who do not share his level of commitment to Torah.
His approach on this issue is emblematic of his party's compromising
nature on a range of fronts. Meimad would like to see strictly commercial
establishments remain closed on Shabbat, but would allow entertainment
venues, such as theatres, to open for the enjoyment of those who
would choose to see a film on the Sabbath.
He says the religious parties have exerted so much control in Israeli
society over the last few years that their efforts have had the
opposite of the intended consequences. By imposing an Orthodox approach
to issues such as Shabbat closures, civil marriages and conversions,
Gilad said, the traditional religious parties and their supporters
have alienated the people they intended to persuade. Observance
should be the result of personal choice, the rabbi said, and not
done out of coercion.
Gilad's political philosophy is based on the difficult balance that
has always faced Israel: being a democratic state while preserving
the unique Jewish nature on which it was founded. Gilad refuses
to see the two as mutually exclusive and indeed has strong opinions
about those who suggest it must be one or the other.
There is no contradiction, he said, insisting that Israel can exist
as a democratic, Jewish state. He wants to see more Judaism in Israel,
but less coercion. It is the responsibility of the religious in
Israel to encourage observance and mutual respect through moral
suasion and exemplary behavior, rather than through political power
and the force of law. Jewish learning should be increased in public
schools, for instance, but then students should be left to make
their own choices about the degree of their religious expression.
As a Torah scholar, Gilad said he accepts the view of the Charedi
parties that the so-called occupied territories are part of a divinely
ordained greater Israel. But he said it is important to recognize
the difference between messianic visions and earthly realities.
Two peoples cannot exclusively control one land, he said, and the
need for peace must supercede some theological assertions.
In practical terms, this means Israel and the Palestinians must
compromise to some degree. He would be willing to see Israel give
up about 90 per cent of the territories, maintaining control over
settlements that could be contiguously integrated into the Jewish
state. At the same time, the Palestinians would need to explicitly
recognize Israel, something that even Gilad acknowledged probably
won't happen until there is a change in the Palestinian leadership.
Although Meimad's two MKs are part of the coalition government,
they remain a distinctly small voice of moderation and compromise.
At the same time, they are far from mere voices in the wilderness.
Melchior and Gilad were among the signatories of a manifesto that
has made some significant ripples in the Israeli body politic. The
Kineret Declaration is a document endorsed by a diverse range of
Israeli leaders from the secular and religious communities, the
political left and right. It is a confirmation of what are traditionally
Zionist principles, but offers a rededication to the unity of Israel
as both a democratic and a Jewish state, a proposition that has
been increasingly regarded as naive and unworkable by many Israelis.
Emphasizing cultural, rather than political, aspects of nationalism,
the declaration states that the Jewish nature of Israel is expressed
"in a profound commitment to Jewish history and Jewish culture;
in the state's connection to the Jews of the Diaspora, the Law of
Return, and its efforts to encourage aliyah and absorption; in the
Hebrew language, the principal language of the state, and the unique
language of a unique Israeli creativity; in the festivals and official
days of rest of the state, its symbols and its anthem; in Hebrew
culture with its Jewish roots, and in the state institutions devoted
to its advancement; and in the Jewish educational system, whose
purpose is to inculcate, along with general and scientific knowledge
and the values of humanity and along with loyalty to the state and
love of the land of Israel and its vistas, the student's attachment
to the Jewish people, the Jewish heritage and the book of books."
Not unexpectedly, the declaration brought condemnation from both
sides of the social divide, being attacked by secularists and religious
alike. (In this, the authors have already succeeded, if unwittingly,
in an act of unification.) Still, Gilad said he has been warmly
welcomed in the Knesset by leaders on both the right and the left,
the secular and the religious. He remains optimistic that Meimad's
view of a unified Israel can be created through communication and
compromise.
Gilad's sense of compromise is evident in everything he does. As
the spiritual head of Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa, on a kibbutz 90 minutes
north of Jerusalem, he presides over a religious institution whose
students are both dedicated Torah scholars and members of the Israel
Defence Forces. Unlike some scholars who view national military
service as a distraction from Torah, Gilad, a former combat soldier
and army chaplain, views the IDF as one of the most unifying forces
in Israeli society.
Gilad's visit to Vancouver was part of a larger North American mission
on behalf of Gilad's yeshivah as well as an opportunity to tell
Diaspora audiences about his vision of Israeli politics. In addition
to the West Coast, Gilad visited Toronto, Boston and New York. While
here, he gave classes at Shaarey Tefilah Synagogue, including an
address on maintaining morality in times of crisis.
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