Oh, the irony!
Zionism is, as per the definition from the dictionary, “a political movement that advocates the establishment and the defence of a Jewish State in the Middle East, as the only effective means to protect the Jews from antisemitism”. Of course, the irony is that, precisely in that State, the banks and the media are literally run by Jews. Which is what the anti-Semites believe happens all around the world.
Another irony is this. Look at the writings by the founders of the Zionist movement, Ben Gurion, Jabotinsky, A.D. Gordon and all these folks. Their main goal was to create “the new Jew”. How this new Jew will look like is not clear: for the Revisionist Zionist he would have been a proud nationalist; for the Labour Zionists, he would have been a socialist. But certainly, these ideologists were disgusted by Jewish life in the Diaspora all centred around families and neurosis. And look at today’s Israel. One of its main cultural products is TV series, whose main subject is, look at the irony, complicated and neurotic Jewish families. They say we don’t get irony, but this result of a historical process is very ironic.
Speaking of Israeli movies, there is another piece of irony, this time from our enemies. As you perhaps know, this year in Brighton, Yom Ha’Atzmaut is celebrated with the screenings of two Israeli movies. One is, I would say, your typical Israeli movie, a complicated family story with all the possible neurosis and even more (the main characters are father and son, both psychologists). The other is one of another typical Israeli genre, the political one, and is specifically about the challenges and the difficulties experienced by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. The director and most of the actors are indeed Arabs.
So, to recap, we have a Jewish movie, and a very Jewish one!, and an Arab movie. And because we are in Brighton there is also, (as there always is) a small minority of militants determined to erase any Israeli elements from our town. Because there are not that many, they had to choose which of the scheduled two movies was worth boycotting. Remember: these pro-Palestinian folks, they had to choose between a Jewish movie and an Arab movie, both Israeli. And they have called for a demonstration, and a protest, against the Arab movie! Pro Palestinian militants calling for a boycott of an Arab movie which is all about the Palestinians and shows them in a favourable light. A boycott. Even I can see the irony here.
But I don’t think they see the irony. Not only because irony is foreign territory for militants of every kind. But also because they also are literally obsessed against everything Israeli. Today, that means, against almost everything Jewish, because nowadays Israel plays a large part in Jewish identity. It is clear what these people want. They say it openly, and with an increasingly louder voice. Their idea of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, their vision to solve the conflict in the Middle East is plain and simple. They want to erase Israel and replace it with a so-called “State of all citizens”, that is a State which will deny the Jews political rights, for example, the right to immigrate and become citizens, which is something we sadly need for our survival. It is called Law of Return, and these antisemites would like to abolish it. These people do not want better living for the Palestinians, which by the way I am all in favour of. Their goal is to make us Jews weaker and exposed to the next wave of antisemitic violence. You know, something that sometimes in history happens, and against which the existence of a Jewish State, with the Law of Return, provides some sort of shelter.
Of course, on paper, the idea of a full working, totally secular, social democracy in the Middle East, seems very attractive. Except that in every Scandinavian social democracy, there is a State Lutheran Church, so you can hardly call them secular. The problem is that here, in the world we currently live, and especially in the realm of foreign policy, perfect societies, utopias, dreams, never materialise as such. They often become nightmares and totalitarian societies. On paper, an Islamic State is a haven of peace and safety where all the religious minorities coexist under the protection of the Caliph. So they believe. But in reality, there was ISIS.
And you can easily track the same development if you consider Communism everywhere. On paper, it looks the most beautiful and inspiring idea ever. Once it became reality, invariably it became a nightmare, a totalitarian State, a dictatorship. Where even irony is forbidden if the rulers dislike it.
Judaism advocates a quite different approach. Think of all the sacrifices we read in this Torah portion, and in many others. Why do we have to read them, even when we are aware that the Temple is not likely to be rebuilt in the near future? Why do we sometimes study these gruesome prescriptions and not replace these intricacies about slaughtering cows, bulls, and pigeons?
There are many reasons, but the main one is this. We are not perfect. In our spiritual journeys, in our attempt to follow the most moral rules, we make a lot of mistakes, we err, we stumble. Hence the need to compensate, by doing sacrifices, literally depriving, or giving to God something we cherish and enjoy.
Over many centuries, the Rabbis have continued to study and teach the rules of the sacrifices performed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Whether the result was planned or not, the Jewish people have learnt, and Judaism has turned into its foundations, the awareness that utopias can be dangerous and that social improvements can be achieved more effectively through gradual negotiations.
This is the reason why the production of a movie, and actually, of many movies, books, and TV series, about the struggles faced by the Arab minorities in Israel, is a great thing and actually takes place. And those who call for a boycott, while pretending to advocate for the Palestinian’s rights, are in reality advocating a totalitarian society. And they cannot get… what was the word? the irony of it.
Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, 11 May 2019