Forgiveness Requires Tikun/Short Vidui 5787
Here are my Rosh HaShana thoughts for 5786 and this year’s short vidui (confession). We have already been reciting our penitential prayers in places such as the abandoned Palestinian neighborhood of Khalet a Sidra and in front of the Finance Ministry responsible for stealing hope from Israelis living in poverty. Here in Marajam even as settlers and their cows are on Khaled Daud’s land. I will hopefully post this year’s long vidui before Yom Kippur.
The High Holy Days are an opportunity to pause, examine our actions and deeds, and to reflect on our lives and our world. What is different? What have we wrought?
This has been a particularly painful year. Hope was snatched from public housing residents when the government killed the renewal of the public housing law also know as the “Ran Cohen Law” that allowed public housing residents to buy their apartments at a price and with terms they could manage. Bedouin Israelis in “unrecognized” Negev villages were left without shelter against Hamas rockets. In the Occupied Territories the long list of communities abandoned due to State backed settler violence included shepherding communities that were in my organization’s -Torat Tzedek – area of responsibility – communities we had given heart and soul to defending such as the Khalet a Sidra neighborhood of Mukhmas and the Shaqara neighborhood of Duma.
We are now being tested. Can we bring these communities back? We are waiting for the results of a legal appeal on behalf of Khalet a Sidra, and the legal process to safely return Wadi a Seeq continues. Two US Rabbis are working to galvanize support in the US Congress for Khalet a Sidra.
I also have to say that I have personally witnessed the alarming rise of antisemitism. While tolerating argument and trenchant disagreement in the feedback to Torat Tzedek’s social media or my own, there are three things that I do not allow: 1. Holocaust comparisons from either the left or the right. 2. Calls for violence. 3. Antisemitism. Usually I hide such comments. After warning those making such posts, I sometimes regrettably block repeat offenders. A recent post of a crazed settler on my personal Facebook page went viral and there were over 1,000 comments. The work that would have been required just to hide all of the unacceptable comments was more than I had time to handle, and I was forced to hide the entire post. I could content myself with cliches such as stating that it is Israel’s actions that are inspiring antisemitism. We also see the opinion polls showing that even among Jews living outside Israel there is increasing criticism of the injustices being perpetrated against Palestinians. But the antisemitism and the growing calls for violence against not only Israelis but all Jews is real and alarming. It will not lead us to stop fighting and also talking about Israel’s human rights violations and settler violence, but I understand and share the fears that so many Jews around the world have witnessing the rising hatred of Jews. Perhaps the hatred that was always there, but is now more permissible to express openly.
Of course, there would be no reason to continue if we hadn’t also experienced successes this year. Our public housing rights center continues to successfully fight for homes for Israelis, even as Palestinians still sleep in their homes tonight with us sleeping next to them. They know they will not face settler violence alone and unprotected.
There are also causes for cautious hope. Our legal work on behalf of Wadi a Seeq continues to make slow progress. The High Court judges are demanding better answers from the State regarding the Taibe military closure order imposed as a result of a legal appeal demanding protection for Taibe residents but in fact leaving residents even less protected because it is being selectively enforced against human rights defenders and openly not being enforced against violent settlers. In the Wadi a Seeq case Chief Justice Amit has directly asked the State about the army’s opposition to protective presence. In the Taibe appeal we are directly challenging the state regarding selective enforcement keeping human rights defenders out. Our success in getting the Duma/Marajam/Shaqara closure order canceled was based on the harm to Palestinians when selective enforcement allowed settlers in and kept us out.
As I reflect on what is new and different over this past year:
1. In the 31 years I have been leading Israeli human rights organizations, there has never been the level of Israeli public condemnation of settler violence as there is today.
2. In the 31 years I have been leading Israeli human rights organizations there has never been as direct support by Israeli security forces not just for the settlement enterprise, but for settler violence. While not the only example, the most blatant example is the use in location after location of the year long selectively enforced closure orders removing the only protection Palestinians had against settler violence when security forces were not protecting.
3. The world is getting angry. With the danger that the baby can be thrown out with the bathwater, the new British sanctions are an indication that Israel’s greatest friends in the world have reached the point where, in addition to the pressure they have sometimes applied behind the scenes, they are willing openly apply pressure to stop settler violence. This is in no doubt at least in part a function of the sea shift in public opinion regarding Israeli human rights violations. In 31 years strings of US diplomats have rarely expressed more than tea and sympathy for Palestinians who are US citizens. Administrations have applied pressure regarding agricultural access since 2002 and to prevent the demolition of Khan al Akhmar and Susya since 2018. But, as unrealistically bizarre as it may seem that it is Ambassador Huckabee, an enthusiastic supporter of the settlement enterprise who would speak about Israeli terrorists. But I have been hearing for a while from his assistants how angry he is, and is repeated public actions and visits now leave little doubt that this is more than spin. While we don’t know and won’t know what else is going on or not going on behind the scenes that will determine whether there is sufficient engagement to lead to Israeli policy change, we will see whether or not there are results.
What is important and somewhat surprisingly new is that if it has seemed to many that any attempt to lobby the Trump administration regarding Palestinian human rights is a waste of time, that is not necessarily true. I wouldn’t be so naive as to say that such lobbying can bring any guaranteed results, but only that it is worth trying. We in Torat Tzedek have continued to engage US diplomats and officials from the time that President Trump and the current Congress took office. Given what is at stake, we always have to try every avenue, even when prospects look slim.
And I promised to conclude by returning home the residents of abandoned shepherding communities. What I say every time we recite the penitential slikhot prayers and what will be on my mind through the huge number of words I will pray pleading for forgiveness is that our Jewish tradition teaches that we cannot expect forgiveness from God if we do not end the injustices perpetrated in our name and repair the damage that has been done. That is the meaning of “U’Teshuvah, U’Tefilah U’Tzedakah Ma’avirin Et Roah Ha’Gzeirah.” Answering, turning and returning to our highest selves; judging our selves in the mirror that is God; and justice (not charity) avert the severe decree.
It is crucial but not sufficient to do whatever we can to prevent more Palestinians from being expelled from their homes and more Israelis from being evicted from public housing. Justice and decency demand tikun – repair. It means we must obtain public housing for Israelis in need and returning expelled Palestinians home.
Returning the residents of shepherding communities to their homes is one of the most immediate of the many terribly difficult acts of repair we must do in order to merit forgiveness. The obligation to engage in does not end on Yom Kippur. It doesn’t even end on Hoshanah Rabbah, the final day of Sukkot we are taught is the last day on which our fate in the coming year can still be altered. Rabbi Harold Kushner once said in the closing moments of Yom Kippur:
“Teshuvah is not a one time event, like getting married: it is an ongoing process, like being married. Yom Kippur is not a spiritual carwash which we enter dirty and emerge clean. It is a periodic reminder of what we need to be doing constantly, as part of our ongoing effort to become the kind of people we ought to be.
People keep asking me: ‘What time will Yom Kippur be over this year?’ I am tempted to tell them: ‘Yom Kippur is never completely over.’ The day of prayer and fasting will end eighteen minutes after sunset, but the struggle to resist temptation, to master our instincts and to let our better selves emerge, is a constant, a never ending, task.
The services will be over soon. The time for service will then begin.”
You are invited to join us on the ground.
Wishing All Humanity A World As Full of Justice, Loving Kindness, Mercy and Human Decency as the Pomegranate is Full of Seeds.
English Vidui Follows Hebrew
Remember that you must recite the vidui (confession) for yourself and the society you identify with. It is not a gimmick to accuse or point a finger at others. But, if you are an Israeli or identify with Israel, you must make the hard and uncomfortable effort to acknowledge that this is us. We also have good in us, and that we will celebrate as our spiritual harvest on Sukkot. But yes, this is us.
אשמנו בהרג ובהרס המוני
בגדנו בטוב שבנו
גזלנו כספים מהחיים.ות בעוני
דיברנו דופי במי שלא חושב.ת כמונו
העוינו כשאלימים לא שלמו מחיר
והרשענו בהתעלמותנו מצלמך בכל אדם
זדנו לחלשיםים.ות
חמסנו באמצעות עוצמת המדינה
טפלנו שקר כדי לגנוב אדמות ולהרוס בתים
יעצנו רע כשהסרנו את ההגבלות בפגיעה בבלתי מעורבים.ות בשם הגנה עצמית.
ואמרנו שניתן להחזיר את החטופים בכוח
כיזבנו באומרנו שכל פלסטיני.ת אויב.ת וכל העולם אנטישמי
לצנו במאמינים.ות בתיקון עולם
מרדנו בתורה, במגילת העצמאות ובערכי עמינו
ניאצנו במשפחות החטופים.ות
סררנו בהסרת אחריותנו כלפי הזולת
עווינו כשמנענו נוכחות מגינה כדי להשאיר לא יהודים.ות לבד מול אלימים
פשענו באזרחי.ות המדינה הלא יהודים.ות ובתושבי מזרח ירושלים.
צררנו בתמיכת המדינה באלימות נגד לא יהודים.ות כדי למנוע גישה ולגרשם.ן
קישינו עורף כלפי החוק הבין לאומי
רשענו נגד הזקוקים.ות לדיור ציבורי
שיחתנו את צלמך בתוכנו
תיעבנו מגני.ות זכויות אדם
תעינו מדרכך.
תיעתענו את חיילינו ואת שוטרינו כשנתנו להם.ן לחשוב שהם.ן מעל החוק
Ashamnu We sinned by mass destruction and killing
Bagadnu We betrayed the good within us.
Gazalnu We stole public funds from those living in poverty.
Dibarnu Dofi We slandered those who think differently than us.
He’Evinu We acted perversely: the violent suffered no consequences
V’Hirshanu We wrought wickedness by not honoring Your Image in every human being
Zadnu We acted presumptuously towards the weak.
Khamasnu We used the power of the State to act violently.
Tifalnu Sheker We lied to steal lands and demolish homes.
Ya’atznu Ra We engaged in evil counsel to eliminate the limitations on harming civilians in the name of self defense
And to say we could return the hostages through force
Kizavnu We have falsely claimed that all Palestinians are our enemy and the entire world is anti-Semitic
Latznu We scoffed at those who believe in Tikun Olam.
Maradnu We rebelled against the Torah, our Declaration of Independence and our people’s values
Niatznu We incited against the families of our hostages.
Sararnu We rebelled against our responsibility towards others
Avinu We committed iniquity by preventing protective presence, to force non-Jews to face violence alone
Pashanu We transgressed against non-Jewish citizens
and East Jerusalem residents
Tzararnu We oppressed via State support for violence against
non-Jews to deny access to lands and to expel
Kashinu Oref We stubbornly flaunted international law.
Rashanu We acted wickedly towards those in need of public housing.
Shikhatnu We corrupted Your Image within us.
Tiavnu We abominably loathed human rights defenders.
Tainu We strayed from Your Path.
Tiatanu We caused soldiers and police to go astray by saying they are above the law.
