Sublime

Israel’s Jewish political and religious Far Right grew particularly vicious. At its rallies, there appeared signs with photos of Rabin made to look like Hitler—archenemy of the Jewish people. A few extremist rabbis referred to Rabin as a rodef (a person seeking the death of another), and a boged (traitor), categories that in Jewish law merit death.

Pluralism has made important, critical contributions to American Jewish life, but a group striving to live out a common religious vision and goal—especially as it relates to Torah, mitzvot, and gender egalitarianism—is a rare and powerful innovation.

Many early Zionist thinkers had seen Zionism as a therapeutic project. Zionism would heal the Jew. It would save the Jew from religion, from the dusty tomes of the yeshiva bookshelves. There had been an era in which having absolutely no religious faith was a badge of Zionist honor.

this campaign seeks to delegitimize and isolate Israel as a pariah state. The campaign also seeks to convey to college students the false notion that Israel is among the worst human rights violators in the world and is guilty of genocide, torture, racism, ethnic cleansing, and Nazi tactics, whereas the Palestinians and their Arab supporters are vic

Ahavat yisrael is not—cannot be—the religious equivalent of “our country, right or wrong.”

the vision of Empowered Judaism is no dream—it is a fledgling reality they can connect to and help build.

Israel, he says, ‘thought it was different because it was different: it constituted an egalitarian social system in the midst of stratified societies.’

They are looking for more than a class; they want to build real community. They want substance, and they want the skills to own their Jewish lives.