|
 "WALDEN
PONDERINGS"
I've been pondering what others are saying. I
spent a very diverting and thought-provoking Sunday morning earlier this spring
with members of the congregation of Temple Beth Tfiloh where I'd been invited to
talk about some of my adventures during more than five decades as a journalist
and broadcaster. The conversations covered a great many events I was privileged
to witness and the people I'd met during that time: in particular the time I
spent in the Middle East. But my comments about the 1967 war, the Camp David
Accord signing in '79, the first Gulf War, etc. paled by comparison to the
powerful sermon presented by Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg that same weekend as Israel
was preparing to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of its rebirth and all of us, by
extension, were called upon to recall the more ominous events that began
crystalize on Kristalnacht.
To say that Rabbi Wohlberg is concerned about
the current state of relations between Israel and the United States, with the
rest of the world, in fact, would be an understatement of the first magnitude.
That concern was manifest as he recalled, as follows, some of comments made by
President Obama to Jewish leaders in Cleveland as he, Obama, began his campaign
for the White House two years ago.
'I think there is a strain within the
pro-Israel community that says: unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud
approach to Israel, that you are anti-Israel and that can't be the measure of
our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have an honest dialogue about how do
we achieve these goals, then we're not going to make progress … because of
the pressure that Israel is under, I think the U.S. pro-Israel community is
sometimes a little more protective or concerned about opening up that
conversation.'
Rabbi Wohlberg continued…….
"What he said was not so terrible and I
have to tell you that I respected him for having said it. He was very honest
about his feelings. What he was basically saying was that he does not agree
with the policies of a Likud government and that American Jews should be more
prepared to debate those policies. Now, Mr. Obama is entitled to his opinion.
It is just not my opinion! Does that make him an anti-Semite? Absolutely not!
We have got to stop that kind of foolish talk. There are many Israeli Jews who
agree with what he said … there are many American Jews who agree with what
he said! But I'm not one of them! And knowing that after years of Hezbollah
and Hamas and suicide bombings and kidnappings and rocket attacks, a majority
of Israeli voters don't agree with his perspective, it seemed obvious to me
that if he were elected President, there would be a clash between his policies
and Israel's policies. Sad to say, I was right."
But among the most unsettling of Rabbi
Wohlberg's comments were these:
"For the first time that I can think
of, Israel is being accused of being the one that is the hindrance to peace.
That's never happened before! Despite all the disagreements between Israel and
the United States, it was always understood that after all is said and done,
it is the Arabs and Palestinians who have resisted making peace. The Ford and
the first Bush administration refused to negotiate with the PLO. Bill Clinton
clearly stated that it was the Palestinians fault that Camp David fell apart.
Bush the Second refused to even talk to Yassir Arafat, saying he was an
impediment to peace. Now? Now Mr. Obama goes to Cairo and says the first step
toward making peace possible is freezing the Israeli settlements. He asks
nothing tangible from the Palestinians. The Palestinians refuse to even
negotiate, but its Israel's fault!
Rabbi Wohlberg knew he was treading on the
toes of some of his congregants, that some of them would disagree with his
observations. But, with anger and irony boiling just below the surface, he built
up a full head of steam and charged ahead.
"The fact of the matter is, this
administration has from day one made improved relations with the Muslim world
a primary goal, going as far as to ban the use of words like "Jihad"
and "Islamic terrorism." It is unfortunate that to date, America's
outreach of a friendly hand has not been reciprocated, which leads some to
blame it all on Israel. If only Israel would give up what it is entitled to
the women of Al Qaeda would take off their burqas and join the Daughters of
the American Revolution, the Taliban would sing Hava Nagilah around the
campfire, Hezbollah and Hamas would join Hadassah, and the Shi'ites and Sunnis
in the Middle East would say: after 1400 years of killing each other, let's
co-sponsor a Kiddush at Beth Tfiloh! It's just little Israel that is standing
in the way of all this!"
"Well, let me tell you: it has been
pointed out that the Jews have always been in the way! Look in the Bible!
Every time Babylonia or Syria wanted to invade Egypt, little Judea was in the
middle. The Jews developed a unique set of rituals and beliefs; they couldn't
offer sacrifices to the images of Roman emperors, they wouldn't work on the
Sabbath and so, to the Greeks and the Romans, they stood in the way of world
domination. And then came another religion (Christianity)whose followers
proclaimed that it was the fulfillment of the one the Jews practiced, but the
Jews refused to go along. And so our people were portrayed as being the devil
who were to be eternally dammed. And then came Islam: Mohammed was eager to
win over the Jews. After all, he was a monotheist: why couldn't the Jews go
along? And if they had, Mohammed would have had a solid base from which to
operate. But the Jews refused to go along. And so we were portrayed as being
monkeys. In modern Europe, the Jews were in the way of middle-class Frenchmen
and Germans who were seeking their jobs. The Communists found them in the way
because Jews didn't fit into simple class categories. Eventually, Hitler came
along and decided to once and for all eliminate this universal inconvenience.
It didn't happen then and it's not going to happen now!"
That's because, despite his concern over the
current state of affairs, despite those circumstances that create unease and
worry, Rabbi Wohlbeg steadfastly refuses to abandon that which has sustained the
children of Israel through the millennia. As he said in conclusion:
"Barack Obama entitled his book 'The
Audacity of Hope' - a title he got from Rev. (Jeremiah) Wright. The truth of
the matter is the history of the Jewish people could be entitled 'The Audacity
of Hope' as expressed in Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah, meaning
'The Hope.' Its author, Naphtali Herz Imber, once said, 'Kings, Earls,
Cardinals will all pass away … but I and Hatikvah will remain
forever.'"
"He was right! The Hope remains forever
…"L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzeinu b'eretz tziyon v'Yerushalayim"
- to be a free people in our land, in the land of Zion and Jerusalem."
Amen.
Alan Walden & Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg
Note: The entire text of Rabbi Wohlberg's
sermon can be found on the Beth Tfiloh web site at http://www.bethtfiloh.com/ftpimages/230/download/wohlberg041710.pdf | 
Baltimore, MD 21210 
