You’ve Gone Too Far

An open letter to the Prime Minister of Israel:

Mr. Prime Minister,

For more than 25 years, I have served the Jewish people as a rabbi and educator in synagogues, schools and communities in America and Israel. I am a dual-citizen of Israel and America living in the United States and I feel compelled to speak out about leadership decisions you have made in recent months that affect not just Israeli citizens and residents, but all Jews, no matter where they dwell. I speak not only from my heart, but also from the heart of our Jewish tradition and texts.

I’ll begin with the Book of Numbers, quoting Moses’s words to Korach and his followers: Rav lachem—you and the members of your government have gone too far. Korach’s sin was overreaching and hubris. It wasn’t enough that he and his family were given special responsibilities; Korach wanted total control. He wanted the authority and power that had been given to Moses and Aaron as well. You won the election but that does not grant you and your coalition partners a blanket mandate to do as you wish without regard for the desires and needs of all of your constituents, most of whom did not fully comprehend the extent of your plans for judicial reform when the elections were held last November. You control the government, which in the parliamentary system means both the legislative and executive branches. Now you want the judicial branch as well, putting your own agenda for controlling the appointment of judges, which many argue relates to your personal legal woes and thus an inherent conflict of interest, above national security and the greater good.

Our tradition understands the importance of checks and balances. This was the transgression of the Hasmonean leadership: They desired both the monarchy and the priesthood. But in biblical tradition, the king must descend from the tribe of Judah while the High Priest comes from the tribe of Levi—one person cannot hold both offices as John Hyrcanus attempted to do in the second century B.C.E. Your plan to undermine the authority of the Supreme Court, making it possible for the Knesset to overrule their decisions with a simple majority vote, is a similar overreach, and antidemocratic to boot. Rav lachem, you have gone too far.

Our tradition understands that majority rule must be tempered by a commitment to the preservation of minority rights. The rabbis of the Talmud, in Bava Metzia 59b, interpret Exodus 23:2 to empower the majority to make decisions on behalf of the community. This authority, though, is limited by other obligations and duties, chief among them the prohibition against wronging the widow, the orphan and the stranger—paradigmatic representatives of the minority: essentially powerless and therefore exceptionally vulnerable to the tyranny of the majority. Your authority as Prime Minister doesn’t grant you the right to do whatever you wish with or to the powerless and the vulnerable, as members of your government have vowed to do to women, the LGBTQ+ community, Reform and Conservative Jews and their rabbis, and Palestinians living under Israeli control in the West Bank.

Rav lachem—you have gone too far.

There are those who might argue that a Jew living in America, whatever passports he holds, has no right to raise his voice at such a time. They would say that these are internal matters for the Israeli government and Israeli citizens living in Israel to decide. They would tell us that American Jews should focus on supporting Israel by combating BDS and sending their charitable dollars to the appropriate Israel-related philanthropies. They would claim that speaking out against the policies of a duly elected Israeli government is inappropriate for Diaspora Jews.

That too—the claim that we Diaspora Jews should be involved with Israel only insofar as the Israeli government approves—is going too far. The State of Israel is a joint project of Israelis and, more broadly, Jews living around the world. It always has been and, I hope, it always will be. Without the support of the world-wide Jewish community, the State of Israel would not have come into existence. Without this partnership, I fear that it will not be able to flourish or—God forbid—even survive. Every Jew has a stake in this conversation, especially given the stated desire of members of your coalition to change the Law of Return to exclude those who convert to Judaism under the supervision of non-Orthodox rabbis and further undermine Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel by supporting and even strengthening the control that the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate exerts over Jewish life in the Jewish state. As Rabbi David Hartman of blessed memory famously taught, “Israel is too important to leave to the Israelis.”

Mr. Prime Minister, you have gone too far. It’s not too late, however, to return.

I’ll conclude with the words of the prophet Hosea from the eighth century B.C.E., on the eve of the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the moment when 10 of the 12 tribes of the Jewish people were forever lost. Hosea cried out to his people and their leaders: “Shuva Yisrael! Return, O Israel! You have fallen because of your transgressions but it’s not too late to change.”

Mr. Prime Minister, for the sake of the State of Israel and for the sake of the People Israel, turn back before it’s too late.

With prayers for the security, safety, and wholeness of the State and People of Israel,

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback