To Love Israel Is to Demand More of It

This week’s Torah portion begins with an instruction. While given specifically to Aaron as the High Priest, I think these words are meant for all of us and especially our leaders. We read:

“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you cause the light to go up, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.’” (Numbers 8:1-2)

The Torah’s instruction to Aaron is precise. The word here is not the same as the one we use each Shabbat when we light our candles; it does not say l’hadlik. Aaron is not simply asked to kindle the lamps. Rather, the word is b’ha’alot’cha — when you cause the light to ascend, to go up. The purpose of the flame is not merely illumination. It is elevation. Our task as Jews — as a people, as a nation and as individuals — is to bring more light into the world and cause that light to rise, to inspire, to uplift.

This week I want to speak about something difficult. I do so not to add to the overwhelming noise around Israel, and not because I think the relentless criticism Israel faces is fair or accurate. On the contrary. But Israel is a real country with real challenges, just like any other country on the planet. Its leaders are imperfect, like all of us, and some of what has happened in recent weeks has pained me. As a Zionist — someone who loves Israel not only as it is, but even more the moral and spiritual promise of what it can still become — I do not believe silence is an option when that collective light is diminished.

So I want to name three incidents over the last few weeks that ask us to live up to our Zionist aspirations more fully.

First: settler violence in the West Bank. This is not new, but it has intensified. President Isaac Herzog, speaking at the Jerusalem Unity Prize ceremony last week, condemned “a wave of terrible violence carried out by an anarchist mob,” calling these acts ones that “defile and violate every basic moral, legal and Jewish norm.” He warned of a “terrible process of brutalization” creeping in from the margins — one that “threatens to enter the mainstream” of Israeli society.

That Herzog spoke these words publicly, at a ceremony celebrating Jewish unity, is the mark of a healthy democracy. I am grateful for his leadership and moral resolve. And I want to add my voice: lawlessness in the West Bank, by anyone, is a chillul Hashem, a desecration of God’s expectations for us. It diminishes the light.

Second: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir filmed himself taunting activists detained from the Global Sumud Flotilla and posted the footage to social media. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rebuked him sharply: “You knowingly caused harm to our state in this disgraceful display – and not for the first time.” U.S. Ambassador Huckabee said Ben-Gvir had “betrayed the dignity of his nation.”

I understand the strong feelings many of us have about publicity stunts like the flotilla, crewed in no small part by agitators and propagandists who seem more interested in harming Israel than helping Palestinians. But the rule of law, and the basic dignity owed to every person in custody, are not optional. Not even now. Not even for those who hate us. Ben-Gvir’s childish stunt handed our enemies exactly what they wanted. Prime Minister Netanyahu chose to include him in his government. He must hold him accountable. It diminishes the light.

Third: Social Equality Minister May Golan stood at the Knesset podium recently and told Reform rabbi and MK Gilad Kariv that he was “marrying dogs in your delusional synagogues.” Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, himself an Orthodox Jew, called her remarks “disgusting and reprehensible, worthy of excoriation and rebuke … Theological, political and ideological differences are fine, even necessary for a healthy people. But there is a line that cannot be crossed.” I agree entirely. To speak this way about synagogues that millions of Diaspora Jews belong to, Jews who advocate tirelessly for our shared homeland, is a betrayal of the covenant between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. It diminishes the light.

I had the privilege of meeting with Ambassador Leiter in New York last week and raised these concerns directly. I also thanked him for speaking out so forcefully and unequivocally. That’s what real leadership looks like.

At the same time as we advocate publicly and proudly for Israel here in the United States, I left my meeting with the Ambassador feeling all the more strongly that true advocacy sometimes requires tochecha — loving critique, offered from within the family. I encourage you to make your voice heard. Reach out to the Israeli Ambassador’s office in Washington or the Consul General here in Los Angeles. Do so with love, as proud Zionists, as Jews who embrace values like egalitarianism, LGBTQ+ inclusion and Tikkun Olam. Speak not out of rejection, but out of love — because believing in Israel, and loving Israel, also means believing it can, and must, live up to the Jewish values we hold sacred.

B’ha’alot’cha teaches us that every action either elevates the flame or dims it. Our task — as Jews, as Zionists, as lovers of Israel — is always to bring more light. This is not a new calling. At Sinai, we were commanded:

“You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)

That is who we are called to be. And when we fall short — as individuals, as a people, whether everyday Jews or the Prime Minister himself — we must have the courage to face it honestly, call it what it is and do better. That is how we raise the light.

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is the Senior Rabbi of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles.