The Blessing of Truth

Convincing others to support Israel sometimes feels like banging my head against the wall.  What’s the point?  Those who support Israel seem to do it always and those who don’t support Israel seem to do that always.  My friends, most of whom are reasonably smart Jews, say things to me like “Of course the Palestinians are wrong.  But aren’t we too?  What about the settlements?”

This past week, the Torah Scroll contained no space to indicate the beginning of Parshat VaYechi.  Rashi explains this lack of space as a reflection of the “closed” nature of Jacob’s sons. Presumably, the sons saw the changing times in Egypt, recognized the forthcoming challenges and “closed down.”  We learn the exact opposite from Jacob, and Joseph for that matter.  Challenging lives taught them to remain open to people around them, to the world around them, and to G-d.

And then the big break in the text…  This week a big space appears between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus.  It is a wide “openness” that marks the beginning of Moses’ narrative.  After all, for most of his life Moses finds himself caught between incredible forces: G-d, Pharoah, and the Jewish People.  Yet, he always remains open.  He remains open to a relationship with G-d.  He also remains open to the Jewish People, whom he serves from morning until night.

During this election season in Israel, when I think that the divide between American and Israeli Jews appears wider than ever, when I think that there’s no point to defending Israel’s actions any longer, I woke up yesterday morning to find a startling article on JPost.com: “‘Wash. Post’: Settlements not main peace obstacle.”   I encourage everyone to read it.  (