by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

January 8, 2009

After Shabbat on Saturday night, Ilissia Kissner of South Orange caught up with the day’s news on CNN. She grew so frustrated with what she perceived as anti-Israel bias that she couldn’t sleep.

At 2 a.m. she went to Facebook, searching for a pro-Israel group to join. She found “Support Israel, Ignore the Media, and Spread the Truth” begun by Joshua Katchen, a 2007 graduate of Rutgers University (see related story).

“I just had to do something to counteract all the negative stuff about Israel,” said Kissner, former director of the religious school at Congregation B’nai Israel in Basking Ridge. And she felt relief after joining. “I felt I needed to communicate with someone who had a similar reaction to mine.”

As the ground war in Gaza that began Jan. 3 intensifies, Jewish individuals and institutions are on a war footing of their own. Day schools and religious schools are adding sessions on Gaza to their curricula. Congregations are inserting special prayers into their services, encouraging the chanting of psalms on behalf of Israeli soldiers, and taking on extra acts of hesed, or kindness.

Rabbis are sermonizing on the situation. AIPAC is urging people to contact members of Congress to speak out on behalf of Israel. People are attending organized discussion groups on the subject — learning how to defend Israel and, sometimes, voicing their own mixed feelings about the military operation.

At the Conservative Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, Rabbi Steven Bayar spoke about the issue on Friday night. Although he staunchly defends Israel’s right to defend itself and approves of the current action, he is not urging congregants to necessarily follow his lead. “The more vocal members of our congregation tend to be pro-Israel, but there is a significant number who are unsure or even negative. It’s important to us to give them a voice and let them know it’s okay to voice their disagreement,” he said.

Bayar described his talk on Friday night as “more of a political forum, not a one-way version” of events.
His synagogue has also been sending regular e-mail updates on the situation in Israel and Gaza to congregants, including anecdotes and messages from members or their acquaintances in Israel, as well as editorials and articles espousing a variety of perspectives. Most recently, the e-mail communication included an op-ed from the liberal Jewish group J Street, defending its call for an immediate cease-fire and denying a charge by top Reform leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie that its views are “morally deficient” and “out of touch with Jewish sentiment.”

Rabbi Laurence Groffman at the Reform Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove will not hesitate to make his own views known when he speaks about the situation this Friday night.

Although he hadn’t finished writing his talk when he spoke with NJJN, he said he would reiterate that “Israel has a right to take action to defend herself. If Canada were lobbing rockets into Maine, would we in the United States twiddle our thumbs? Of course not,” he said. “We also need to ask what will happen going forward. What is the ultimate goal here and how effective will this operation be?”

He said he will try to assess the upsides and downsides to various actions. For example, “The upsides to the operation are that, if successful, we knock out some or all of Hamas’ ability to launch rockets into Israel — and some in the Arab world have already said that the action was provoked by Hamas.

“But the downside is that it could end up radicalizing the population of Gaza, which will see Hamas as the hero.”

A bigger question, he suggests, and one he will likely pose Friday night, is the war’s aftermath.
“Assume Israel does an effective job in Gaza. What happens the day after? Who is in charge?”
The possibilities, none certain, include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a “radical Al Qaida group,” Syrian or Iranian proxies, or even a strengthened Hamas.

“I don’t have the answers, but these questions need to be debated and talked about,” said Groffman.
Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob & David, an Orthodox synagogue in West Orange, has undertaken a variety of responses to the war. Groups are gathering regularly to say tehillim, or psalms, on behalf of IDF soldiers, and members are being urged to participate in pro-Israel rallies.

The synagogue has joined Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops. Launched by Israeli rabbis Simcha HaCohen Kook, the chief rabbi of Rehovot, and Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, the Bostoner Rebbe of Har Nof, Jerusalem, the project pairs people from around the world with soldiers in the IDF for whom they say special prayers and in whose name they undertake special acts of hesed.

Lesson plans

All three area day schools are bringing the events into the classrooms, especially for older students.
Both the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union in West Orange and the Bohrer-Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County in Randolph are incorporating Israel’s invasion of Gaza and the historical context into social studies and history curricula for middle and high school students.
Many Schechter students have developed relationships with teenagers from Ofakim and Merchavim, nurtured through exchange trips. These students are being encouraged to write individual letters to their Israeli friends. The school will also send its own letter, according to head of school Joyce Raynor.
Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston is providing historical context going back to 2005; on a daily basis, its Hebrew department will review headlines in Hebrew newspapers. A former paratrooper addressed the student body at an assembly on Jan. 6, and students are participating in Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops.

Synagogue religious schools are also reviewing current events with their older students. At the Pine Brook Jewish Center in Montville, sixth- and seventh-graders will find Gaza on the map, discuss the last six months of tension in the area, and then talk about what is going on both from Israel’s point of view and the Gazans’.

“There is so much media on Palestinian kids being brought to the hospital. This is what the kids see if they watch the news on television,” said religious school director Mary Sheydwasser. “They need to be aware of all sides. Do they feel sorry for the Palestinians and the people in Gaza? Should they feel sorry? I’d like them to really think about it. I believe Israel is doing the right thing; I stand behind Israel 1,000 percent. But I want the kids to think about it.”

The confirmation class at Temple Shalom of Succasunna will learn about the war and advocacy during a previously planned trip to Washington, DC, organized by the Union for Reform Judaism. Part of the trip is teaching students how to interact with lawmakers on social justice issues.

“I’m hoping a big piece of this will be speaking out on behalf of Israel,” said the temple’s Rabbi David Levy, who will accompany the teens along with education director Corey Herman. “If they don’t bring it up, I will. We should take advantage of the moment.”

On the media

Among those interviewed for this article, opinion on media coverage varied, often depending on what medium was being consulted.

On one side was Kissner, who watched CNN and was particularly incensed by reports from Christiane Amanpour, the network’s chief international correspondent.

“They are reporting as if there were no rockets going into Israel, no suffering on Israel’s part. Like they just woke up one morning and decided to invade Gaza,” said Kissner.

She also disliked the coverage of anti-Israel demonstrations around the world, which to her sent a message that “if Israel hadn’t done this, the Arabs would

not hate us.”

On the other hand, Groffman said he was “happy” to see, in The New York Times, more understanding of Israel’s plight than he expected.

“They have made the point that a lot of the Israeli action is a response to Hamas rocket fire. It’s not [as if] the Israeli government woke up in the morning and said, ‘Gee, let’s attack Gaza.’ And the photos are also not only of Palestinians but also Israelis running to bomb shelters.”

But even as they defend Israel, Kissner and Groffman wrestle with the realities of a deadly and seemingly insoluble situation.

Groffman said he has slowly shifted away from the optimism with which he welcomed the Oslo peace process. Today he no longer sees peace as a realistic goal.

“We’ve shifted from seeking peace in a deep sense of the word as a real goal to a nasty chronic illness that needs to be managed,” he said. “We have to expect flare-ups from time to time. I don’t think there’s a cure. It’s sad, but realistic.”

Kissner’s concern springs from the plight of civilians caught in the political machinations of Hamas.
“People are dying. Children are dying,” said Kissner. “I’m really afraid of the loss of life on both sides.”

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