April 17, 2008
As Israel approaches its 60th birthday, Israelis are questioning the balance between rejoicing and reflecting. The press reports that many Israelis are not in the mood to celebrate, limping from a war fought inconclusively, slipping in educational achievement, falling into poverty in greater numbers, and losing confidence in such fundamental societal pillars as their Supreme Court.
A movement to spend more money on building up Israel’s social infrastructure is gaining popularity. At last count 90,000 Israelis signed a petition calling for a curb on celebratory spending and encouraging programs like hiking, sprucing up parks, and investing in educational projects as opposed to lavish fireworks displays and marching military bands.
This national moment of soul-searching reminds us of nothing less than a debate over how we celebrate another coming-of-age: the bar and bat mitzva. For years, the lavish American-style b’nei mitzva party was a subject of parody and rabbinic grumbling. Over the past several years, however, a countertrend has gained momentum: the notion that a young girl or boy prepares to become a bat or bar mitzva by devoting time and money to pursue a specific “mitzva” project. Here in MetroWest, The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life hosts an annual “Mitzvot of MetroWest” fair that attracts upwards of 800 people. Similar efforts are taking root throughout the country in response to the old joke that we should focus less on the “bar” and more on the “mitzva.”
I hope the Israeli petitioners succeed. Since Israel’s prenatal days, those who founded the modern Jewish state debated how she should and should not be like other countries. This is a moment when a 21st-century Israel can abide by ancient Jewish tradition and also help to define the Jewish future. Were it to mark its birthday every Fifth of Iyar by investing in new efforts to advance education, feed its hungry, and environmentally safeguard its holy ground, Israel would gain luminescence in its evolution toward becoming an or lagoyim, a beacon for the planet.
Indeed, if the country follows the will of these citizens by combining celebration with social responsibility, it will be establishing a national norm for what Jews as a people have been doing for centuries. Just a few weeks ago on Purim, in the midst of our revelry at avoiding a holocaust in fourth-century BCE Persia, we took great care to send mishloah manot, food to our neighbors, and matanot l’evyonim, money for the needy, to ensure that everyone would be honorably included in this community celebration. In just a few days we will sit around an amazing Passover feast and proclaim, “Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and conduct the seder of Passover.”
For generations we have set aside tables at weddings to accommodate the community’s poor, and today we can join those who contribute 3 percent of their celebratory costs to Mazon, which will allocate those funds to the needy.
Nachum Barnea, an oft-quoted Israeli journalist, likens the current quandary of how to depict Israel on its birthday as a country morphing into a “modern-day Sparta and Athens,” balancing its physical strength along with its cultural prowess. That, too, is quintessentially Jewish. Our bar mitzva boy is taught to acknowledge his personal responsibility as he celebrates. He learns to develop his spiritual character and to address his spiritual desires with the same passion and eagerness that he utilizes to celebrate his physical attainment of 13 years.
At 60 years of age, Israel is doing the same, and in so doing, is embracing its very name, Israel. Jacob wrestled all night with a spirit-driven being as he prepared for war. That ancient struggle ended when the spirit confronted Jacob with this powerful question: “What is your name?” The straightforward response, “Jacob,” was inadequate. “No longer shall your name be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with men and you have prevailed.”
Hundreds of generations later, Israel is engulfed in that same struggle. Israel is wrestling with its godliness and with its corporality. It’s her nature. It’s her name. Happy birthday. May it prevail.
Robert Lichtman is the executive director of The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life.
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