I was scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund this month. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled. However, I decided to share my speech here, since I prepared it and hope that I can deliver it at a related event in the future.
I am the Alberta representative on the national steering committee of Independent Jewish Voices. IJV is a humanitarian organization that believes in human rights for all people, and especially a just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine, a resolution that would result in peace and justice for all people in that region. We oppose the ongoing, illegal occupation and are the first (and as far as I know, the only) Canadian Jewish organization to endorse Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
I was asked to speak a bit about my perspective on the most recent Gaza incursion from a Jewish perspective. That is rather difficult to do because, as goes the story, if you have two Jewish people, you have three opinions. Jewish people are known for intellectual discourse, debate, examination of issues, and, of course, being opinionated. Except, however, when it comes to this issue. Jewish people who are level headed and willing to stand up for the rights of the downtrodden anywhere else in the world, may suddenly find themselves choking when the question of Palestine is raised. So much so, in fact, that there are national organizations that claim to speak on behalf of all Jews in Canada, such as B’nai Brith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Independent Jewish Voices exists to provide that alternative voice, to say that those organizations do not, in fact, speak for all Jews. As proof, our membership rose just recently during Operation Protective Edge. Our members were out in droves at the many anti-Zionist peace rallies held across Canada.
Indeed, Jewish people have many opinions, so I am going to speak a little about myself. I was raised in a fairly traditional, Modern Orthodox home, where our traditions and values were important. Unlike other Jewish families, Israel was not overly discussed or stressed, and I always had trouble wrapping my head around the conflict, since Jews and Arabs are both people of Abraham. Over the years I swung numerous ways on the issue and a few years ago, I think it was during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009, I became appalled at the number of civilian casualties the Palestinian people incurred, especially of children. It was disproportionate, inappropriate, and disgusting.
It was around then that I discovered and became a member of of Independent Jewish Voices and began speaking on their behalf at a number of events. As part of the Jewish community, the reaction has been mixed, from agreeing to disagree, to people outright walking out of my life as friends. However, I believe that no cause is worth standing up for if there is no threat of sacrifice, and if anything, my views separate the people in my life into two camps: those who are my real friends, and those who are not.
I am not a Torah scholar, but from a theological perspective I don't believe that the modern political State of Israel is the same as Eretz Yisroel which is described in the Torah. In fact, Israel was founded by working class, mostly Socialist Jewish people who had survived the Holocaust. It had nothing to do with religion, as such. As a Jewish person, I don't feel I need to have unwavering loyalty to a nation in order to maintain my Jewish identity.
However, this does not stop me from being accused of being a “self-hating Jew” or “anti-Semitic.” Both of these claims are absolutely ridiculous. First of all, I can't be a self-hating Jewish when I so openly identify with my Jewishness. The same applies to supposedly being anti-Semitic. And as far as that goes, Arabs are Semites also. So anyone who calls me anti-Semitic is actually being anti-semantic.
I am also not anti-Israel. I believe there needs to be a just peace for all people in that region. In fact, there is a growing, vocal peace movement from within Israel amongst Jewish people, such as the journalist Gideon Levy. Why? Peace is important for everyone’s security and safety. The occupation is bad for the future of both Israelis and Palestinians.
As a Jewish person, certain values are of utmost importance to me. One of these is the concept of Tikkun Olam, which refers to healing or repairing the world. The rift in the Middle East needs to be repaired or the world remains incomplete.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Together, Creating a Better World: Workshop Notes
Introduction
About me:
This portion of the workshop was open to questions. Here are some of my comments in response to the excellent questions I was asked:
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Why I Left the Messianic Movement
This is a post that is very difficult to write. First of all, I never anticipated that I would write such an entry. Second, it took me a long while to be able to collect my thoughts in a coherent way without airing "dirty laundry" so to speak. Finally, because of the stigma that surrounds Messianic Jews, I had doubts about "outing" myself like this. Although with regards to concerns of the latter, there is enough I have written here and posted elsewhere online that a good Internet search about me could probably reveal much.
In my late 20s, I became involved with a Messianic church. I am not going to get into the details as to why I was led in this particular direction, other than to say that that is where I was in my life at the time. This church ended up splitting over a dispute concerning the employment of the pastor. I ended up going with the group that split, and formed another Messianic congregation in 2003. I attended there regularly for a little over five years. During that time I was on the board as the secretary, and was a Deacon doing everything from leading worship to giving sermons to sweeping between the pews. I led services when the pastor was absent. I got used to performing music in front of an audience. My knowledge of the Bible and my musical abilities grew, as did my leadership skills. Overall, it was a very positive experience which I look back on fondly, and do not regret.
When I began getting involved in the local social justice movement I found myself attending less and less. A main reason for this was because activist events are often held on Saturdays. But I began seeing political connections in the church that no longer aligned with my beliefs. There is a huge emphasis on Israel as a nation. Without getting too theological here, I believe there is a difference between Eretz Yisroel as discussed in the Torah, and the modern political state of Israel. I also believe in the separation of church and state.
I would have a problem with conservative congregations in general because of the "Israel, right or wrong" stance, as well as the interference in people's personal lives. Especially in a small congregation, there are no secrets. And in a large congregation, there is no accountability. As well, I have found that churches seem to be magnets for troubled people, especially in the Messianic movement. And for a compassionate person who can often have boundary issues, this can be dangerous.
So, in some ways, I am saying that I am walking away from organized religion in general. I am not going to get into the specifics of my personal religious beliefs, because I think those are personal. That being said, a formal congregation does not interest me. I find my faith in nature, in social justice, in my love of others, in the creation of music, and in the many things that happen every day which astound and surprise me and help me grow.
I still stand behind many of the things I have written about in the past. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with a Jewish person believing that Jesus is the Messiah. I strongly disagree with Israel persecuting Messianic Jews. I believe people have the right to believe whatever they want as long as they are not harming others. And no one has the right to tell someone they are wrong or belittle them or exclude them because of those beliefs.
Sometimes as we grow as people, where we are spiritually changes. Following a different path does not make us correct or make our former community wrong. It just means we are moving in different directions. Like I said at the beginning, I have no regrets, and I am not making any apologies for my choices. It is, however, a chapter of my life that has closed. I am looking forward to where my spirituality will take me next.
Defining the Sacred
We're in the midst of the Jewish High Holy Days at the moment, the time of year when we, as Jews, are supposed to account for our actions over the past year, atone for our sins, pray, fast, and eat (not necessarily in that order).
Although I stopped being Shomer Shabbos (Sabbath observing) many years ago, and I don't follow all the laws of Kashruth (kosher diet), I do observe Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) to some extent. I have often explained to people who I won't eat something or do something on a particular day, citing my religious observance as the reason.
Some find this odd. After all, I am not what one would call a religious person. But saying that you are doing something because of religion seems to label you as such.
So, what gives?
I used to say that I do a few token things that connect me with my heritage, because we live in a world where nothing is sacred.
This was met with objection by someone once. She said she goes to environmental rallies because she holds the environment to be sacred, for example.
I stood corrected. I was equating "sacred" with "religious."
What is truly sacred in the world, is what is sacred to us.
Over the years, I have found that attending rallies on social causes and taking a stand for social justice is a direct expression of my spirituality - even though such things are not part of the 613 Commandments that make up the Jewish Code of Law, for example.
Social justice, to me, is sacred.
Perhaps instead of nothing being sacred, nothing is universally sacred, as was pointed out to me this morning when chatting on this topic.
What is sacred to you?
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Supporting Gaza from a Jewish Perspective
Below is a video blog I recorded about why I support the people of Gaza, from a perspective drawn directly from Jewish religion and history. The purpose of this video is to debunk claims that Jewish people who support Palestine are "self-hating Jews." The text of the video follows under the screen.
My name is Paula and I am with Independent Jewish Voices, on the national steering committee representing Alberta. Independent Jewish Voices is a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties.
IJV is made up of Jewish people (and non-Jewish supporters) from across the country. We come from different walks of life, levels of religious observance, professions, and ages, but the one thing we have in common is that we believe that the occupation of Palestine is wrong and must stop. Politically, we provide an alternative to organizations such as B'nai B'rith and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee which claim to speak on behalf of all Canadian Jews. They don't.
I want to talk a little about my perspective as a Canadian Jew. What I really want to say that what is happening in Gaza is not in my name. I am a Jewish person who grew up in an observant household. As such, I am one who takes the concept of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) very seriously. I also, fortunately, have a tendency to like to question things, such as why a Jewish person – and our government - should have some kind of obligation to support Israel without question and why those Jewish people who speak out against the policies of the Israeli government are often branded as traitors and as self-hating Jews. The latter is utterly ridiculous because those of us who take a principled stand on the Middle East as Jews self-identify as such.
As a Jewish woman, I believe that my religion and history demands me to stand up for the rights of all. A friend of mine on Facebook recently posted a status update that really summarized the things that Jewish people learn through our education while growing up that support my position concerning the massacre in Gaza, so I am going to paraphrase that here.
From a religious perspective, when we look at the Jewish Scriptures, the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt teaches that a righteous person must seek to liberate people who are not free.
The story of Queen Esther teaches about fighting bigotry, oppression, and genocide.
The apocryphal story of Judah and the Maccabees teaches about the duty to resist an occupying power.
From our history, when we look at those who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Jewish Partisans, and the people who revolted in the Nazi concentration camps, it teaches about the need to honour people who are courageous enough to rise up against those who seek to destroy them, instead of just quietly awaiting their fate.
The actions of the righteous gentiles who saved countless Jewish lives during the Nazi Holocaust teach the necessity of opposing your own people when they are doing wicked things.
Finally, from the Talmud, the Oral Law of the Jewish people, we get the teaching from Hillel the Elder, who summarizes the commandments of the Torah, with one simple statement: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.”
And that's exactly it: the Palestinians are the neighbours in question in this discussion. I find it hypocritical that I could move to Israel tomorrow and get citizenship automatically, when people who have lived there for generations are denied the most basic of human rights.
I am not anti-Israel, I am not anti-Semitic, and I am not pro-Hamas, but I support Palestinian human rights first and foremost as a human, as a person, but as a Jew I feel very much called to take this stand, for the reasons I have discussed. Thanks for watching, and Shalom!
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