When Jews gather in synagogues on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this month, will their rabbis seek to rally them to stand with Israel and against the surge of antisemitism fueled by blood libels against the Jewish state? Or will they instead use their pulpits to virtue signal their support for the false charges of “genocide” being hurled at Jerusalem? Those are the questions that JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is posing.
He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, chair of the Rabbinic Zionist Coalition, who lamented the fact that so many Jews rely on outlets like The New York Times and NPR for news, which base their coverage on an uncritical acceptance of an anti-Israel and pro-Hamas narrative. He says the Rabbinic Zionist Coalition is needed more than ever now because as the post-Oct. 7 war drags on with antisemitism growing, Israel needs both the support of American Jewry and their spiritual leaders more than ever. He believes that the imperative for rabbis is to remember that “we should not allow our relationship with Israel to be defined or determined by Israel's enemies.”
Weinblatt said he was concerned by the way a growing number of young rabbis are embracing an anti-Zionist agenda promulgated by opponents of the Jewish state. Their opinions were, he said, as is the case with many young Americans, influenced by progressive ideologies that falsely labeled Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors. Moreover, he said it was essential for all Jews to recognize the centrality of the land of Israel in Judaism. While some are focused on misleading allegations about Israeli behavior, even if some of the charges lodged against the Jewish state were true, “We do not love Israel because Israel is perfect, nor do we need Israel to be perfect for us to love her.” The mainstreaming of antisemitic attitudes and blood libels is, he said, simply a reversion to the pre-Holocaust reality in which Jew-hatred was normal.
He pointed out that there are many great young rabbis who are inspiring their congregants to have a stronger connection with Israel. But part of the problem is the way some of the seminaries educating rabbis are admitting open opponents of Israel’s existence, something, he said, they would not do if candidates for admission were homophobic or racist. These institutions do so because they are desperate for students and also because they, too, are influenced by progressive attitudes about Israel.
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