And then the shofar was sounded. For the first time the crowd stood still. The sound carried to the United Nations building across First Avenue. First a long blast and then the short staccato wailing sounds, reflecting the brokenness of too many in Israel and the world today, and then again the long tekiya, as if declaring against all odds we will prevail. When it was over, the crowd broke out in applause. Hearts and souls were finally touched, and the assembled were saying thank you.
The scene was from the September 24 Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally. The demonstration was organized by a wide array of Jewish organizations, joined in coalition with unions, civil rights groups and others concerned about the threat that the Iranian regime poses to the world community, to Israel and to its own people.
But for all the good intentions and hard work of the rally’s organizers, something was missing: people. Space was set up for an overflow crowd. That area remained empty.
Even the back half of the rally space was sparse. Students were milling about as if it were some camp reunion. It was good they came; they are our future. But the youngsters were uninvolved.
And truth be told, the lack of passion from our teens was understandable. The rally lacked inspiration. Political figure after political figure, and organizational representative after organizational representative, spoke, some rehashing the same points, others holding forth quite eloquently. But there was hardly any song, any prayer, any sense of spirituality. The opportunity to touch the souls, especially of the teenagers in attendance, was lost. Rabbis, who should be the source of this inspiration, have been relegated by the Jewish communal establishment to ritual roles, giving invocations and benedictions rather than playing a central role in shaping our response to the most critical issues of the day.
Moreover, the talking points of the rally and of its speakers were misplaced. The first three agenda items dealt with the democracy movement in Iran, which is to be supported but whose leadership is often anti-Israel. Iran’s danger to Israel, its nuclear aspirations and state-controlled terror threatening Israel and the United States were sorely underplayed in the framing of the rally’s overall message.
And why were so few people there? Why, only 65 years after the Shoah, did tens of thousands more not show up to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man who threatens the very existence of Israel and who may soon possess the means of carrying out his threats?
The rally’s shortcomings reflect the fact that our community has been lulled into complacency, perhaps by our comfortable status as Jews here in America. This should be cause for serious communal self-reflection.
We rabbis should be the first to take a critical look at our own failings. Clearly, we did not do our share — and I certainly did not do mine — to successfully inspire our congregants to turn out. Even if our community seems unmotivated, the role of a spiritual leader is to motivate, to get there first, to make the issue a priority and then cajole, demand and declare acharei — after me.
To that end, an attempt was made a day before the rally to have many, many rabbis arrested near the U.N. in an act of peaceful civil disobedience. Such actions should never be taken lightly. Breaking the law is a serious matter. But sometimes it’s necessary in order to underscore the urgency of a threat.
And this was one of those times. It was a time of confrontation, with the Iranian president’s rhetoric more fiery than ever; and New York was, for a moment, the epicenter of that confrontation. The evil man was speaking right there at the U.N. Here was an opportunity to echo the Soviet Jewry and anti-apartheid days when hundreds of spiritual leaders were arrested in front of the Soviet and South African embassies and missions.
In the end, only 50 rabbis — wearing tallitot and blasting shofarot — blocked First Avenue. Twelve of the rabbis refused to leave the street and were arrested. It was a powerful moment. But many more should have been there.
With all good intentions, Jewish communal leaders — including us rabbis — dropped the ball. We rabbis are the ones who are supposed to sound the alarm, the shofar blast that declares “wake up, the time has come for action.” We are the ones who are supposed to lead with the message of the shofar — addressing political realities in spiritual terms — by sounding the broken sounds of pain and suffering and then the tekiya, the raising of a voice of moral conscience.
We are supposed to do all of that, especially during these Days of Awe. But we didn’t. We missed giving the best sermon, not the sermon of words, but the sermon of action.
Avi Weiss is senior rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and national president of AMCHA-The Coalition for Jewish Concerns.
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I want to congratulate the New York Board of Rabbis and especially Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive director for their valiant efforts of protest.Rabbi Avi Weiss always does his best. To those who came out to protest and to those who got arrested a Yishar Koah.
Dear Rabbi Weiss,
With utmost respect I would like to point out that Ahmadinejad has been playing you and your community for too long and maybe it was a good sign that not too many people showed up. Please remember that Ahmadinejad is a master strategist and uses anti-Israel rhetoric only to divert attention from his many crimes in Iran. He knows that after having stolen the election in Iran, he can divert the media's attention away from it by once again denying the Holocaust. Please do not fall for this. He has been playing you and your community for too long. It's up to Iranians to remove him but the world's attention should be on his crimes in Iran not on his Holocaust denials.
Neil
This Video of Bibi giving the seminal speech of the century on behalf of the Jewish people should be made available by every Rabbi on Yom Kippur:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5mmCshkaN0
Frank - Yom Kippur is a holy day. Not the day of right wing propaganda. Video's of Bibi have no place there. For Shame.
Unbelievable! Any Jew who does not understand - deeply intensely feel and understand - that the survival of the Jewish State of Israel is now the MOST important issue for Jews, imagines themselves to belong to a "Jewish" church, not the Jewish people. Petty politics should be meaningless at a time of ultimate peril, when a second Holocaust is impending. As Netanyahu said to the Israel-bashers, "Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"
Bibi gave the most important speech of the century on behalf of the Jewish people, all of us. All Jews should watch it, share it, and be inspired to act upon it on Yom Kippur.
I know the forward likes to play censor but maybe this will get by.Israel hasn't signed the npt has at least 200 nukes and more than once attacked first.Iran has signed npt has no nukes and hasn't invaded anyone in 200 yrs.Iran has oil and natural gas Israel doesn't so we know what this is all about.There is not one shred of evidence that iran wants to attack or destroy israel or jews.Average citizens in USA,ISRAEL are being taxed out the yahzoo for the benefit of a small corrupt elite who make money off of war.
Rabbi Weiss should be commended and supported. He speaks the truth. The problem is certainly "complacency". But concern for Jews will not come from the obsequious pandering "liberal" politicos or the anti-Israel "mainstream" media, and it has not come from "liberal" Jewish leaders. There is no righteous fear or feeling of outrage. It is the failure of American Jews and Jewish leaders, and very much that of the liberal Rabbis.
(It is ironic that this article appears in the Forward. American Jews are also actively mislead and betrayed by the leftist anti-Israel "Jewish" voices, "rabbis", and publications like the anti-Israel "Jewish" Forward in alliance with George Soros and arab funded J Street - who actively propagandize against Israel in order to undermine and destroy American Jews' and America's support for Israel.)
This has been coming for a long time. How many Rabbis and congregations have educated and organized to attempt to prevent the pending second Holocaust? Even now (after taking an outrageous telephone call from the most anti-Israel president in history requesting them to propagandize from their pulpits for Obamacare) how many Rabbis have raised a rallying cry? How many spoke plainly to their congregations on Rosh Hashana about the most crucial issue facing the Jewish people - the rise of a new muslim fascist, a new Hitler, seeking to destroy the Jews?
How many leaders of Jewish youth organizations, Hillel and others, have educated and rallied their members to urge an American military strike against Iran?
Jewish voters were told by presidential candidate Barak Hussein Obama that a nuclear Iran would be a "game changer" which he would prevent by having U.S. military strikes "on the table". Were these bald faced lies?
It is again the 1930's, and no excuse by the anti-Israel crowd, of "horrible consequences" should Iran's nuclear weapons be bombed, should in any way prevent protecting the Jewish people against another Holocaust. Where are the Jewish Senators and Congressmen? Rabbis should be leaders on behalf of the Jewish people.
To the Rabbis of America: Even at this eleventh hour, how many of you are going to use your opportunity on Yom Kippur to raise the alarm for American Jews to contact their leaders, Congressmen, Senators, and the White House, to bomb Iran?
Politicians should be made to understand that this is the life-or-death pivotal issue for their Jewish voters and supporters, and that they will be held politically accountable.
Every Rabbi worth his salt should join Rabbi Weiss and his brave cohorts. If you want to be heard, rally the people to be heard.