Sara and I return to Washington this week after a very interesting and inspiring month in Israel. Witnessing Israel’s internal strength has been especially instructive. Though its divisions were pronounced and Israelis are not the type to politely agree, when it comes to the things that matter, they are unified.   

For instance, a few nights ago we attended the weekly Saturday night post-shabbat protest in Jerusalem. This protest centered around the hostages and the rhetoric was clear. Loudly, the crowd declared that the current government must go and that the people of Israel must take charge of the country. This was, overall, the left protesting against a right-wing government they saw as inept and focused on its own political needs.   

The protestors waved the flag of Israel and ended with Hatikvah. The stark difference between Israel and America struck me; I don’t think a large left wing protest in the United States calling for the dismantling of the government would feature the flag, patriotism and the national anthem, but Israel is different. While this country’s right and left do not share a common vision, nevertheless, despite differing political perspectives, this is a country with a common telos.

What about the 20% of the population of Israel which is Arab, many of whom have relatives in Gaza and the West Bank? Over the course of my time at the Shalom Hartman institute, we heard from a woman from the Palestinian Israeli population and she stressed the importance of trust between the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel.  She stated that in her perspective, the vast majority of Arab Israelis (over the last couple of decades their title has changed to “Palestinian Israelis”) do not want to dissolve or take over Israel, they want trust and to be heard and seen.   

I have been witness to many other internal positive trends in Israel. An Israeli filmmaker who recently made a mainstream film about the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE talked about the challenges of the secular population of Israel. The generation of secular Zionists who came to Israel were ideological and driven to build the state, but that is done and this third generation is seeking something more. To be a successful nation like other nations is not enough for them; they realize that Israel must be more than that and they are seeking tradition and Jewish meaning. For the filmmaker, this was accomplished through his film, learning about Jewish history and much Talmud in the process. Across Israel, creative religious things are taking hold in the secular population: Kabbalat Shabbat on the beach, Torah study, secular Rabbis at secular kibbutzim formulating Jewish rituals, liturgical poetry and services for their flocks.  

Though in so many ways a diaspora Jewish religious life is simpler, Judaism in Israel, with its synergy of culture, religion and nation is much more encompassing and creative.  The amount of religious and secular poetry which has been written pertaining to October 7th is staggering.  Who among us in the diaspora is writing piyutim (liturgical poems) or kinnot?  But in Israel, where more and more Judaism is woven into the cultural fabric of the country and society, this is a natural outpouring.  Perhaps this is a very modern fulfillment of the verse, “From Zion shall go forth Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem.”