April, 2002--Fourteen years ago, I was in army basic training on a base not far from the West Bank city of Ramallah. On the day I was sworn into the Israel Defense Forces, I was given an M-16 rifle and a Bible, in keeping with the dictum of Rabbi Eliezer that "Sefer v'Sayif, the Book and the sword, were given together from heaven". (Tanhuma). While the path to ultimate peace and security may require the sword, it will fall short of the highest standards if it is bereft of the discipline and spiritual dimension of Torah. When force is used, it must be held to the standards of Torah. This requires an advanced level of national maturity and accountability.
The Torah portion for the 7th day of Pesach relates how, when Pharaoh sent the Israelites forth from Egypt, God led them on a circuitous route. The direct coastal road would have brought the people to their land in a mere 11 days. But, says the Talmud, it was first necessary for Israel to receive the Torah. The Midrash recounts God as saying: "If I bring Israel into the Land now before they have acquired Torah, they will not know how to take care of the Land (i.e. how to handle the responsibility required)."
As slaves in Egypt, the people may have been subjugated, but they were also relieved of the responsibilities, which any free people must bear, including the need to defend themselves. That they were not yet ready for this moment is found in the Torah text, which relays God's concern in leading Israel on the direct route from Egypt, which passed through the land of the Philistines: "Perhaps when the people face the possibility of war, they will have a change of heart and head back to Egypt."
The problem was not lack of military force. New to the demands of freedom, the Israelites were not yet mentally ready to contend with obstacles placed in the path of their ultimate goal, not prepared to persevere in the face of substantial challenge. True nation building is more than release from the shackles of oppression. True nation building certainly does not come about by attacking others. True nation building demands embracing responsibility for one's circumstances, then proceeding forward step by step guided by a vision of one's most cherished values.
After getting their freedom, it was time for the Israelites to step up and accept responsibility. It was not lack of a fighting force that posed problem to the Israelites, but the lack of faith in the vision bestowed upon them.
In last month's NCAA basketball tournament, one team that I followed, known for their tough defense, was paired in second round play with another team likewise known for their tenacious defense. After a close first half, the other team's defense succeeded in shutting down this team's offense, and several minutes went by without a basket. As their offensive effort collapsed, it began to show on defense as well. Then, as more frustration set it, they started taking ill-advised shots.
"When this happens, I try to get my players to get something different going on defense", one successful college coach remarked to me. "The main thing is not losing your focus, your vision. Don't try to come back all at once. You have to get back into the game one play at a time, and not rush it. You can't try to hit a homerun."
No quick answers. No quick way back to the Promised Land. (Even though some claim that the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness because Moses, like any other man, was too proud to ask for directions!)
No quick paths to the goal.
Writing recently in the Sunday Parade supplement, Elie Wiesel notes that fanatics look for quick answers, simple answers that make no allowance for dispute. Fanatics don't listen, says Wiesel, they are too busy yelling. Motivated by hate, they seek to abolish the present state of affairs by immediate action, and respond to frustrations set in their path with a demand that everything be instantly clear and unambiguous. Fanatics want the easy path, the quick home run. And fanatics consider the other side as responsible for their own woes.
Over and over Palestinians have clung to a victim mentality, claiming that "Mr. Sharon has pushed (us) to violence", as Hassan Abdel Rahman, Chief Palestinian Representative to the U.S. has done, (even as some of the suicide bombers are motivated precisely by the desire that the peace process not succeed). It is Israeli presence in land the Palestinians deem their own that justifies murder. Few Palestinians accept responsibility for their own circumstances. Most have made playing the victim and responding with attacks on the innocent the defining essence of their being during these years of potential nation building.
"It is not in our interest to re-occupy the territories, but we had no choice", says respected Middle East analyst Ehud Ya'ari. In these difficult times, as Israel takes actions that, says Ya'ari, "we would rather not be doing", maintaining focus on the long range goal is all the more important.
Focusing on the positive means not letting the other team take you out of your own game plan. "When your game plan starts to fall apart, you need to take a time-out", another coaching friend of mine said. "You need to reach down and stay focused on the long range vision". As Proverbs reminds us, "where there is no vision, the people become unruly". In this hour, let Israel not be forced away from the ultimate vision that did bring some measure of peace and stability to the area for a while.
This may require what Hebrew University professor Ernst Simon, a close associate of Martin Buber, called "critical loyalty". While acknowledging that Israel, too, has made mistakes and not always lived up to the ideal, one can understand the need for military action to contain terrorist activity originating from the West Bank, even when it seems a defiance of U.S. dictates. What is harder to understand, in keeping with Israel's long range vision, is the continued increase in Jewish settlements on the West Bank. That, it seems, is the real defiance. As one-time Minister of Housing, Ariel Sharon made settlement activity his top priority. "We don't need these settlements, they are an impediment to long-range hopes for peace", say many of my Israeli friends in recent conversations.
A hundred years ago, armed with only a vision, Theodore Herzl knocked undeterred on the doors of Europe's leaders to establish a Jewish state. May that same vision stay with our people in the current conflict, so that peace may not just be an aggadah, a fanciful tale, but a true reality.
Mitch Smith is a Reconstructionist Rabbi based in St. Petersburg, Florida and the editor of the Jewish Sports Connection newsletter. He is also a certified sports psychologist, who has worked with Israeli national teams and various professional American athletes.
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