Jacob's hands were created for this

Dvir Warshavsky of the Religious Left in a special column for Yom Kippur on the dilemmas and growth of the Religious Left, and on repentance [תשובה Teshuva – BK] in the shadow of war.

By Dvir Warshavsky 

Editor Maayan Galili

Translation using Google Translate with minor edits by Bernice Keshet 

Date of original publication: 11/10/2024 

Original Hebrew text: https://www.rosamedia.org/episodes/articles/56

On the last night of Rosh Hashana, a video was posted of a soldier with a black skullcap [Yarmulke; כיפה Kippah – BK] on his head resting in his chair, reading to his audience a passage from the Talmud in a melody reminiscent of those heard in a Yeshiva [a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on religious studies – BK]. The crowd consisted of three handcuffed men lying on the ground, as if they were sacks of potatoes. This grotesque picture is an example of the kind of phenomena that cause more and more people from religious communities to feel alienated from the society to which they belong and the need for an alternative to it.

Each person and the straw that broke their back: for my mother, the defining event was the murder of the Dawabsheh family. For me, it was the racist and violent Dance of Flags [Rikud Degalim ריקוד דגלים] in the Muslim Quarter [in Jerusalem's historic quarter] that I attended [when I was] in eleventh grade. For my Study Fellowship [חברותא Chevruta - BK], it was the legitimacy given to Otzma Yehudit [Jewish Power עוצמה יהודית, an ultra-nationalist far-right Israeli party] by the Jewish Home Party [HaBa'it HaYehudy הבית היהודי, a right-wing Israeli political party]. For us, each of these events was a warning sign that the religious right in Israel had long forgotten what it means to be Jewish, and that the basic Jewish principles of standing by the immigrant, the poor and the persecuted had become meaningless to them.

To be clear, the forgiving and sympathetic attitude toward manifestations of racist violence and war crimes is not the exclusive province of the religious right. Racism, occupation and oppression are promoted by people from a wide array of communities and appear in a variety of forms, some hidden and others completely normalised. After this past year, no one can exempt themselves and their community from serious soul-searching. Nonetheless, it is hard to ignore the notable role of the religious community in Israel in promoting an exclusionary and oppressive agenda. As Rabbi Froman used to say with a half-wink, the best proof that there is a God is that people continue to believe in Him even though religious people appear and act the way they do.

These strong sentiments [to reject the political stance of the Israeli] religious community must be placed in a broader historical context: the manifestation of Jewish power and sovereignty did not begin yesterday, nor did the acts of dispossession that came with it. The distress caused by these trends has accompanied Jewish existence for many years, long before 1967 or 1948. From the moment Jewish power became a reality and rhetoric sanctifying it emerged, determined oppositions in religious communities that opposed these trends and presented a clear alternative were formed. These various [opposing] voices disapproved of the cult of power and nationalistic pride, [were] borne out of moral and religious observance. The dominance of these voices changed over time, but they never disappeared, even when it seemed no one would listen.

For example, in the 1920s, Joshua Radler Feldman – a member of the Religious Zionism movement – strongly criticised the Balfour Declaration and the Zionist movement's reliance on British colonialism; At the same time, another Religious Zionism rabbi– Rabbi Yeshayahu Shapira (“The Pioneer Rebbe”) called on the national press not to establish a nationally-based military force, despite receiving harsh criticism from across the political spectrum. Two decades later, the religious thinker Shimon Rabidovich presented the Right of Return of Palestinian Nakba refugees as a necessary condition for Jewish life in the land of Israel. Expelling people from their homes, he insisted, went against the spirit of Judaism. "Jacob's hands”, he exclaimed, "were not created for this."

Under the shadow of the arrogant and murderous fascism of recent years, the religious left movement has gained renewed momentum. During this period, a variety of organisations and sub-movements emerged, each in its own way working to present positions that champion equality and peace and are rooted in Jewish tradition. For example, a number of veteran organisations have been revived, such as Circles of Justice [Ma'agalei Tzedek מעגלי צדק], which focuses on class and social justice, Oz and Peace [Oz VeShalom עוז ושלום], which was established in response to Gush Emunim [Gush Emunim גוש אמונים, an Israeli nationalist Orthodox movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan Heights - BK], and the ultra-Orthodox religious action group B'nai Avraham [בני אברהם], which works in solidarity with Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Alongside all this, the Faith-based Left-wing Movement was established, which aspires to establish a thriving, creative, religious-political stream that stems from the long tradition of the religious left, and from Jewish tradition itself.

In the spirit of the days of repentance [Yemei Teshuva ימי תשובה, the 10 days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kipur] and Tikkun [תיקון; the act of repairing or mending – BK] of the month of Tishrei [the first month of the Jewish calendar – BK], it can be said that these movements are ones that place all their hopes on the idea of repentance [Hazara BeTeshuva חזרה בתשובה]. Repentance is an age-old Jewish principle stating that evil is never essential. According to this principle, every person can improve their actions, no matter how terrible they may be; Any community or society can correct its ills if only it agrees to look at itself in the mirror and change its ways. Repentance does not happen by inertia or miraculously, it is an option that is always on the table, and demands the actioning of radical change.

Believing in the power of repentance is especially relevant when there is no apparent reason for optimism. We all look despairingly at the ills of the society in which we live, we all look in disbelief at the unprecedented momentum of self-destruction of its leaders, and wonder where to even begin. At such low points, the idea of repentance reminds us that social reality is flexible, that beliefs, perceptions and behavioural patterns can be influenced and changed, and that we can recall quite a few historical turning points where such changes have indeed corrected social ills. Jacob's hands were created for this.

This essay is written by a member of the Religious Left (sometimes referred to as Faith-Based Left), a sector within the Jewish religious community in Israel. For further reading about the Religious Left in Israel: בית | השמאל האמוניבית | השמאל האמוני (Hebrew website) - BK