Dear Mr. President

An open letter to President Barack Obama from Rabbi Aaron L. Starr:
Dear Mr. President,

In Parashat B’ha-a lot’kha, the section of the Book of Numbers read this week by Jews throughout North America, Moses realizes the enormous pressures his position demands of him and, so, God instructs Moses to create a council of seventy elders upon whom God gave His divine spirit of prophecy. In this way, God tells Moses, “they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone” (Num. 11:17). Cognizant of the incredible burden upon you that comes with leading our great United States and that even Moses could not handle his load alone, I humbly come before you with concerns about your recent address from Cairo to the Muslim community.

Certainly, there was a lot you said correctly with regard to the US’s relationship to the Muslim community and the media was appropriately quick to praise you for those successes. However, there are key elements within your speech that I believe, simply, are oversimplifications and it concerns me that you would express such sentiments publicly. What do I mean? The speech juxtaposes the Holocaust, whose denial you called “baseless, ignorant, and hateful” with the plight of the Palestinian refugee, who you say “wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation.” As you are well aware, the slaughter of six million Jews resulted from the actions of an oppressive regime and the permission it gave and passion it fomented toward the destruction of a minority people—as well as the inaction of scores of countries and countless millions of individuals. While I am not so naïve to call Israel entirely blame-free, she certainly is responsible neither for the bulk of Palestinians living in refugee camps nor the dire conditions in which they live. That responsibility rests squarely at the foot of, historically, Arab leaders and in modern times the corruption of Palestinian leadership. Germany facilitated the mass execution of Jews, while Israel—even in the midst of a justified war—allowed humanitarian aid to enter the land of its opposition. What other country takes a break from warfare to allow aid to enter and funds the bulk of health care in the lands of people who seek their destruction? There is no comparison between the horrors of the Holocaust and the “experience” of Palestinians who are provided work and healthcare by Israel despite their calls for Israel’s destruction and support of those who actively seek to murder her civilians.

Moreover, you said, “Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society.” In 2008, Israel engaged in nearly $4 billion (US) worth of trade with the Palestinian territories in addition to countless millions of dollars given in support of Palestinian humanitarian causes. Israel, more often than not, opens its gates to allow Palestinians to work inside Israel and to make a living. Israel opens its hospitals to Palestinians in need of care? What other country opens its doors in this way to a known enemy that shares a border? What more should Israel do?

In so many ways, President Obama, you engaged in a noble pursuit of healing wounds with our Muslim brothers and sisters and challenging Arab nations to respond, in appropriate ways, to modernity. Yet I beg you, in your desire to forge relationships with other nations: do not sell Israel short; do not overlook the incredible sacrifices she makes on a daily basis; do not equate Zionism and the birth of Israel after the Holocaust with Palestinian nationalism; do not sacrifice our commitment to Israel—the only true democracy in the Middle East for the tentative handshake of the Arab world; do not give up on the 2000-year-old hope of the Jewish people to live freely and safely in their own land—the land of Zion and Jerusalem. Like you, I pray that God bless the United States, Israel, and all the world with peace.

Respectfully,

Rabbi Aaron Starr

Reflecting on the Holocaust

We are in the midst now of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. For me, it's a very personal holiday. My grandparents were both survivors; I know of their story and it has become my legacy and the lessons from it my obligation to perpetuate. What will the next generation know of the Holocaust? In what way will my son Caleb who, God-willing, will remember his great-grandfather, "connect" to the Holocaust? In what way should parents try to connect the next generation to the Holocaust?

I was reminded yesterday of a poem by Dan Pagis, that each year strikes me:

"Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car"
here in this carload
I am eve
with abel my son
if you see my other son
Cain son of man
tell him i (am)

The power of this p0em for me, lies in multi-layered imagery. First, of course, is the biblical reference to the first murder and the recognition that we may not have come very far in the thousands of years of human existence. Second, and most powerful for me, is the fact that this poem could be read and re-read repeatedly as if on repeat ... the cycle of anti-semitism seeing no end. To what extent is this a lesson I want Caleb--and all our children--to know and understand?