February 2008 / Adar I 5768

Dear Friends:

For an ever-growing number of people associated with our community, participation in our congregation's annual delegation to AIPAC's Annual Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. has developed into a primary expression of their support for the State of Israel. As I write this column, we have, forty-four people registered as part of our delegation to this year's conference. Considering that the conference is still several months away (this year's conference is being held from June 2 - 4) and that this column commences the greater part of our outreach efforts to invite new participants to register, we are off to an excellent start. However, this year, a good start must be seen as only the beginning; it is vital that our delegation, as all others nationally, include as many individuals as possible.

Here's why: (1) It is an election year and both parties and their candidates must be reminded of the broad-based and deeply rooted support for Israel emanating from its friends in the United States; (2) The issue of Iran's nuclear threat to Israel and to the world at large needs, more than ever, the public outcry and indignant protest of the American Jewish community to help to reposition the issue back to its due prominence on the world's political stage; (3) Israel's leadership must see a display of strong American Jewish support so that it can undertake measures it, and it alone, deems necessary for its national defense and for the protection of its citizens from the daily Kassam bombings that the Palestinians are raining down on southern Israel; (4) Israel must see the same outpouring of American Jewish support so that it feels sufficiently unbound and self-secure to respond however it deems necessary and most supportive of its short-term and long-term strategic and security-related interests, as proposals are presented and considered in the course of the ongoing peace negotiations brokered by the current American administration.

With more immediate regard to all of the above, and for many of us, one most significant question still remains very much unanswered as Israel continues to pursue peace with enemies who seek its destruction. However, this question must be answered by the citizens of Israel - and not by those of us residing outside of Israel - since Israelis will reap the greatest rewards and suffer the most serious consequences for answering it correctly or otherwise: Does Israel indeed have willing and capable partners among the Palestinians' leadership who are representative of the Palestinian population at this time and with whom Israel might negotiate, conclude, and implement a comprehensive and final agreement for peace?

While I am far from convinced personally that the answer to this question is "yes," I believe wholeheartedly in the sacred principle that it is the citizenship of the State of Israel, through its democratically elected government (far and away the only true democracy in the Middle East), that must make such determinations. Our role as American Jews ought therefore remain, as ever, as follows: (1) We must do our very best to ensure that the citizenship of Israel and its elected representatives are aware that they do not have to bow to Western pressure to make compromises in their noble pursuit of peace that are unreasonable in light of Israel's legitimate needs for short-term and enduring security; (2) We must do our best to make our sentiments as a strong and uncompromising American Jewish community, in this regard, known to our own governmental officials here in America; (3) We must make every effort to build coalitions with like-minded American citizens of all races and religions -- all in support of Israel's right, as a free and morally sound (and in so many ways, morally leading) nation among nations, to define its own national interests and to protect its citizens.

I believe in Israel and I believe in America. As a Rabbi and as a Jew, I pray for the safety and security of each, our homeland and our country. However, at this moment in the respective and collective histories of both the Jewish People and Western Civilization, our prayers might only be answered to the extent that we are willing to take meaningful action in the real world that aligns with the hopes and aspirations that we feel and express in the course of our prayers. We have faced such moments in the past and we have met our obligations as a People with greater or lesser effectiveness. At this moment and in our era more generally, for the sake of the Jewish People most immediately and for the world's sake not long thereafter, we have, as our greatest responsibility, to proceed with strength and conviction as unyielding and impassioned advocates on behalf of the State of Israel and its very unique relationship with our own country. Our own personal sacrifices to this undertaking are but financial and time-related at most. We must act now - with commitment and with a sense of immediacy. We should do so proudly, both as Jews and as Americans, in a coordinated effort, for the sake of our homeland, but, just as much so, for the sake of our country.

For American Jews, this responsibility begins with membership in, support of, and participation with AIPAC. Each of us should consider very seriously registering for and attending AIPAC's Annual Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. in early June of this year. AIPAC is the heart and soul of the American Jewish Pro-Israel Movement. Its participants advocate for a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Israel, two countries who share as no other two countries in the world the highest virtues and most noble values of, and commitments to, democracy, individual liberty, a free market, technological innovation, and humanitarian concern. Each of us must make our support for Israel count, and AIPAC is the place to start.

I hope that your schedule will allow you to join our delegation in June and I look forward to working with you evermore on behalf of Israel's security and our own. Please call my office at (310) 377-6986 (ask for Pat) for assistance with registering for the conference, making hotel arrangements, or supporting AIPAC. Pat will give you the web-site and phone numbers that you will need and she will direct more specific inquiries to me personally.

B'Shalom -- With Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,

Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader