I will be attending a birthday party next week. You are also invited to the celebration. The party will actually extend throughout 2008. It’s such a milestone birthday that the party is taking place in several sites. I am referring, of course, to the year-long party celebrating the 60th birthday of the State of Israel.
This week I will be embarking on a trip to Israel with rabbinic colleagues of various denominations (at the invite of Israel Bonds). We are going to party – well, in the staid manner that rabbis party. The Mishnah says '60 is the marker of old age'. Reaching old age itself, whether with an individual or with our beloved State is a time of celebration, because in either case -- including and especially Israel, the alternative would have been worse.
Of course, I have taken various of these missions, to the State through the years. Usually the purpose is informative -- to bring us up to date on a whole range of current events in Israel -- whether political, religious, cultural, or scientific. We are usually treated to a line-up of politicians, military, journalists, who fill us in on the current situation from diverse perspectives. I always learn a lot. But the program this time is different. It is a celebration. It is a party celebrating the 60th birthday of the State of Israel. One does not go to a birthday party to discuss the composition of the cake or the ingredients of the ice-cream. That misses the point of the party.
One eats the cake and enjoys the ice-cream. So along with rabbis from all the denominations, we will party in the State of Israel -- we will eat the cake and enjoy the ice cream. We will have some briefings but mostly visit sites of significant accomplishment in these sixty years.
In order to prepare to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday party, I did two things in order to put myself in the celebratory mood. I read through some of the funniest jokes coming out of Israel, both vintage and current. I also turned to a book by Allan Dershowitz, “What Israel Means to Me,” a series of serious statements by a whole range of Americans on the meaning of Israel to them personally.
First the jokes. Actually Israel does not produce a lot of funny jokes. Joseph Telushkin argues in his book on Jewish humor, in a chapter entitled “Why Are There So Few Funny Israeli Jokes?”, that there is not a great deal of humor in Israel anyway. He writes that most of what exists is not very funny, at least to non- Israeli’s. Telushkin argues that because people in power are able to deal with their problems directly, they have no need to settle for the sharp put-down of witticisms and jokes.
But there is some humor. They are not belly laughs, but humorous, nevertheless. Those of you who are around my generation – give or take 10 years, - may find that some of these resonates. If the person next to you doesn’t get it, please explain. Some of the old jokes 'How do you make a small fortune in Israel? Bring a large one.' El Al jokes - When dinner is served on El Al, it is announced, 'We are serving dinner.' 'What are my choices you ask?' 'Yes or no' is the answer. War jokes -- during the 1967 war. Egyptian tank in the Sinai Desert. The Egyptian jumped out of his tank and Israeli tank crash yelling 'I surrender.' The Israeli jumped out of his tank yelling 'Whiplash.' And apparently Moshe Dayan promised to give back the occupied lands to the Arabs but he couldn’t, because they were already in his wife’s name. Actually, President Bush is also in the Middle East this week to promote the Middle East peace plan. I am not sure that Bush quite gets it. Like recently when he said 'Everything would work out in the Middle East if the Palestinians and the Israeli’s would just start acting like good Christians,' that according to Jay Leno.
After putting myself in a celebratory mood with the jokes I decided to prepare with something more serious. I turned to a book that I recommend to all of you -- Alan Dershowitz’s "What Israel Means to Me." It is a collection of statements by 80 distinguished Americans -- politicians, journalists, artists, scholars, entertainers, rabbis, Christians and Jews, as to what Israel means to each person. The spokespeople range from Larry King to William Bennett to Ed Koch, David Mamet, Barney Frank, Pat Robertson, Eric Jong, Rabbi Harold Kushner, author Jonathan Kellerman. Some of the statements are predictable. Others are quite unique. Collectively the book is a good way to get yourself into a serious mindset for the birthday party.
Just a few snippets from some of the more unusual statements. From Barney Frank -- "On the question of Israel’s compliance with liberal principals, one aspect of Israeli society gets far too little respect from those on the left who are harshly critical of Israel. That is the subject of the role in society of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered people. For the past several years, gay male Palestinians have found refuge within Israel from homophobien in the Palestinian areas. The Israeli government has not loudly trumpeted this, but it has been one of the most humane aspects of Israeli policy and stands in sharp contrast the norm in its Arab neighbors." Frank goes on to describe how the army in Israel functions with full knowledge of its gays and lesbians, yet as a strong functioning army, in contrast to the "don’t tell, don’t say" policy in the United States.
Another statement by Susannah Heschel, a professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College and daughter of Abraham Heschel. "My commitment to Israel is a transcendent one, a hope that through resolution of its problems, other countries will be able to benefit from its insights. My vision of Zionism is not diminished, but is transformed into a challenge. The State of Israel is not a panacea, but a measure of moral fiber, a demand that justice prevails over power. The State of Israel is not a gift to the Jews, or an achievement on their part, but a test of the integrity of the Jewish people and the competence of Judaism. The political never stands alone, but is intimately tied to the moral and theological realms of our existence. How we assume our responsibilities and the obligations they entail is the ultimate test of our worth as a human being.: And a statement by Natalie Portman, actress, born in Jerusalem, and graduated from Harvard University. "Israel is where the language in which Abraham spoke to Isaac before he was to sacrifice him has been resuscitated to include words for 'sweat shirt' and 'chemical warfare.' Where the muezzin chants, the church bell sound, and the shofar cries freely at the Wall.".
And let me add my own statement of what Israeli means to me from the Sidrah of this morning, in the eyes of the Midrash. At the beginning of the Sidrah is one of the statements describing the release of the Israelites from bondage -- you recall the five catch words of freedom from slavery which became homiletical hooks for the four/five cups of wine at the Passover seder.
Israel means to me the possibility of learning Torah in so many contexts and places in the land. Whether in our Schechter Institute, or the modern Orthodox Hartman Institute, or simply a D’var Torah in morning worship in the myriad of shuls in Jerusalem. Israel is not just about conflict, not just about technology, but about real learning of Torah. Or as Rabbi Harold Kushner expands the concept of Israel and Torah even more broadly. "I dream of the day when survival will no longer be an overriding concern for Israel and it can come to play another role in my life and the lives of Jews everywhere. That is a day when Israel will be free to explore what a Jewish educational, a Jewish healthcare, a Jewish system of taxation might look like. For out of Zion will come Torah, to apply Jewish values to 21st Century issues."
Happy Birthday on the 60th year of the State of Israel. Let’s all party this year, in Israel and here. In the rack outside the sanctuary is a listing of events and places for those events under the auspices of our Jewish Federation throughout this whole year. Stop by and take one.
And now I ask Benjamin to rise and read a prayer for the State of Israel in Hebrew and we will all follow with the English.