In the great discussions and debates in the Talmud, the archetype argumentation is found on the pages where the great sages Hillel and his colleague Shammai work through the issues of the Law to the solutions for the people. Invariably, Hillel’s position is determined to be the law as his answers contain the truths found in both his reasonings and those of Shammai’s. Therefore the rabbis maintain that, “Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim chaim – These and these are the living words of God.” Amazing. It wasn’t that Hillel’s was MORE right than Shammai; it was that he was willing to hear, listen to and acknowledge the reasoning, the history, the narrative that Shammai was putting forth and without denigrating Shammai, allowed the rightness of his case to be made.
This thinking in the Talmud is so countercultural. In a society and time that seems to demand that there always be a winner and a loser, a right way and a wrong way, the words of “These and these are the words of the living God” seems almost too impossible to embrace. How can it be that they can both be the living words of God? Because they were both right; again Hillel was accepted because he was willing to hear the other side. This insight was the guiding image in my mind as I completed my first full (and it was very full) day of the AIPAC Rabbinic Mission.
We began the day with a presentation from Professor Sam Lehman-Wilzig of Bar Ilan University who is a professor of journalism and mass media. Dr. Lehman-Wilzig spoke about the Israeli election, Israeli politics and what 61 seat coalition government that is currently in place can and cannot accomplish. In a nutshell, Dr. Lehman-Wilzig presented a terribly complex scenario of compromise/blackmail, disproportionate political power in some of the political parties in the coalition and the chasm between the Israeli electorate and the elected officials. He described a scene so opposite to “These and These…” that it seems miraculous that any laws in the Knesset get passed at all.
We followed that with a trip to the Knesset where we had the opportunity to meet with three members of three different parties. The first meeting was with Dr. Ahmed Tibi, the leader off the newly formed Joint List – four Israeli Arab parties who joined together to make sure the Arab parties exceeded the percentile threshold of votes necessary to enter the Knesset which was raised to 3.25%. Dr. Tibi expressed his party’s line which is a party of economic and social equality for Israeli Arabs and opposition to the settlements. I have read about these positions many times, but hearing it in person, was a jarring reality that there are those in the Knesset, who are working to fundamentally undue the Knesset. How this tension is managed by the Israeli Arab parties remains a mystery to me. He and his comrades are working towards the creation of a 2 state solution. What remains to be seen is if it actually happens, would he remain in the Knesset or would he join the new country’s government?
We then heard from Dr. Roi Folkman from the Kulanu party, which is a center-left party, recently created and not sure where it is going or how much longer it can stay a political viability. It has been a long time since a center party won an election and only ha done so 1 time in the past 8 elections. They are the party of social change, equality, egalitarianism and of economic development.
We heard from Miki Zohar last, a member of the largest party in the coalition, Likud. Unfortunately, Mr. Zohar was unrefined, unsophisticated and frankly disappointing. He expressed the hard line, politically far right of center policies that we have heard recently from Jerusalem; 1 state solution, religious adherence to Jewish tradition, strong security and maintaining a strategic advantage over everyone in the region. After hearing from only 3 of the 9 political parties currently represented in the Knesset, I wondered as did all my colleagues, how can they get anything done? How can they fundamentally appreciate that “these and these are words of the living God?” It seems impossible.
We then traveled rom the Knesset to the Israel Democracy Institute, the largest and most prestigious Israeli think-tank and polling organizations where we heard from the President of the Institute, Yochanan Plesner who described what we heard from Dr. Lehman-Wilzig, of the growing difference between Israeli government institutions and the Israeli electorate. As if that wasn’t enough, we then heard from Mohammad Darwashe, an Arab activist, who is the Director of Planning, Equality and Shared Living of the Givat Havivah Educational Institute, the national education center of the Kibbutz Federation. Mr. Darwashe described his 30 year efforts and helping Arabs and Jews live and socialize together. It is a study in the frustration and incremental steps that are taken in a time and place where every step needs to be measured and carefully calculated.
After a much-needed break and a wonderful dinner, we concluded the day with a presentation from Dr. Einat Wilf of the Jewish People’s Policy Institute who made a fantastic case for the need to reinvigorate the Zionism and Feminism movements in Israel in order to create the Israel we desire. She made the case that the argument being put forth lately bout whether Israel can be a democracy and a Jewish state is inherently a flawed argument. Since we, as Jews and as Israelis have no choice but to debate and argue, that democracy is the only methodology for the Jewish state. The better question is whether or not Judaism and values of inclusivity, equality and egalitarianism are compatible. As far as the issues relative to the Palestinians, unless and until such time as the Palestinians acknowledge the reality of Israel’s right to exist and their narrative, there can be no peace. She was fantastic.
It left me spinning…”These and these are the words of the living God.” It seems monumentally difficult to achieve a balance when both sides refuse to believe in the validity of the other. In spite of the value of acknowledging the story of the other in our texts, it seems an elusive goal for some in Israel and impossible for the Palestinians. Currently there is no hope for Arab majority country embracing liberal values where a Jewish minority would be protected. Unless and until all sides hear the story of the other will peace really be achieved. As the speakers showed us today, steps in that direction are quite small, indeed, but are being made. Amazing…