The Leftist Who Loves You

The new president of the Reform movement in the United States wants to get closer to Israel. That’s a good enough reason to have a dialogue with him, even if we’re not comfortable with his positions.

Here are facts: The Reform movement in America has a new president. He hasn’t taken office yet, but has already been elected. His name is Richard Jacobs. Rabbi Richard Jacobs. His acquaintances call him Rick. He spent the last few decades as the rabbi of the large community of Scarsdale, New York.

He has many plans. He thinks the Reform movement needs a change, a shaking up, that it needs to adjust itself to a new Jewish world more quickly. “We have to make our congregations the most compelling of Jewish communities," he said to me.

Today, too many Jews in America do not follow any movement or trend and are not members of any Jewish institution. “There are many people in this community who are unaffiliated, and the Reform movement is best situated to offer them a solution,” believes Jacobs.

We spoke over the phone last week; two long conversations. Sad to say, but we had to dedicate most of the conversation to Jacob’s relationship with Israel. Barely elected, he’s already forced to defend himself: He is a member of the rabbinical council of the J Street left-wing lobby and a member of the board of the New Israel Fund; he demonstrated in Sheikh Jarrah*. In short, we’re talking leftist here.

This was qualified by Alana Goodman as “a troubling sign” in Commentary Magazine (the right-wing one). He “is a member of the … extremist, George Soros-funded lobby group …” etc., ruled Morton Klein, [National President] of the Zionist Organization of America (the conservative). Jacobs sought to make sure, from the very beginning, that there would be no misunderstandings. “I am very proud of my associations,” he said; "Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean ‘I agree with every position’ the above-mentioned organizations take, or with ‘everything they do.’”

Jacobs is a member in the J Street Jewish lobby, “but I’m not defined by J Street”. More than once or twice in the interview, he wanted to emphasize: “I’m an independent voice;” namely, I’m choosing a stance on any subject, not according to organizational dictate, but to the best of my discretion.

Lieberman Is the Red Flag

Jacobs lived in Israel, studied in Israel, taught in Israel, and speaks Hebrew. He shares that he has a “deep love for Israel,” and “strengthening relations” between the Reform movement and Israel will be high in his list of priorities. Whether he will succeed or not is another question. His predecessor, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who still holds office, also loves Israel. But this week, he admitted in his blog, “I don't question the Rosner observation that Reform Jews are insufficiently committed to Israel.

This is a point that I have made many times” (full disclosure: Rabbi Yoffie addressed the claim brought up in my book, Shtetl, Bagel, Baseball). And indeed, Yoffie made the point; however, he didn’t manage to improve the ties of the Reform movement congregants with Israel very much. It should be noted that the Israeli government didn’t make it easier for him.

And yet, Jacobs wants to try to give this relationship another boost, a good reason to carry on a dialogue with him, instead of sitting and complaining that Reform Jews have elected a leader whose political standpoints are not convenient for Israel. And even if it’s clear that, from any political vantage point, he’s not necessarily a great fan of the current government in Jerusalem, he says he would “be happy to be embraced by Prime Minister Netanyahu.” He’d be happy to meet him, speak with him, or hear from him.

I’ve asked: Would you say the same thing about being embraced by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman? And there was, perhaps, a brief moment of silence before he answered. Lieberman is a real red flag, which American Jews have difficulty understanding, have difficulty accepting. He is someone who intensifies both their anxiety, as well as the feeling that it’s not they who are distancing from Israel, but rather it is Israel that’s becoming distant from them.

And anyway, Jacobs is mindful that this is about the “Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel”** and would be happy to meet him, too. “I often meet people with different views,” he said. Speaking of Lieberman, he would “be happy … to hear more about his views, but in this case, also to maybe clarify for him the way his views impact other people.”

* Translator’s note: Predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, close to the 1967 border, a hot spot of Israeli-Palestinian protests against the settlement there.

** Editor's note: Efforts to verify this quote were not successful. Quote is accurately translated.