In each of the next nine Bulletins, we’ll be focusing on our relationship to a different area of Israeli politics, culture, and society, and asking you to share your thoughts and experiences.
We've created a blog to encourage respectful dialogue and to promote the sharing of information and news about Israel. Members’ responses to the topic of the month will also be posted there, at www.mzisrael.wordpress.com. In addition, the site will offer thoughtful, in-depth articles from leading thinkers that address the issue at hand.
Our goal is two-fold. We hope you will feel encouraged to share your beliefs and opinions – your hopes or your grievances – whatever they are, and however mainstream or minority you consider them to be. We hope you will feel emboldened to wrestle with Israel, and the things its leadership does – both on the blog and in the world. And we hope that within that experience of wrestling, of struggle, you find an embrace – something to love about the Jewish state, or many things – that create a new place for Israel in your life.
Pam Leeds-Ragborg, Israel Committee Chair
Rabbi’s Introduction to 5771
Shalom,
We are entering the new year of 5771. As with all beginnings, we are offered the gift of seeing ourselves, our relationships, and even the world in a new way.
As we enter Rosh Hashanah, we invite you to reflect on your relationship with Israel. In Hebrew, yisrael literally means “one who wrestles with God.” Wherever Israel stands in year heart and mind (as the name not only for the modern nation-state, but also for the Jewish people as a whole and, separately, for the land), the discussions and programs this year will give you a chance to wrestle with your views. Most importantly, this individual process is part of a community where we respect each other and are open to views other than our own.
A note of background: our Board of Directors has adopted a seven year vision for focusing on four areas, called kivvunim “intentional directions” in Hebrew. These four come directly from our Mount Zion vision and speak to what our congregation has historically cared about or aspired to achieve. The kivvunim are: 1) Israel, 2) Torah, 3) Tzedek (justice) and 4) Shabbat. This year will focus on Israel; future years (in 18 month increments) on the others.
This year, we will focus on Israel not to the exclusion of any of the myriad other activities at Mount Zion, but as a way of helping us take one area and to go deeper as a congregation, to coordinate efforts among many groups within Mount Zion, and to achieve perhaps a dream-type goal that only comes with such communal effort.
In our Mount Zion vision (2003) it says that as a congregation we: “…Support world Jewry and our historic and spiritual bond to Israel; promote in the Jewish state the values of democracy, justice, and pluralism.”
To inspire dialogue this year, we will be publishing In this bulletin, Iton Tzion, comments on a series of topics and questions. If you would like to learn more and to write a brief statement for any month, please contact Pam Leeds-Ragborg, chair of our Israel Advisory Committee, pamleeds@charter.net.
Each month, we will continue the bulletin conversation in a dedicated blog. Please visit and add your comments. You can find the blog at the Israel link on www.mzion.org or directly at mzisrael.wordpress.com
September: Why care about Israel?
October: What is surprising about the diversity of the land & people of Israel?
November: What is Israel’s greatest contribution to the world?
December: Can religious pluralism succeed in Israel?
January: Where are Mount Zion congregants’ partnerships in Israel?
February: A Two-State Solution?
March: Through the camera’s lens: How media affects views on Israel.
April: What is the greatest threat facing Israel?
May: How do progressive values and Zionism align or collide?
June/July: Planning a trip to Israel: What Israel do you see?
August: Where are signs of hope? People-to-people peacemaking.
Wishing you a year full of health, financial stability, and even joy.
L’shanah tovah u’metukah, Adam Stock Spilker, Rabbi
