Sermon by Gilad Kariv

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, September 13, 2024

Dear Friends – Shabbat Shalom.

Thank you for the kind invitation to address you from this holy stage. 2 years ago, upon the beginning of my second year in the Israeli Knesset, I was privileged to stand here. Sadly, so much has changed.

Honestly, it was not an easy decision to take this short visit to NY. Over the last 11 months, the length of the news cycle in Israel is measured by hours if not minutes. Yet the importance of strengthening the relations between our communities and the open and sincere dialogue between Israelis and Jews around the world is clearer now than ever.

As I shared with many collogues who have come to Israel to express their solidarity – I strongly believe that many Israelis understand today, in a deeper way than ever, the impact of the Israeli reality on the well-being of Jewish life outside Israel. This growing understanding should become a fundamental element in our dialogue and mutual relationship.

This week’s Torah Portion – Ki Tetze – concludes with the known Mitzvah of remembering the evil deeds of Amalek.

“Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt — how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.”

11 months after October 7^th and 2 weeks after the brutal murder of six hostages, there is no need to explain why Israelis and lovers of Israel see Hamas as a modern-day Amalek.

And, the failure of others to see this, is a deep moral illness.

Yet, a careful reading of the text, reminds us, that Amalek’s success was also rooted in the fact that the Israelites left the stragglers alone, at the back of the line.

Our Torah and our sacred tradition call us to remember the need to stand against evil and to fight it, with no fear; but also, to do it in a way that does not leave our brothers and sisters behind.

This ancient teaching must bring the leaders of Israel to place the release of the hostages as our most urgent and important task and to fully recognize the fact, that the way to do it is mainly through an agreement and a ceasefire.

It is important to remember that this understanding is not easy to embrace. The need to defeat Hamas is real and relevant today, not less than it was immediately after October 7^th. It is a valid duty if we want to rebuild the destroyed communities in the south.

It is also valid if we believe that in the long run, there is no other alternative than, carefully and thoughtfully, renew a political dialogue with the more moderate Palestinian leadership. Any long-term achievement of Hamas works directly against this need.

Yet, the urgent need to bring back the hostages should lead us to take the bold decision to do our best and to take calculated risks, to reach a second deal. This is the demand of families of the hostages, this is the demand of their communities, this is the expectation of hundreds of thousands of Israelis that will fill the streets tomorrow evening again, and according to all polls – this is what the majority of Israelis expect our leaders to do.

Together with the sacred duty of bringing home our struggling brothers and sisters, addressing the commandment to remember Amalek’s evil deeds and abolish its memory, we are called to re-establish another important priority.

Many Hassidic commentaries suggested that this Mitzvah calls us also to protect our individual and collective souls from any signs of Amalek’s behavior – to set a clear border between our code of thinking and conduct and his evil ways.

The need to reach an agreement and a meaningful ceasefire is rooted first and foremost in the need to bring back our hostages, but it is also connected to our duty not to ignore the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and not to ignore the number of civilian casualties and the level of destruction.

The grief and anger of Israelis are more than legitimate. The fear of allowing Hamas and its allies to gain any sense of achievement is well-founded. We cannot not ignore them.

But at the same time, we must not forget the need, not to allow them to take from us our sensitivity to human life and suffer. It is a moral duty, but not less it is also a fundamental element of our resilience as a nation, our inner strength, and our ability to keep our rightful place among the free, advanced, and democratic nations of the world.

It is not a surprise that those who oppose Israel’s right to defend itself and even to exist, deny the role this moral sensitivity played in the history of Israel and Zionism. It is also not a surprise that those Israeli political and religious forces who oppose the democratic values and nature of our state – identify this sensitivity and moral standard as naïve and anti-patriotic.

Those exact forces read the ancient commandment to abolish the memory of Amalek in a way that threatens to blur the fundamental difference between us and those who seek to destroy us.

There will be no bigger victory for those who slander Zionism than allowing them to shape the face of our country.

In the same way, we must prepare ourselves for the “day after”, regarding the reality in Gaza and the West Bank and the entire region, we must also prepare ourselves for the continuation of the efforts to harm the democratic values of our state.

We are called to keep in mind the sad fact, that days of war, are usually used by those who try to minimize the protection of human rights and the rule of law.

The massive democratic protest that continued for 9 months with no breaks, before October 7^th, is solid proof of the strength of the Israeli democratic camp. We have all the reasons to believe it is fully committed to remaining on guard and we must be part of its efforts.

During those months of protest, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism marched under the slogan: “In the name of Judaism, we will protect our democracy”. Today, in a much more challenging and painful Israeli reality, our slogan must be: “In the name of Judaism, we protect our country, our democracy, our values” and yes – also “our hope”.

Dear friends,

2 months before October 7^th, I traveled to the South for a few political meetings. One of them was with Ofir Liebshtein, the head of the regional council of Shaar Hanegev. We set to meet in his office, but on my way there, he called and asked me to come to Kibbutz Erez – one of the closest Kibbutzim to the border with Gaza.

We climbed together a hill inside the Kibbutz, and there, from the top – he shared with me his vision to establish a joint industrial area that would enable thousands of Palestinians to work in Israeli factories and businesses.

As the head of the regional council, he was deeply disturbed by what he saw as a soft response of Israel to the military capacity of Hamas, but at the same time, he was also convinced that we need to explore ways to create a better reality for the two communities.

On the morning of Simchat Tora – Ofir, a true friend of our movement, was murdered by Hamas terrorists, when he tried to defend his beautiful Kibbutz – Kfar Aza. A Kibbutz who is still waiting for 5 members of the community to be redeemed from their savage captivity.

After October 7th many Israelis think that Ofir’s vision was naive. Yet, as I shared with you, Ofir was fully aware of the urgent need to address the military threats of Hamas and refused to accept what was then the status quo.

But in a prophetic way he knew we must defeat evil and at the same time envision and plan a better future, even if it is still far from the reach of our eyes.

For me this is the legacy of my friend Ofir – and because of this legacy, we named the newest Reform congregation in Israel after him, with the blessing of his family.

This legacy is the true meaning of our request every Shabbat evening, which should become the slogan of our life after October 7th:

יי עוז לעמו יתן –

May God give strength to his people

יי יברך את עמו בשלום

May God bless its people with peace.

Shabbat Shalom.