Bad Family

In researching my family history, I discovered colorful if not disturbing aspects of my family’s history. This is no surprise. Stories of bad behavior fill Jewish history. These stories may change the way I remember family.

As we begin reading the fifth book of the Torah, Moses offers a recap of the travels through the wilderness. Moses’ report focuses mostly on the lapses of the Hebrews. He starts by describing the challenges of managing the Hebrews. Moses next recalls the episode of the spies when the people lacked faith in God, hesitating to conquer the inhabitants of Canaan. Because of their faithlessness, that generation perished in the wilderness. Toward the end of the 40-year sojourn, Moses waged military campaigns against various tribes in and around the Promised Land, resulting in a bloody and disheartening report.

I have often glossed over the difficult stories in the Torah about wars and the annihilation of populations. The text says this was God’s will, and our faith in God is mandated. These passages have been used to justify the idea that modern Israeli troops reclaiming our land, evicting hostile usurpers, and containing future threats are actions supported by Divine will.

For most of my life, the story of Israel was about immigration, battles, and miracles. More recently, a few Israeli historians have shared stories of disturbing Israeli aggression. Even as I learned the disturbing parts of Israeli history, my faith in an ascendant and triumphant Israel remained strong. If Israelis destroyed homes or killed Arabs, I believed these actions were in response to provocations. If Israelis wanted to live in their ancient lands, their rights were incontestable.

The current Israeli government and especially their response to the Gaza war has shaken my relationship to Israel. No one with Moses’ piety lives to tell us God’s will. No leader with Joshua’s conviction leads the troops. Instead, Israel is led by faithless, felonious, prejudiced, and power-hungry individuals.

We are familiar with the difficulties of creating and sustaining the modern Israeli state. Just as the Torah shares rebellions and cowardice, the full story of Israel includes details of displacements, massacres, and assassinations conducted in the name of maintaining Israel’s sovereignty and safety. Accordingly, Israel’s detractors characterize the salvation of Jews from Europe and Arab lands as colonization. Israel, a miracle of blooming deserts and a start-up nation draws greater attention for its inscrutable military intelligence and use of advanced weaponry. A nation in the legacy of the shepherd David may be remembered as militaristic as Goliath.

I now struggle to read Deuteronomy’s opening chapters as a positive reflection on our people’s wanderings, just as I find it challenging to read about Israel and remain resolute in my Zionist commitment to a Jewish homeland. The craven leadership and oppression of Palestinians is not the history I want added to our Jewish family’s legacy. While every Jewish family has saints and sinners, heroes and villains, I fear that Israel’s militant hardliners are branding our entire Jewish family in the 21st century.

Rabbi Evan J. Krame