The following was sent to me by a friend, a Reform Jewish Rabbi. I present it in its entirety, with edits only to remove details about identity and location. I thought it would be an interesting perspective and one not normally available to us as ex-JW's. By posting this, I express no opinion on the content, but I do find it balanced and well-presented. It is rather lengthy, but worth the effort.
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Rosh Hashanah Morning 5762
September 18, 2001
Rabbi B**
We gather for Rosh Hashanah like we always do but this years is different.
Usually we feel a sense of separation from the rest of the world on High
Holidays. In most years we would say it is Rosh Hashanah for us and a week
day for the rest of the world.
This year cannot turn away from the events of the world. This year we gather
in the shadow of the events of the world. We stand between the tragic events
of last week and war to come.
We had believed that we were living in an era of peace. The Soviet Union
collapsed over ten years ago. The cold war concluded with victory for the
side freedom.
Not that long ago peace seemed to be a given, only prosperity concerned us.
Now history returns. Sadly, once again, we live in interesting times.
The events of last week affect us deeply. They shake to the very core of our
beings. Some of us lost relatives and friends. All of us feel attacked. We
are still learning how to cope. We continue to go through stages of loss and
mourning.
I have much to say about these events. This morning I will limit myself
political issues. I will include some the spiritual issues in my sermon on
Yom Kippur. This morning I will explain the motivation for Osama Bin Laden
attacks on our country, discuss how the current crisis relates to Israel and
say a few words about our relationship with our local Muslim community.
Who is Osama bin Laden? He is too often simply described as a terrorist. We
should not see Osama bin Laden as an independent operator or some sort of
international gangster. He leads an armed struggle to change the world.
His movement grows out of a rejection of the values which form the foundation
of our society. The modern world in which we live
took shape in the age of reason. Medieval society saw religion as the only
source of truth. Only those who possessed religious truth could know
anything. The age of reason proclaims the thoughts of the individual to be a
source of truth. Out of this basic principle grows: our deep respect for
individual thought and political action, our affirmation of the freedom of
the individual, our appreciation for the opinion of the individual and our
devotion to democracy.
We in the west live in societies based on the principles expressed in
our Declaration of Independence, “That all men are created equal; that they
are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among them
are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Islamic fundamentalists reject these basic ideas. They reject the value of an
individual’s thoughts and rights. For them the individual cannot be a source
of truth. They accept only one source of truth
and only one truth.
Their religion is the only source of truth. They reject the concept of civil
authority. They accept only Islamic religious authority.
They object to the spread of western values into the Muslim world.
They object to the world-wide domination of western material culture, of
McDonalds, Coca-Cola and MTV. Islamic fundamentalists object to western
dress. They want Moslems to dress as Moslems.
They want Moslems to think and act like Moslems. Islamic fundamentalists by
their very nature and belief do not accept the concept of compromise.
They have devoted themselves to the goal of establishing Islamic states
through out the world. Today most of the countries with a predominately
Muslim population are not Islamic states.
In the Arab and Muslim world we find four kinds of government.
1. Islamic States like Afghanistan and Iran
In Islamic States the national leaders combine religious, political and
military authority. This follows the pattern of the early centuries of Islam.
The Caliphs succeeded the prophet Mohamed. The Caliph possessed religious,
political and military authority. He ruled according to religious values. The
Islamic fundamentalists want to establish this is the type of government
throughout the Muslim world.
2. Western style like Egypt
In truth Egypt remains more of a dictatorship than a democracy. But still it
follows a western style. The Egyptian leaders separate political authority
from religious authority. The Egyptians live in the modern world and remain
Muslims. Islamic fundamentalists want to overthrow such Western style
regimes. The Egyptian government faces an ongoing conflict with Egyptian
Islamic fundamentalists, known as the Muslim Brotherhood. President Mubarik
became President after the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated President Sadat. A
few years ago the Muslim Brotherhood staged a series of attacks on tourists
in Egypt. In an attempt to disrupt the Egyptian economy and overthrow the
government
3. Monarchy like Saudi Arabia
In our eyes Saudi Arabia may appear to be an authoritarian Islamic state but
in the eyes of the Islamic fundamentalists the Saudi royal family is corrupt.
The Islamic fundamentalists believe the Saudi Royal family has sold out to
the west. The Islamic fundamentalists say
that the Saudi Royal family is too cozy with western business interests, and
have taken on too many cultural trapping of the west
The Islamic fundamentalists intensely attacked the Saudi decision to make
common cause with the west against Saddam Hussain
and the Saudi decision to allow non-Muslim foreigner troops to serve on
sacred Arabian soil.
4. Secular Leftist like Syria, Iraq, and Libya
These states formerly depended on the support of the Soviet Union. For
decades their leaders have spouted anti-west vocabulary. There used to be a
large gap between these states and Islamic fundamentalists. Both were
anti-west but had different visions of what the world should be like.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union these states and the Islamic
fundamentalists have drawn closer.
This is a quick overview. Within each category we could find differences and
conflicts. Within the category of Islamic states,
there is tension between Iran and the Taliban. Within the category of leftist
states, there is tension between Syria and Iraq
The Gulf War stands as the turning point in Islamic fundamentalist’s war with
the west. The presence of American troops on Arabian soil deeply offended the
Islamic fundamentalists. The American backing the royal families of Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait against Sadam Hussain created a line in the sand between
pro-western governments and anti-western forces.
Osama bin Laden and his followers do not operate alone. A strong connection
exists between the Osama bin Laden and other Muslim fundamentalists. The
Taliban leaders of Afghanistan do not simply offer shelter to Osama bin
Laden. They share his worldview and fully support his efforts. Hamas and
Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Hezbollah in Lebonan, and the Muslim Brotherhood
in Egypt share his goals and his methods. There is a connection between the
states which give harbor and support to this network of terror.
Until last week many Americans saw the Islamic fundamentalists as strange
people who lived far away. They can no longer be ignored.
The struggle has become a war.
Nine hundred years ago Pope Urban II declared a crusade to take Jerusalem
from the Muslims. The Europeans Crusaders invaded the Muslim world and set up
a European kingdom in the land of Israel
with Jerusalem as its capital. The Crusader Kingdom held Jerusalem for 143
years until Muslim forces led by Saladin defeated the Crusaders. Osama bin
Laden sees himself as the new Saladin. As Saladin defeated the Crusaders, so
Osama bin Laden wants to defeat the United States. He wants to rid the Moslem
world of western influence. He wants to drive the westerners out of the
Moslem world.
The effort to defeat him will not be quick and simple it will not be clean
and easy. Our President has correctly identified the current conflict as war.
Our country stands unified in support of our president and our armed forces
in the war which has begun.
ISRAEL
How does the current crisis affect Israel? I know that we have heard
arguments that America became a target for the terrorists because of American
support for Israel. As I have explained this is not the reason for the
Islamic Fundamentalists opposition to America. The American People are not
buying the “blame it on Israel” argument. The mood in this country is not to
pull back from the world in fear but rather to attack the terrorist network.
This week America saw video of Palestinians dancing and singing
in celebration of the terror attacks. Yes, Yassir Arafat offered words of
condemnation but in Palestinian street we saw joy. This week the Palestinian
authority has tried to prevent coverage of the jubilation in the streets. It
has confiscated video tape and arrested reporters.
Americans see the Palestinian people associating with “them” as opposed to
“us.” Many years ago, Abba Eban said, “The Palestinians never miss an
opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
Western sympathy for the Palestinians has diminished. Just a week ago some
American Jews expressed concern that we were losing the propaganda struggle
with Palestinians. Local Jewish leaders expressed concern about bias
reporting concerning Israel in the (local paper). Today Americans feel closer to
Israel. Americans identify with Israelis as victims of suicide attacks.
Americans want to learn about security measures from Israel. Our airlines
want to learn from El Al.
The strong international response to the acts of terror in America may even
convince the Palestinian leadership to stop the suicide bombings in Israel,
to realize that the only path to resolution of the conflict is through
negotiations.
I think that we have to wait to see the events of the coming months
to see how our war with the terrorists plays out before we can draw
conclusions about the long term impact on Israel.
I want to share one last thought. We feel a strong sense today in America of
“us” and “them”, of good guys and bad guys. We have to be careful in
distinguishing who is the “us” and who is the “them”.
In our Yom Kippur liturgy we repent for the “sin of Xenophobia”
In the past we may have seen this choice of wording as a forced attempt on
the part of the editor to maintain the acrostic list of sins. This year the
“sin of Xenophobia” is a real and present danger.
In no way should we view all Muslims or all Arabs as enemies of America. As
Jews we know what it means to be separated out and discriminated against.
Many of us have personal connections to Muslims here in our community. I
certainly do through my interfaith work. As a congregation we have had
for many years a very positive connection with the mosque in **. It
is important for us to reach out and offer support. We are doing so as a
congregation and we should do so as individuals. Together with other members
of the ** Interfaith Resource Network we are planning services and study
programs which you will hear about in the coming days.
The Torah portion we read this morning tells us that as Abraham and Isaac
journeyed to Mount Moriah. Abraham lifted up his eyes and “saw the place from
afar.” Today peace seems distant. It is a place we can only see from afar.
Peace in the world, and our peace of mind remain our goal and our dream.
Abraham and Isaac climbed the mountain uncertain of what would happen at the
top. The Torah tells us that they climbed together, hand in hand.
As begin this New Year, we know that we face difficult months ahead. We face
them as a caring congregation of friends. We face them as a united and strong
nation in support of our president.
We pray that the coming months bring healing to the broken of body and spirit
and comfort to the bereaved. As we go forward we see may peace only from afar
but in remains our goal. As we go forward we go forward together hand in hand