I entitled this sermon tonight, “What I did on my summer vacation”.  I had a fascinating week and a half, which is worthy of some discussion with you.

I attended my daughter Alana's graduation from Wesleyan University, packed her up, vacationed for a few days in Vermont, visited with my sister and her family and attended an opening of her art show (go to www.rebeccasart.com to see some really beautiful paintings), and then traveled to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference in Washington, DC, AIPAC.  During this time, I heard Hillary Clinton speak, and I heard Barack Obama speak twice, once in Washington and once at the graduation of the Wesleyan students in Middletown, Connecticut.  I also had hoped to hear John McCain speak, but as he was addressing the Conference, I was traveling en route to Washington.  So unfortunately I missed him.

So tonight, I will report in short order about my experience at the AIPAC Policy Conference, my impressions of the presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee, Senator Barack Obama, and the nature of the American Israel relationship as it moves forward.

But first a word of Torah.  This week's parasha, Naso, is the longest portion in the Torah.  It is huge.  In many ways, it reminded me of my experience at the AIPAC Policy Conference.  I am not sure exactly how many people were there, somewhere between 7000 and 8000 pro-Israel advocates, but it is the largest Jewishly organized meeting in America.  And everything was perfectly scripted for this enthusiastic audience.  To be sure, the enthusiasm would surpass any high school homecoming pep rally,.  Among this throng of people were Democrats and Republicans (I would estimate represented in equal proportion), young people and old people (AIPAC registered 1200 students, and offered the presidents of the university student bodies special invitations to attend), Jews (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox) and Christians (representing many denominations).  Despite our many differences, we were happily united and of one mind when it came to the preservation of the state of Israel and the strengthening of the America Israel relationship.

AIPAC is neither a right-wing or left-wing organization.  It works closely with the levers of government in the United States and Israel to promote the relationship between our two countries.  It is not prescriptive, and it does not suggest that the government of Israel adhere to any political positions when it comes to issues of national security and pursuing peace with her neighbors.  AIPAC encourages support for candidates for Congress on both sides of the party aisle based only upon one criterion, their support for legislation to keep Israel strong and to keep America and Israel connected.  That is the sole purpose for AIPAC.  Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, Jews and Christians, young and old all have a place under the AIPAC umbrella.

The main purpose for the policy conference was for us to lobby our Senators and Members of Congress to encourage them to continue in their support for the pro Israel agenda.  This year, AIPAC hammered home its three major talking points for us to lobby our elected officials:

1. We encouraged them to vote in support of the foreign aid bill and,
2. To strengthen the sanctions against Iran in an attempt to deter it from developing nuclear weapons and,
3. To support letters being circulated in the House and in the Senate to give support to Israel and to encourage the Bush administration to increase their pressure on the Arab countries to recognize Israel and provide cover for the Palestinians as they attempt to arrive at a negotiated agreement for a two state solution with the state of Israel.

Kelly Biedinger and I visited our two senators, and Congressman Artur Davis and Congressman Spencer Bachus.  Our meetings were fruitful, and we were graciously received.

I want to share with you who was in our Alabama lobbying delegation.  Kelly was one of two Jewish students from the University of Alabama.  The three of us were the only Jews who were lobbying our senators and congressmen.  The other 12 or so from Alabama were all Christians, including several pastors and seminary students from around the state.  They were both black and white.  I was amazed.  At the Tuesday night banquet, I was the only Jew from Alabama sitting at the table.  I sat with Congressmen Rogers and Aderholdt, and four Christian pastors.  Sitting next to me was Reverend Erik Selle, a pastor from Oslo, Norway who works closely with the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.  I hope to bring him here to Birmingham the next time he is in the United States.

As I mentioned earlier, I heard Barack Obama speak twice.  Let me assure you that he is a very impressive orator.  In no way do I want my remarks to influence you to vote for Obama or against him.  Electing the next President of the United States is very serious business, and we should elect someone based upon their ideas and the policies they will implement, and not on their age, race, gender, or oratory skills.  Please vote for Obama if you believe that he is the best candidate to guide our country over the next four years.  And please vote for his opponent, John McCain if you believe that he is better capable of leading us these next four years.  But with that important caveat, Barack Obama is a wonderful speaker.

At Wesleyan University, Obama encouraged the young graduates to pursue public service as a way to find personal fulfillment in life.  He talked about his own story growing up, and the choices he made as a Harvard Law graduate who eschewed the corporate world to work as a community organizer in the Southside of Chicago.  It was hot, and the ceremony was like all graduation ceremonies-- far too long.  But to his credit, he sat in the hot sun until the very end and made sure to shake the hand of each one of the 732 undergraduates who walked across the stage.

It was a given that Obama would connect with the liberal New England College students.  It was far from a given that he will connect with the pro Israel advocates in Washington, DC.  I thought he gave a masterful speech.  He told us everything we wanted to hear.  I was particularly moved when he spoke about the importance of tikkun olam, and how blacks and Jews should come together again in common purpose, as we did in the past, to help the disadvantaged and to make the world more fair.  He was enthusiastically received.  This does not mean that all of the AIPAC pro-Israel advocates will vote for him, but I believe he put most people's concerns to rest that he would be supportive of Israel.

Concerning the pro-Israel agenda, Obama and McCain differed on only one substantive point.  Obama would agree to engage with the Iranians.  He claimed that during the past eight years of isolation, the Iranians were not discouraged one bit from their nuclear ambitions.  Active diplomacy, which would not be a picnic for the Iranians, would be far more effective in deterring them then the Bush administration’s policy of isolation.  You know what, I think Obama is right!  McCain, on the other hand, would continue this isolation of Iran.  He claims that there is no purpose to sit with people who are hell bent on obtaining nuclear weapons.  What exactly are you fixing to talk about?  You know what, I think McCain is right!  You may ask, “How can they both be right?”  And if you are puzzled like me, you are right too.

But ultimately, I want to share with you about the durability of the American-Israel relationship.  In, Naso, the Torah portion this week is particularly long as it speaks about the gifts that each of the tribes would bring to the sanctuary during its 12 days of dedication.  Each day, a different tribe would bring the following:

One silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering; one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense; one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; one goat for a sin offering; and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs.

The reason the Torah portion is so long is because the same gifts are mentioned for each and every tribe on its appointed day of offering.  12 times the list is repeated.  Certainly, for the reader, it is a little mind numbing.  But if you were at the dedication of the sanctuary, it would be so exciting to see each tribe bringing its gifts on its appointed day to the sanctuary.  The Torah makes sure that each tribe gets its due.  Each tribe was equally important to the endeavor of the Israelites.

After hearing all the speeches from all of our candidates and all of our political leaders, I felt that we were hearing, repeated over and over again, the same expressions of support for Israel from both the Democrats and the Republicans, from the Secretary of State, and from all the candidates for national office.  The nuances may have been different, but each and every one said the same thing, that the American Israel relationship is strong, and is necessary for both the United States of America and for the state of Israel.  And, like our ancestors in the desert on the days when the sanctuary was dedicated, it was exciting to hear the message stated and restated and restated again by each and every speaker.  And even if you heard these words of commitment and dedication once, it was still wonderful to hear these words repeated time and again.

I went away assured that over the next four years, Israel and the United States of America will remain in partnership with each other, just as we have done over the past 60 years.  The essential closeness of our relationship does not depend upon the personal chemistry between the leaders of Israel, whomever they might be, and the leaders of the United States, whomever they might be.  The essential closeness of our relationship is due to the fact that every president and every American political leader acts in the strategic interests of the United States of America, which they are elected to serve.  At the core of things, I don't believe that it matters very much whether our elected officials like Israel, love Israel, or are indifferent to Israel as long as they all recognize that a strong, vibrant, and secure Israel is in America’s best interests.  And that, more than anything else, is the reason that Israel and America have such a close and abiding relationship.

President Jimmy Carter had a personal disdain for Menachem Begin, and there are none in the Jewish community today who think of President Carter with any fondness.  But Carter and Begin and Sadat came together to forge a peace agreement because it was in the mutual interest of the United States, Israel, and Egypt.  Love had nothing to do with it.  Similarly, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, President Richard Nixon who was a known anti-Semite airlifted crucial military supplies to the Israelis in unprecedented time to resupply them so they would not be defeated.  Richard Nixon had no love of the Jewish people or the state of Israel.  I'm not sure that President Nixon loved anybody.  But he saved Israel because it was in the United States’ strategic interest for Israel to be strong and secure.

I am glad that I attended the AIPAC policy conference, and that I could bring these thoughts back to you.  I want to encourage you to support AIPAC and to support the American Israel relationship.  I want you to do this because you are Jews who love Israel.  But more importantly, I want you to support AIPAC because you love the United States of America, and the relationship between these two countries is a symbol of our greatness and the common goals we both share.

The parsha this week includes the priestly benediction, which should be known to all of you.  “May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord look kindly upon you and be gracious unto you.  May the Lord lift up His face into you and grant you peace.”  The evolution of the blessing is clear.  The Lord will bless us by keeping us safe and secure.  With that security, we can experience God's grace.  And with God's grace, we can see the face of the divine and experience shalom.

May God bless the United States of America and Israel and keep us safe and secure.  Working in harmony, every experience God's grace.  And together, may these two nations beloved by God be granted peace.

Shabbat shalom

Back