3/13/08

APN today sent letters to America's chief rabbinical associations (those affiliated with the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements), expressing alarm at the "hate-filled vitriol and the calls for violent revenge that are again emerging from some Israeli rabbis" and calling on U.S. rabbis to "raise your voices, loud and clear, against incitement and violence, against calls for revenge and acts of revenge, and in favor of responsible, law abiding behavior."

The letter was sent to:

• Rabbi Stephen A. Fox, Executive Vice President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform);
• Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Executive Director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association;
• Rabbi Joel Meyers, Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative);
• Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Following is the full text of the letter.  Please feel free to contact Americans for Peace Now Spokesman Ori Nir with any questions at:

Telephone:  202-728-1893 or onir@peacenow.org

Here is the text of the letter, signed by APN President and CEO Debra DeLee and by APN Chair, Franklin Fisher:

Dear Rabbi,

Still horrified and outraged by the murderous terrorist attack at Merkaz Ha-Rav Yeshiva in Jerusalem last week, we are alarmed by the hate-filled vitriol and the calls for violent revenge that are again emerging from some Israeli rabbis.

Incitement, particularly when perceived as sanctioned by a religious authority, is akin to a loaded weapon. Regardless of what some politicians are saying publicly, many observant Israelis believe that rabbinical authorities have sanctioned violent revenge. According to some Israeli media reports, several of the national-religious spiritual leaders have done just that in private conversation with their followers.

While many Israeli rabbis spoke out against vigilantism, several alarming developments in recent days suggest that religious leaders are not doing their utmost to dissuade their followers from such actions:

• Placards posted in Jerusalem this week, signed by eleven rabbis practically call for revenge terrorism. "Each and everyone must imagine what the enemy is scheming to do to us and to match it measure for measure." "Have no mercy for them because they have no mercy for you," read the pronouncement, which referenced the Book of Esther in calling on Jews to "strike those who wish upon them ill." Among the signatories to the street notice was Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
• Several organizations with a strong following among West Bank settlers say they are planning to invade the Palestinian village of Jabal Mukabbar and demolish the house of the terrorist who killed the Merkaz Ha-Rav Yeshiva students. 
• Hours after the Yeshiva attack, the settlers' Council of Yesha Rabbis issued a statement saying that Israel's governments bear responsibility for the murder because of their "weakness" in the face of Palestinian terrorism.
• Minister of Education Yuli Tamir, on a condolences visit to the Merkaz Ha-Rav Yeshiva this week was verbally and physically attacked, kicked and spat upon, called a "murderer" and a "traitor." 

Not too long ago, such rhetoric bred the assassination of an Israeli prime minister and encouraged the emergence of anti-Palestinian Jewish terrorists, such as the 2005 attack in Shfaram that killed 4 and the Purim attack in 1994 that killed 29 worshippers in Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque.

This volatile moment calls for moral and spiritual leadership. It calls for the Jewish voices of conscience, for those immersed in Jewish law and in Jewish values to unite around a message of justice and respect for the rule of law, of respect for the authority and sovereignty of the Israeli government, of respect for human life.

As organizations that represent America's most influential rabbis, we call upon you to put aside political differences and raise your voices, loud and clear, against incitement and violence, against calls for revenge and acts of revenge, and in favor of responsible, law abiding behavior. Your opinion counts. Please make it heard so that this Purim can be one of joy and not one of blood.

Sincerely,

Franklin Fisher, Chair
Debra DeLee, President & CEO
Americans for Peace Now