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October 2018 Cheshvan 5779 AMERICAN ZIONIST SHABBAT The American Zionist Movement is pleased to update for 2018 5779 and share again the American Zionist Shabbat initiative which was launched last year This project continues during the period from Parshiot Lech Lecha October 20th 11 Cheshvan to Vayishlach November 24th 16 Kislev 2018 5779 Below you will see resources for discussing Zionism in synagogues schools and the community during this period including links to materials easily available on the internet In May 2018 AZM added a Jerusalem Shabbat Supplement in partnership with the World Zionist Organization and this addition is included here as well at the end of the Source Book 2

AMERICAN ZIONIST SHABBAT The American Zionist Movement has launched a series of programs in 2017 2018 which we have described as the AZM Year of Zionist Anniversaries As we mark 120 years since Theodor Herzl launched the modern Zionist movement when he convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel we will also celebrate major milestones this Fall during this Jewish year 5778 Therefore AZM is launching a new American Zionist Shabbat initiative over the period of each Shabbat from Parshiot Lech Lecha to Vayishlach October 28 2017 through December 2 2017 These weeks coincide with the Shabbat before the Centennial of the Balfour Declaration until the Shabbat after we commemorate 70 years since the United Nations Partition Resolution adoption 8 Cheshvan 14 Kislev 5778 AZM has begun this initiative a resumption of the Zionist Shabbat Shabbat Tzion program that AZM and the World Zionist Organization conducted in the past in order to have greater dialogue within American Jewry on the significance of Zionism and its continuing relevance to our people and community We hope that during these weeks and commencing with the Shabbat of Parsha Lech Lecha the journey of the Jewish People Rabbis will speak about Zionism in their sermons drashot and writings day schools yeshivot and Hebrew schools will connect their students to Zionism as related to the weekly Torah readings and that congregations community organizations and Jewish institutions will share materials and encourage programs and discussions on Zionism AZM has compiled this initial Source Book drawn from materials developed and shared by our AZM organizations and others to each of whom we express our thanks and appreciation for their leadership and dedication in order to provide a resource for conversations on Zionism during this period of American Zionist Shabbat We will continue to grow and expand this guide and program through these weeks and in coming months and years and encourage others to share sources with us at azm azm org As we have seen Zionism attacked from various groups and people in America it is important that Zionists of all backgrounds come together in our united support for the State of Israel as she enters her 70th year That is what happened when Herzl first brought together a broad coalition of Zionists 120 years ago to build the movement which would lead to the establishment of a Jewish state in our ancestral land Today Zionism is very much alive as we connect Jews worldwide with our homeland and as we continue to support the vibrant democracy culture and contributions of Israel and the Jewish people 3

This 2017 18 5777 78 Year of Zionist Anniversaries includes recognizing 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem following the Six Day War in June 1967 120 years since Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel Switzerland in August 1897 100 years since the Balfour Declaration was issued in November 1917 by the British Foreign Secretary 70 years since adoption of the United Nations Partition Resolution in November 1947 and culminates with celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel in May 1948 Please share forward and implement your own thoughts in celebration of Zionism and the America Zionist Shabbat The American Zionist Movement wishes to thank the leaders of each of the AZM organizations who have contributed materials ideas and thoughts in developing the American Zionist Shabbat Sourcebook For Further Information to make contributions of materials or resources please contact Herbert Block AZM Executive Director hblock azm org 212 318 6100 ext 6946 Alicia Post AZM Program Director apost azm org 212 318 6100 ext 6947 Please note materials have been presented to AZM by our member organizations and others as resources and food for thought on Zionism Inclusion of these resources here does not imply any official or full endorsement by AZM of all of the content The American Zionist Movement AZM is comprised of 29 national Jewish Zionist organizations and works across a broad ideological political and religious spectrum linking the American Jewish community together in support of Israel Zionism and the Jewish people AZM is the U S Zionist Federation in the World Zionist Organization Also available at www ZionistShabbat org and at https www azm org zionist shabbat 4

Chomer Ladrush for a Zionist Shabbat 5779 Rabbi Paul Golomb AZM Vice President for Programming The book of Genesis tells the story of a couple becoming a people After a narrative of primeval history Creation expulsion from the Garden flood and Babel the tale begins with Abram and Sarai and concludes with B nai Yisrael How a married couple not merely initiates a multigenerational family but rather creates an Am is a saga in the formation of an identity We see this development in both who is included and who drops out The story is told over four generations concluding with the twelve sons of Jacob who will become the tribes of Israel Although we must bracket out the one daughter Dina whose fate in Scripture remains unknown all of Jacob s progeny participate in the covenant God first formed with Abraham The same cannot be said for the previous generations Ishmael and then Esau are left out of this particular covenant Why is that the case and what may we learn about the formation of the Jewish people from their exclusion Ishmael is an elusive and enigmatic character He is introduced in utero the child that will be born to Hagar the Egyptian and yet will be given a name by his father Abraham that connects him to God He is observed by Sarah after the birth of Isaac playing It s meaning here is deeply ambiguous When banished to the wilderness God hears his weeping sustains him and his mother with water so that he will grow to be a hunter and after taking an Egyptian wife fulfills his destiny to be the progenitor of a nation of twelve princes With a brief mention in the story of Joseph being borne to Egypt the Ishmaelites disappear from Scripture altogether There is one other indirect reference After the akeidah Isaac goes to Be er Lahai Ro I the spring associated with Hagar and her unborn child There is nothing in the scriptural references to Ishmael that suggest he should not be a recipient of the covenant God forged with his father except the identity of his mother Ishmael is not the child of Sarah but rather of her handmaiden Subsequent midrash will interpret Ishmael s playing in a negative light and also intimate that his status as an outdoorsman makes him unsuitable These are rationales In Scripture Ishmael s disqualification is his mother Esau on the other hand is every much a child of Isaac and Rebecca as is Jacob The text is much clearer that his absence from the covenant is due to his own deficiencies In my own reading Esau failed not only in the spurning of a birthright but was also incapable of personal growth Isaac preferred Esau as the oldest child but also appreciated the softer qualities of Jacob He longed for each of his children to develop that which other possessed Jacob did so The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau Esau did not In the next generation all of the children carry on the covenant and become the people Israel This is so even for the four sons Dan Naftali Gad and Asher who were born to handmaidens as was Ishmael All twelve nevertheless evidenced emotional and spiritual maturing as did Jacob particular in the ten sons confrontation with Joseph over Benjamin Indeed the Genesis saga of the formation 5

of a people is sealed in the fifth generation when Manashe and Ephraim silently accept the crosshand blessing of their grandfather Jacob The foreignness of their mother and the bitter fraternal enmity of the previous two generations are dispelled What are we to learn about identity formation from this saga First that it begins with blood The covenant is passed on by both Abraham and Sarah together part of the same extended family that made the journey from Ur to Haran to the Land Hagar was not on that journey Indeed blood remains significant enough that Isaac s wife must be from the same clan It begins with blood but it does not end there Esau whose bloodlines are identical to Jacob s is nonetheless not found worthy The shortcoming is therefore not external a matter of heritage but rather internal a matter of character He could not rise spiritually to the level of blessing Jacob s children irrespective of their parents could None of them were saints they showed signs of arrogance jealousy and a willingness to dissemble They also proved in moments of crisis that they could transcend their flaws and display genuine courage The mostly dysfunctional family of Jacob is transformed into the people Israel The idea of identity formation that unfolds in the Genesis saga can be regarded in both historical and psychological terms A clan grows and spreads Over time the familial connections become less significant than other factors that hold the people together An individual as well understands oneself initially in relation to those who are closest most often parents and siblings Then in the process of maturing the sense of identity through family is overtaken by new means of selfrecognition Blood however never disappears Whether we employ the historical or the psychological model we learn from Scripture that our Jewish identity is not reducible to just one thing To be a Jew is not merely familial or historical or national or cultural or confessional I would also suggest that being Jewish cannot eliminate or fully ignore any of these factors either Yes we all privilege some elements of our Jewish identity as more important even vital to us All the others remain The vitality of our Jewish identity is found in the willingness to embrace all the elements family mishpacha people am covenanted nation goy kadosh obligation mitzvah and Land Ha Aretz Is there a hierarchy to these values Only I would suggest in our own choices of which touches us more deeply A verse in Leviticus 26 42 nonetheless captures it all In a promise of restoration after exile the curses enumerated in parashat Behukotai God says Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob as well as my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham and I will remember the land The covenant that which delimits and defines our Jewishness is not one thing It is at least three things and the Lad To be a Jew can be nothing less 6

Notes for a Zionist Shabbat 5778 Rabbi Paul Golomb AZM Vice President for Programming What does it mean to speak of Zionism in a Shabbat d rash or d var Torah I am referring specifically to an attempt to infuse a Zionist message into talk about the parashah rather than departing from the text We should note first that drawing a Zionist theme from a parashah any Torah portion is not obvious The Book of Genesis focuses primarily on those personalities that become the People Israel It is a family drama and the principal motifs that are drawn from its chapters often center on interpersonal dynamics The balance of the Books of Humash Exodus through Deuteronomy focus on Torah as instruction and the revelation that occurred at Sinai Sinai most significantly is located in the wilderness Midbar a place that is nowhere and therefore can be anywhere And the revelation itself is inscribed on tablets of stone that Moses can carry down from the mountain An extended stretch of the Book of Exodus is given over to a detail description of a mishkan where the tablets will be housed in an Ark and the priestly administrations performed on behalf of the people will take place The principal feature of the mishkan is its portability It can go anywhere In the balance of Scripture Sinai or Horeb is mentioned a mere nine times After the first few verses of Joshua Moses is not mentioned at all As Sinai disappears it is replaced by Zion a fixed place where God and Israel may meet The word Zion is not found at all in Torah Tanakh is rooted in the Land but Torah is not Even the haftarot drawn as they are from the balance of Scripture only rarely refer to Zion The reading of Torah and haftarah in the Synagogue is designed for a people scattered around the world The foundation for the Jews is the portable scroll Zion is an abstraction a place set aside for a messianic time Even though many synagogues have added the language that it is beginning of the flowering of the days of the Messiah in order to acknowledge the restoration of the Jewish State Zion from the Scriptural point of view remains stubbornly in the future What can we glean from our Torah readings that we may apply to today When reading Torah in the synagogue the Land is rarely in the foreground but it is always in the background Consider the lives of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as narrated in Genesis In the parashiot Lekh L kha and VaYishlah Abraham and Jacob have travelled outside of the Land to 7

Egypt and Aram respectively They both have been impelled to do so because remaining is inhospitable In Abraham s case it is famine for Jacob it is the enmity of Esau While away they both enrich themselves Egypt and Aram have been very good for them materially Yet both return to the Land What compels this return Isaac on the other hand never leaves Poignantly parashat Hayei Sara suggests that he nonetheless moved away from his parent s home and dwelt in Beer Lahai Ro I the spring associated with Hagar and Ishmael Ishmael Isaac s half brother we are told is both one who is free to roam far and wide and also the prince of twelve nations Isaac feels the urge to roam as well and yet he does not He steadfastly remains rooted to the Land In the characterizations of the three Avot the Land is not a source of material wealth nor is it the basis of emotional security and yet it is an irresistible draw From the tales of Genesis we may conclude that the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel cannot be expressed in either a material or emotional bonding It is deeper and more ineffable Zionism is predicated on the notion that Jewish identity cannot be reduced to devotion to Torah or personal sense of relatedness to other Jews Both are indeed essential and are the principal qualities that draw one to the synagogue Inexorably however Jewish identity is also tied to a powerful if occasionally elusive tie to a particular Land The tie is not the proverbial milk and honey nor the innumerable songs of Zion intoned by the waters of Babylon nor even the command and promise of the Eternal It is found in the meaning of being a Jew A final thought Each morning in traditional liturgy this verse from Leviticus Chap 26 is recited I will remember My covenant with Jacob I will remember my covenant also with Isaac and also My covenant with Abraham and I will remember the Land The order I believe is important It is chronologically reversed and thus reminds us that before there is Israel there is the Land itself 8

RESOURCE MATERIALS Sermons of Rabbi Vernon Kurtz Past President of AZM Past President Mercaz USA the Zionist Organization of Conservative Judaism Lech Lecha https www azm org wp content uploads 2017 10 Lekh Lekha RabbiVernon Kurtz pdf Toldot https www azm org wp content uploads 2017 10 Toldot Rabbi Vernon Kurtz pdf World Zionist Organization WZO Links to selected parshiot Shabbat Lech Lecha http www wzo org il Shabbat Lech Lecha Zion in the Sources Yearning for Zion http www wzo org il index php dir site page articles op item cs 3318 langpag e heb Chagim Center Home for the Holidays WZO Department for Education https www eng chagim org il Association of Reform Zionists in America ARZA Israel in the Parasha http us8 campaignarchive2 com home u f7d47da986d48ddb1933530b5 id 16d74d637d I m A Zionist Because by Rabbi Josh Weinberg http arza org blog post i m azionist because Aytzim http jewcology org explore israel zionism middle east Bnei Akiva Cheshvan Choveret Chinuch http www bneiakiva org uploads pdf ChoveretCheshvan5774BWsmall pdf 9

Hadassah The Women s Zionist Organization of America Defining Zionism in the 21st Century Link to various resources and video presentations http www hadassah org connecting to israel defining zionism Herut North America Zionism and The Rabbi s Ancient Word Code https herutna org zionism and therabbis ancient word code The Season For Jewish Unity https herutna org kol nidre and jabotinsky the seasonfor jewish unity Israel Forever Foundation Shabbat Tzion Connecting To Israel Through Torah And Shabbat https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion Shabbat Talks Keep the conversation lively and bring a touch of Israel into your Shabbat with these great discussion resources https israelforever org programs shabbat_talks Links to each Parsha Parashat Lech Lecha https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion lekh_lekha Parashat Vayera https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion vayera Parashat Chayyei Sarah https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion chayei_sarah Parashat Toledot https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion toldot Parashat Vayetzei https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion vayetzei Parashat Vayishlach https israelforever org programs shabbat_tzion vayishlach Religious Zionists of America RZA Parshat HaShavua featuring a different Religious Zionist rabbi each week from around the country to share a Dvar Torah https rza org american rabbis https rza org category american https rza org hesder yeshiva rabbis 10

Zionism Reclaiming an Inspiring Word Rabbi Alan Silverstein President Mercaz Olami the Masorti Zionist Organization http blogs timesofisrael com zionism reclaiming an inspiring word New Light on Zion A Sermon by Rabbi Elliot J Cosgrove Park Avenue Synagogue https pasyn org print resources sermons new light zion Zionist Organization of America Statement on Genesis and the Golan Heights Ameinu Personal Stories of Zionism Israel and Progressive Identity The iCenter Israel 70 Resources https www theicenter org compilation israelat70 Center for Israel Education Resources https israeled org resources Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs About Israel 11

MATERIALS ON THE YEAR OF ZIONIST ANNIVERSARIES 2017 Israel s Triple Anniversary Year published by the American Jewish Committee https www azm org wp content uploads 2017 10 ISRAELS_TRIPLE_ANNIVERSARY_2017 pdf 2017 A Year of Anniversaries by Martin J Raffel http jewishweek timesofisrael com 2017 a year of anniversaries The strength of modern Zionism 120 years after first World Zionist Congress by Martin J Raffel August 2017 http njjewishnews com article 35064 the strength of modern zionism 120 years afterfirst wjc WepGjRNSxTY November 2 Balfour Declaration 1917 Centennial Date www balfourinitiative org November 29 Seventy Years Since UN Partition Resolution Vote 1947 https israelforever org interact blog november_29_every_jew_should_know_about_this_day 12

May 2018 Iyar 5778 JERUSALEM SHABBAT The American Zionist Movement AZM is joining with our colleagues in the Department for Diaspora Activities DDA of the World Zionist Organization WZO to mark Jerusalem Shabbat on May 11 12 2018 27 Iyar 5778 Parashat Behar Bechukotai as read in the Torah in the Diaspora This is the day before we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim on Sunday May 13 28 Iyar and two days before we mark the 70th secular anniversary of Israel s founding on Monday May 14 This is a continuation of the American Zionist Shabbat initiative which was launched by AZM in October 2017 under the Year of Zionist Anniversaries which culminates in celebrating Israel 70 in 2018 Below you will see links to some resources specific to this special May 11 12 2018 Shabbat and weekend as well as the text of the Source Book for the American Zionist Shabbat which contains many appropriate general resources on Zionism These and other resources are available from the WZO at https myjerusalem info and from AZM at www ZionistShabbat org This is an opportunity for all to celebrate Jerusalem and Israel 70 and our families as it is Mother s Day weekend This year we also recognize an important American connection to Israel and Zionism as signified by the 70th anniversary of the United States recognition of Israel by President Truman on May 14 1948 13

JERUSALEM SHABBAT RESOURCES Note click on each hyperlinked listing to open the webpage Greetings from the Gusti Yehoshua Braverman Head of the WZO Department for Diaspora Activities WZO DDA Resource Guide Beit Ha am Z Talks My Jerusalem An Anthology for Yom Yerushalayim Jerusalem Day ARZA Association of Reform Zionists in America Yom Ha Atzmaut Israel Independence Day Supplemental Readings RZA Religious Zionists of America Parshat Behar Bechukotai The Holiness of the Land of Israel WZO Jerusalem Day Supplement Israel Forever Foundation Resources for Yom Yerushalayim Jerusalem Day Truman Presidential Library May 1948 Recognition of the State of Israel 14