Dozens of rabbis and cantors rallied outside the Israeli Consulate General in Brentwood on Monday to call for immediate food aid to Gazans, an end to the war in Gaza and the safe return home for the remaining hostages in Hamas captivity.
This is the first time a concerted effort has been made by the local rabbis and colleagues to come together and make their voices heard.
“As rabbis and cantors, leaders in the Jewish community of Los Angeles, we stand firmly and deeply inside the values of the Jewish tradition [of] lifting up – that everyone is made b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God,” said Rabbi Susan Goldberg, senior rabbi of Echo Park-based Nefesh. “It is time to end the suffering in Gaza and in Israel and be led by those who affirm the safety, dignity and human rights of all who live in the land.”
Since the attacks on southern Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 – when 1,195 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage – Israel has led a ruthless retaliation on Gaza.
Many humanitarian organizations – including a United Nations special committee, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel – have concluded that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians through its ongoing bombing and blockade of the Gaza Strip.
An estimated two-thirds of Gaza’s structures are destroyed, including residential buildings, hospitals, schools, universities, cultural heritage sites and mosques. The scale of the destruction is so vast that it will likely take decades to rebuild.
To date, over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s attacks – over 80% of whom are civilians, including over 18,800 children and over 200 journalists. These numbers don’t include the thousands of unaccounted-for people feared to be buried under the rubble.
Beyond the direct attacks, with Israel imposing a suffocating blockade on Gaza, allowing only a small amount of aid to enter the strip, famine has befallen Gazans.
On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed hunger monitor, confirmed that more than half a million people are experiencing famine in the Gaza Strip, with catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office called the report “an outright lie” in a statement.
“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the statement issued Friday said. “Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person.”
At least 289 Palestinians, including 115 children, have died due to starvation in Gaza.
“There are those who would say that there is only one way to be pro-Israel, and that is to support the actions of the Israeli government, whatever they may be,” said Rabbi Ken Chasen, senior rabbi at Leo Baeck Temple. “But if the last few weeks have demonstrated anything at all, it is that choosing today to stand with Israel’s government is choosing to stand against the Israeli people.”
Many Israeli citizens have criticized Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and the hostage negotiations. A couple of weeks ago, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv demanding an end to the war and the release of the hostages still being held captive by Hamas.
Rabbi Dara Frimmer, senior rabbi at Temple Isaiah, noted that the acts of Israel’s government are not only negatively impacting Palestinians but also the people of Israel.
“Our brothers and sisters have been held captive, tortured and starved, degraded and humiliated for 689 days,” said Frimmer about the hostages. “It is time to return to the negotiating table, to free the hostages, to bring this war to an end, to end the suffering, to end the hunger, to let the healing and rebuilding begin.”
She additionally noted the trauma imposed on soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who may be fighting a war they do not wish to wage.
Rabbi Emerita Lisa Edwards of Beth Chayim Chadashim said that though many of the rabbis have been taught that they should be supporting Israel no matter what, “it’s getting more and more difficult to support the Israeli government, as much as we all love Israel.”
“The heartbreak of watching our beloved country of Israel act in ways that are opposite of what we’ve learned, and taught, and understood, and loved about Judaism,” is what Edwards said prompted her to speak out, despite pushback from others within the community.
“Starving people is not Jewish teaching – quite the opposite,” Edwards continued. “Allowing captives to be held, if there’s any opportunity for them to be freed. It’s not a Jewish value. Fighting a war if there were any possibility of ending a war instead, or not starting it in the first place. None of those are Jewish values. They’re all antithetical to Jewish teachings, to what we’ve all learned as Jewish values.”
The rally was deliberately held on the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, a month of reckoning and reflection that leads into the new year. This is a time in the Jewish tradition that calls for deep soul searching, reflecting on our actions of the past year and making amends, both as individuals and as a community.
“In this month, we are invited to look back and also look ahead to imagine a year that will be different, a year that will be better because of our actions, our resolutions, our commitments. This is a season of return and repair,” said Frimmer.
They sounded the shofar, the ram’s horn, which symbolizes a wake-up call, “to wake up our hearts and our souls, and get down to the work of resolve,” said Edwards.
Rabbi Mel Gottlieb added that it is time “to return to our fellow human beings with love … to take responsibility for our wrongdoings, to confess them and make amends to those whom we have harmed.”
“It is an appropriate time to reach out to our fellow Palestinian neighbors, to do teshuvah
with them, and not to repeat the egregious behavior of these past years,” he continued. “It is time to reach out to our communities and leaders to join together in the path of peace, of shalom. Not only are we charged to make amends, but also to plan concretely and thoughtfully a path of peace and justice for all.”
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