We recognise the difficulty that many communities face in speaking publicly about the Gaza war. However, we believe that it is wrong to remain silent in the face of the suffering that began that terrible conflict, and the suffering that the conflict continues to inflict. On this page we provide four templates for statements that your community could post on their web site to let visitors and members know that we acknowledge the many-sided difficulties of the conflict for Jews, and that we hear the pain that is being felt on all sides.
Option 1: Supporting Jewish Values
We, as our shul’s [lay or religious] leadership are horrified by the events in Israel and Gaza over the past year.
As we approach the 1st anniversary of the horrific attack on southern Israel and as we mourn all Israelis and Palestinians who have died in the current conflict, we want to recall, and identify with, the ‘Jewish Values and Core Principles’ statement signed in November 2023 by the leaders of Reform and Liberal Judaism and subsequently signed by thousands of other British Jews.
It was an extremely important statement – and we urge as many people as possible to read it and to consider signing it, if they have not already done so.
The statement mourns “the Israeli communities cruelly destroyed by Hamas terrorists on 7th October” and says that it can “never be acceptable to take hostages”.
But it also states unequivocally that “Palestinians have the right to life and dignity”, that “Israel must take care to protect innocent civilians”, that it can “never be acceptable to deny civilians their basic human needs” and that the laws of war “place clear limits on what harm can be done to civilians”.
The statement reminds us that “it is precisely at times of unimaginable pain and suffering that we need these laws to ensure that our behaviour reflects our humanity” and points out that the laws of war “apply to all, irrespective of the conduct of an enemy” and goes on to say that “no exceptions to those rules can be derived from the level of suffering caused by that enemy”.
It also states that “We must work to ensure that out of this current horror comes a commitment to a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in mutual peace and security.”
But, crucially, the Statement of Jewish Values and Core Principles also appeals for action: “It is time – perhaps like no other time in a generation – to act and speak in accordance with these principles”.
If you would like to read the statement in its entirety, here it is: https://www.ourjewishvalues.
Option 2: Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community statement (http://eljc.org)
- Judaism places supreme value on the pursuit of peace which requires compromise and painful decisions;
- Judaism believes we are all created in the image of God and that every life has value;
- Our religion and history are steeped in a belief in the importance of law, including the laws of war;
- This moment requires those of us in the UK not to speak in simple slogans, but to admit complexity;
- We must do all we can to support the work of those at the heart of this conflict, Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, who are working to ensure a safe future for both peoples.
El Malei Rachamim, God Full of Compassion, who heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds, we ask You to show all Your children the way of love and compassion, so that hatred ceases to scar their lives.Ein Ha-Chayyim, Source of Life, we call upon You to send Your abundant blessings into every home, Israeli and Palestinian, so that new hope may overcome old fears.Adonai Tzadik, Righteous One, who exhorts us to pursue Justice, we fervently pray that a spirit of righteousness may prevail, so that both peoples find the courage to reach a just settlement of their differences.Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, who teaches us to be seekers of peace, we entreat You now to spread Your tabernacle of shalom-salaam over all the inhabitants of Your land, and to support the peacemakers among both peoples in their efforts to walk the path of reconciliation, so that a just peace may reign supreme at last — bimheirah b’yameinu, speedily in our own day.
As Our Jewish Values says, “it is time—perhaps like no other time in a generation—to act and speak in accordance with these principles”. In this spirit, we encourage all our members to sign the statement and to do all they can to encourage our political and religious leaders to press, vigorously and urgently, for peace.
Option 3: Gaza: Ten Important Questions
Hamas’s appalling attack on southern Israel on October 7, and Israel’s destruction of much of Gaza since then, have huge implications for Israel, for Judaism, for the world and particularly for Jews and Palestinians worldwide.
The events of the past ten months are among the most tragic and most disturbing in Jewish and Palestinian history.
Even if we don’t feel able to provide answers, our Jewish tradition obliges us to ask questions. So here are ten crucial ones:
- How important is the success and long-term survival of Israel an important aspect of our Judaism?
- How important is justice as an aspect of our Judaism, and what can it mean in the current situation?
- In the current situation, how do we ensure that the perspectives of every side complement each other and are respected? How should we as individuals or as communities try to assess the ideal ways of combining our loyalty to Israel with our loyalty to justice?
- How is the current war likely to change the general public’s attitude towards our faith, and how should we understand and handle those changes?
- What moral dilemmas does the war pose for us and how should we deal with them both individually and communally?
- Is the war against Gaza mainly an Israeli act of self-defence or an act of vengeful aggression, or something in-between?
- How well informed are each of us about the background to and the facts of the conflict, and what should our shul do to help us become even more informed?
- Should the war (and all the Israel-related and justice-related issues raised by it) continue to be the ‘elephant in the room’, or should our shul reach out to all its members to ensure as much understanding of the situation as possible?
- To deal with the ethical issues raised by the current war, Liberal Judaism and the Movement for Reform Judaism have combined to help issue a ‘statement of Jewish Values’ (Responding to this Conflict: A Statement of Jewish Values and Core Principles). A substantial number of rabbis have signed it, as have many ordinary LJ and MRJ members. So, should our shul be promoting that crucial progressive and denominations-wide statement more robustly and more frequently?
- Theologically, the issues surrounding the Gaza war reflect some of the contradictions within the Tanakh. Those contradictions are of particular importance for Liberal and Reform Judaism, because our view of them represents our particularly progressive interpretation of our sacred texts. Should we be discussing that? Would more discussions and sermons on those contradictions be helpful or would they potentially be too divisive?
In the paragraphs, above, we have limited ourselves to simply posing questions rather than supplying answers. Indeed we believe that the most effective answers are those that emerge from mutually respectful and considerate communal debate and discussion.
Option 4: Our Tanakh, our Talmud and our prayers are all full of wisdom
“For our failures of justice, O God, we ask forgiveness”.
“For keeping the poor in the chains of poverty”.
“and turning a deaf ear to the cry of the oppressed”.
“For using violence to maintain our power”.
“and for the sin of silence”
Extracts from LJ MACHZOR RUACH CHADASHAH (YOM KIPPUR MORNING SERVICE), p262 (parts of ‘Our sins’ section)
Proverbs (31:9)
Isaiah (1:17)
The Babylonian Talmud’s Shabbat folio: 31a (advice from the Talmudic sage, Hillel the Elder)
Proverbs 6:16-19