Reflections from Rabbi Rachel: Pluralistic Community at a time of Brokenness
As we prepare to move into Shabbat, it's a gorgeous fall day here in Seattle -- I'm currently looking out my office window at leaves of every shade of green, gold, and red against the backdrop of a crisp blue sky! And yet, this continues to feel like a very heavy time. In the hopes that this approach is still feeling valuable and helpful, I'd like to continue holding up a mirror to the Kavana community and reflecting back some of what I am seeing from my vantage point.
This week, it does feel like we are turning a corner, emotionally. In the Kavana office, we had already been talking about the need to move from "sprint" into "marathon" mode, as we continue supporting our community in the wake of a still-evolving crisis for Jews worldwide. The visceral shock, rawness, and anguish of the days immediately following October 7th have for most -- although admittedly not all -- members of our community given way to a different kind of existential sadness and grief. I saw an Instagram post yesterday with the text: "We need to tikkun the f*%k out of this olam," which made me laugh but also gets at the deep and true reality that for so many Jews, the world feels profoundly broken right now, perhaps more than ever before in our lifetimes.
The pastoral concerns that Rabbi Jay and I were fielding a few weeks ago -- individuals reeling from the news of Israeli relatives and acquaintances having been killed or taken hostage, many reports of insomnia and numbness, etc. -- have given way to new ones. This week, I have fielded literally dozens of phone calls, texts and emails, most of which relate to questions of what it means to engage in the world, in this moment, as Jews.
A number of you have reached out for support as you've worked to draft internal memos for your companies, organizations, or departments; others have shared some very poorly drafted (sometimes just disappointing, and sometimes scary or provoking) such memos and statements. Some of you are fearful; others are lamenting the loss of friendships or seeking advice about how to maintain relationships with relatives with whom you profoundly disagree.
I've received many videos from Kavana folks, via text message and WhatsApp, of pro-Palestinian rallies and protests, ranging in location from downtown Seattle to college campuses around the country; these videos have been accompanied by either explicit or implicit boundary questions, about when speech and activism shades into antisemitism and becomes dangerous for Jews. (If this is indeed your question, I am pleased to re-share an article I've recommended before, entitled "How to tell when criticism of Israel is actually anti-Semitism," by Rabbi Jill Jacobs.)
Others of you are watching American politics carefully, sharing with me videos and statements (including Barack Obama's "Thoughts on Israel and Gaza," which I found particularly eloquent), and noting, with a variety of emotional responses, how various elected officials have voted with regard to U.S. aid for Israel. Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis (who represents Queen Anne, where Kavana is headquartered) reached out to me this week to hear about how our local Jewish community is navigating this time, and we had a productive discussion about the role that local government leaders can play in ensuring the safety of all of Seattle's residents, including and especially members of the Jewish and Muslim communities and those of Palestinian descent.
Shifting gears somewhat, several members of our community have also wondered out-loud this week whether Kavana will take a specific stance on what Israel should do next, or whether the community has signed onto any petitions or advocacy statements. In short, the answer so far is no. Over the last few weeks, Kavana has maintained a posture that has been largely communal and pastoral.... which is to say that first and foremost, we see it as our core mission to take care of our people and to forge local Jewish community. We do understand the urgency of this moment, though, and since the question has been posed several times, I want to offer a bit more context:
In contrast to most other Jewish congregations, Kavana is a non-denominational and explicitly pluralistic community. On the religious front, this means that our folks come from a wide range of backgrounds and have very divergent practices and preferences -- and we like it this way! This is the reason, for example, that we offer different "flavors" of Shabbat services on different weekends of the month, and a whole array of options to choose from on the High Holidays. Our goal is to support people in navigating the landscape of Jewish tradition and finding what's meaningful to them, without assuming that the answers have to be the same for everyone. Sometimes we talk about this aspect of Kavana's approach as "personalized Judaism in a community context." Admittedly, holding political differences with a single spiritual community can be harder, but here too, we aim to support a wide array of viewpoints.
Historically, Kavana's responses to social justice issues of all sorts have emerged in a grassroots way; whenever there's been sufficient consensus around a particular issue -- as we've had, for example, around immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and racial justice -- we've been able to do solid legislative and advocacy work as a community. Around the "hot" topic of Israel/Palestine, though, we probably see a wider range of perspectives and views than in any other arena. I do believe that our intentional community is founded on many shared values. I'm certain, for example, that everyone within the Kavana community longs for peace and justice, cares deeply about the future of the Jewish people, and sees the humanity of -- and empathizes with the suffering of -- both Israelis and Palestinians. Right now, though, this is translating into some very different "calls to action." From dozens and dozens of conversations, my impression is that most Kavana folks currently seem to support some kind of Israeli military operation to root out Hamas, while simultaneously urging Israel to try to curb the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (This is my personal take, at least for now; earlier this week I signed onto T'ruah's "Open Letter from North American Rabbis and Cantors Responding to the Crisis in Israel and Gaza" as an individual.) That said, there is also a passionate voice from within Kavana calling for a total ceasefire and an end to the Israeli siege on Gaza. These disagreements about which policies are most likely to succeed in helping Israel and Palestinians achieve a lasting peace, and about which are most realistic, are not insignificant. Somehow, we must learn how to live in community with one another across these political differences, just as we have navigated religious differences in our pluralistic framework.
Over the coming weeks, we will continue working at this in a number of ways:
We will connect Kavana folks up with one another for activism. If you're looking for "your people" with whom to gather and take action, let us know. There are Kavana folks who are showing up at the Federal Building daily on weekdays for a "Bring Them Home Now" campaign (UnXeptable, the organization that had been rallying for democracy and against judicial reforms has now morphed into this work to free the hostages). There are others who are organizing a local IfNotNow chapter and mobilizing to demand that President Biden and Congress call for an immediate ceasefire. Whatever your interest, if we know of others within Kavana who are like-minded, we're happy to link you up.
We urge you to invest in face-to-face community-building and relationships, in a way that's supportive of your needs. This might mean showing up for the special Singing/Healing Circle this coming Monday evening, a learning event, or Kabbalat Shabbat next Friday night. I especially want to plug the "Unlearning Jewish Anxiety" weekend with Dr. Caryn Aviv that's coming up the weekend of November 10-12 -- this event was already planned, but the content feels more relevant than ever in this fraught moment. Additionally, I recommend reaching out to a friend and taking a walk together, or grabbing coffee, or setting up a Zoom call... and if you need a new connection, ping us and we'll try to help you find one. Whatever you choose, I highly recommend that you make it a face-to-face interaction, as social media is a particularly polarizing and awful place to be interacting right now.
Once you're ready, practice engaging in a conversation with someone whose politics are different from your own. Some people have seen their previous views affirmed and strengthened over these last few weeks, but in very divergent ways; many others are feeling shaken, and are now questioning long-held axioms and truths. Deep listening to someone else in our own Jewish community, but whose views diverge from your own, can help to strengthen a muscle that will be very important for Kavana as we continue in the "marathon" phase of this time.
Soon we'll be turning communal attention to supporting one another. This idea emerged at last week's Kavana board meeting, that so often we have gathered to cook for others (whether that's community members at times of illness or loss, or residents of a Tiny Home Village), but that right now, perhaps what we really need most is to tend to one another. Stay tuned for some special opportunities for Kavana partners to participate in cooking parties and communal meals, as we seek positive outlets and offer mutual support to one another at this time of great hurt and need.
Lastly, we continue to turn to Torah for inspiration and to ground ourselves in our tradition. This week, we read Parashat Lech Lecha, the beginning of Abraham's journey. This Torah portion is chock full of tensions and contradictions. In Genesis 12, the land is promised to Abraham and the text also acknowledges the presence of other inhabitants ("the Canaanites were then in the land"). As we explored this Wednesday evening in Living Room Learning through words of Rabbi Shai Held, this parasha also pairs a warning that the Israelites someday will be "strangers in a land not theirs" and oppressed (Gen. 15:13-14) with a cautionary tale about how they (we?) also possess the capacity to oppress the other (see story of Sarai/Hagar - Genesis 16:3-13).
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my read on this is that Parashat Lech Lecha brings us complexity and nuance, and resides in the messy gray space between black and white mode of thinking. We can uphold interpretations of this Torah portion -- and also beliefs about the world around us -- that are simultaneously true, yet live in tension with one another. To quote Rabbi Jay this week, we can "hold some grace for them not being mutually exclusive."
One way or another, though, Abraham is mandated to "be a blessing" and promised that "other nations will bless themselves through you" (Gen. 12:2-4). So may it be, that his offspring -- both the children of Sarai and the children of Hagar -- will someday merit to live side-by-side in peace and with justice and dignity for all, in fulfillment of this promise.
And meanwhile, may we find the strength and courage we need to hold our tent of community open wide, so that we can continue to be a blessing to one another.
With hopes for a Shabbat of wholeness at this moment where so much still feels broken,
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
