• Jews and Christians: Working For Israel

   

  The South Florida Jewish community has good reason to take pride in the accomplishments of our congregations and institutions. We are one of the largest Jewish communities in America with leadership that often sets the standard for communities around the country. I recently sat down with Eric Stillman, President and CEO of Jewish Federation of Broward County to discuss an important project that he has supported both personally and professionally. I share this column with my readers to make them aware of important, ground-breaking work in Jewish- Christian dialogue that touches each of our lives and promotes the safety and security of Medinat Yisrael.

  Q: Eric, you have been involved in Jewish- Christian dialogue for the past two years. How did you get involved in this project?

  A: The then Israel Counsel  General, Ofer Bavly, suggested that Pastor Mario Bramnik and I work together  to explore ways in which the Christian community and the Broward Pastors Network could work with Federation to develop pro-Israel programming in Broward county. I then understood that this joint effort was very important to the government of Israel. It proved that we were all on the same page about Israel advocacy. Over the past two years I have come to understand that we have much in common and share many of the same goals. Having had the opportunity to get to know many pastors and leaders of organizations like Christians United For Israel, I have come to appreciate a very fundamental truth: this Christian community does not want to convert Jews to Christianity. They support the State of Israel and the Jewish people because they believe that it is time to make amends for historical acts of Christian Anti-Semitism. They believe that they should embrace the Jewish people and embrace Israel as the Jewish homeland.

  Q: After your meetings with Consul Bavly and your discovery that Jews and Christians could create a powerful platform to support Israel did you find the community accepting of this new partnership or suspicious? Did the community understand how important this partnership was to the Israeli government?

  A: Many members of the community and the Federation leadership immediately saw the potential this initiative had- they encouraged others to support the work. I believe the leadership of our community understands that the Christian community’s support for us and for Israel is sincere and unconditional. I am happy to say that one of the outgrowths of our joint work for Israel has been the breaking down of many walls of mistrust and created opportunities for Jews and Christians to be open with each other.

  Q: What have you personally come away with through the process of building this partnership for Israel?

  A: I have learned that there are many members of the Christian community who understand our fear and skepticism about working together. They understand that there is good reason that many Jews see the cross as a weapon that has been used against us for centuries. I have come to understand that they truly want to create a bond with the Jewish community and, if you will, to make amends for “the sins of the fathers.”

  Q: How do you think this new kind of dialogue will affect Jewish attitudes about Christian support for Israel and a new beginning in interfaith communication? Can the progress made of the institutional level be translated into something tangible in the broader Jewish community?

  A: It’s not just the large scale events that get the message out- when rabbis and pastors speak to their congregations they can bring the message of Jews and Christians working together for Israel to their congregants. I have tried to do so by speaking about the subject at meetings and making the dialogue the subject of my weekly articles to the community. By talking openly we bring the message that this is important to us. Many people have told me that our programs have opened their eyes to many new ideas. They never knew or understood that the Christian community could be so supportive in helping us advocate for Israel.

  Q: Do you think that the ground-breaking work that you and others have been doing here in Broward county will serve as a model for other communities?

  A: Our efforts have been noticed by other federations and national organizations and we have received many inquiries about ways in which our achievements can be duplicated. I believe that other communities will start to emulate what we are doing. Our work is being replicated already and all of us stand ready to help other communities embrace this opportunity.

  Q:  Having spent so much time in the building of these new bridges to help Israel, where do you think these bridges lead for the American-Jewish community?

  A: We are healing the wounds that are deeply felt in the Jewish community. If we have personally experienced Anti-Semitism or heard the experiences of others we can heal those wounds by sharing our feelings with Christians who are genuinely aware of that pain and want to share a new kind of future with the Jewish community. It is important to know that we have Christian neighbors who are on our side and have our back for our right to live as Jews and for Israel to exist as the Jewish homeland.

   

   

  
  

Life after the Seders

As we prepared to celebrate this week of Passover most of us focused on the Seders. There is good reason to- the Seder tells the story of Passover, it is the Mitzvah of retelling the Exodus story, and it is that special evening that we get to sit around the Seder table enjoying family and friends. Even in homes in which very few of the holidays are observed, most families get together for this great evening of Jewish storytelling. While not everyone may hold both Seders, Passover is a special time to embrace the lessons of hope and freedom that emerge from 4000 years of Jewish history. I remind you, however, that Passover does not end with the Seder; in fact it is only the beginning.

The fact is that there is life after the Seder! It is in fact the quintessential essence of Jewish life- taking in the spirit of the Jewish past to animate the Jewish present. A Jew without history is an orphan. Like a child without parents, we would have no idea of where we came from, how we got here, or, most importantly, why we are here. While the Haggadah does much to help us understand our pedigree, it is the rest of Passover that ties up our “loose ends.” For an entire week we taste the bread of affliction, we eat the bread of slaves, and we celebrate the birth of our nation.  Then at the end of Passover we get one final chance to see the panorama of our people unfold both in terms of our life as a people and our lives as individuals.

Today tracing the history of one’s family has become the new kind of “scrap- booking.” People spend hours on ancestry websites trying to discover small pieces of unknown family history. The reasons for this “craze” may be many but I believe one is more important than the others- we long to know who we are- the only way we can truly understand that is by knowing from where and from whom we have come. Passover is our ancestry website. We log on using the Haggadah, we share what we have learned during the Seder, and, at last, we personalize the lesson on the eighth day of Passover by observing Yizkor. Yizkor then serves as our own personal ancestry lesson. We remember who made us who we are. We reconnect with where we came from. We realize we share a history and fate with all those who join in the recitation of Yizkor.

http://youtu.be/j0269QdDeKM


Click the YouTube link above to watch my Interview with Pastor Carlos Ortiz of Christians United For Israel. Remember that To Life LChaim now airs at 10:00 pm EST on Jewish Life TV