It is Orthodox Judaism that isolates Israelis from Palestinians, from Christians, from Muslims and from everyone else. If Jewishness is defined by Orthodox Judaism then Judaism is defined by contrast to Gentiles, then there is little wonder that there are no points of shared universal principles and values which allow for unity between Jews and Gentiles… At root, the values of Orthodox Judaism can never connect with Arabs. Unity is impossible until the Jewish leadership goes back to the written word of God – the books of Moses and the Bible.

Read Part 1, “Why Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem?”

Read Part 2, “The Conflicting Narrative of Jerusalem”

Read Part 3, “Pain: God’s Megaphone”

Read Part 4, “Does God Have a Plan for Israel?”

In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed and burned the Second Temple built by Herod. Such a harsh action was in response to the Jewish uprising to force the Romans out of Judea and Galilee.

This destruction forced the Jews to make a decision regarding their future. Some chose to continue the fight against the Romans resulting in taking the road to Masada to make one last stand to preserve their ethnic and religious identity. At Masada nearly 1,000 Jews took their own lives rather than to be enslaved by the Romans.

Another group of Jews fled Jerusalem and took the road to Yavneh where the Rabbis met in council to redefine Jewish faith without the Temple as their centerpiece. These Rabbis discussed how Jewish people were to now worship their God. Prayers took the place of the sacrifices. With the destruction of the Temple, animal sacrifices could no longer be offered. The books of the Tanakh were established as authoritative. By setting the boundaries around what it meant to be Jewish, the Jewish community was on its way to being preserved for the centuries to come through their wandering and persecution. One road led to extinction; the other to persecution.

In 1948, both roads came back together. Israel was the “Masada” of Jewish people. Never again would Jews have nowhere that they could go for safety. The Jewish people had an indestructible homeland where they could not be slaughtered or at least they could defend themselves against their enemies.

When David Ben Gurion declared Israel a nation on May 14, 1948 to allow Jews to live out a Jewish life, he also signed over the ability to define Judaism to the Rabbinate of the Orthodox Jews. At the time, this meant the Orthodox Jewish Rabbis controlled laws acknowledging Shabbat, the authority over marriage licenses, and subsidies for Rabbinical scholars and Yeshiva students as long as they studied the Talmud. When Prime Minister Ben Gurion agreed to these arrangements, there were 400 students. If Israel was to defend Judaism, it had to be defined. Ben Gurion defined it as Orthodox Judaism. As a result, Orthodox Judaism became the state religion.

The road to Masada was a road to political freedom for Jewish people. The road to Yavneh led to defining what Judaism is. Ironically, the political road to establish the State of Israel was paved by secular Jews who had little interest in the religious identity of Judaism. However, knowingly or unknowingly, the identification of the Orthodox Jewish expression of the faith and culture has limited the understanding of Jewishness to one strain of Judaism while dismissing other expressions of Jewishness as unacceptable. For example, neither Reformed or Conservative Jews have equal standing to the Orthodox in the State of Israel.

But the thrilling days of the declaration of the State of Israel and the gains of the war in 1948 and again in 1967, the Jewish people became convinced of their indestructibility. As expressed in the Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, “Our hope is not yet lost, the hope of two-thousand years to be a free people in our land.”

Two days in the spring of each year mark the hopes and dreams of the Jewish citizens of Israel – Memorial Day and Independence Day. On both days, air raid sirens sound throughout the country that motivates all to stop and stand still. On the roads, cars stop and drivers get out to stand at attention next to their vehicles. On the streets, people stop and stand still as statues to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Anyone at work also stops, with food or tools in hand, for the full two-minutes of remembering. Doctors and nurses stop their work in hospitals. Israeli life freezes and is silent just as Aaron was silent at the death of his two sons (Leviticus 10:3).

But on the next day, Independence Day, there are fireworks, dancing, music, games, and flags wave from car windows. Israelis leave the cemeteries they visit each other on Memorial Day for parties to celebrate Independence on the very next day.

These celebrations are essentially devoid of religious meaning but are secular holidays distinct from the Shabbat, Passover, and Yom Kippur which are Biblical holy days.

Yad Vashem is a secular temple that all visitors to Israel are expected to make as a pilgrimage. Although there is the Biblical verse over the cement arch in the entrance way taken from Ezekiel 37:14 that reads: “I will put my breath into you and you shall live again and I will set you upon your own soil,” there is no sense of God having brought the captives back to the land.

The grayish concrete walls move the pilgrim seemingly underground in a confusing triangular tunnel. This is purposeful to give the visitors the sense of loss of direction and disorientation that the victims of the Holocaust experienced. The exhibits are filled with the horror and devastation.

Yet the visitor, having seen the video of Ben Gurion declaring the State of Israel, is at a place in the tour that opens up onto a balcony overlooking the forest that surrounds Jerusalem.

“Suddenly the verdant green view is what overwhelms, in a stunning, chilling contrast to the darkness from which the visitor has just emerged. Here claustrophobia gives way to space. An ominous ceiling opens up heavenward. Cement recedes and forests take its place. The once oppressive gray is now replaced by green. Death is replaced by nature. Europe is replaced by Israel. Exile is replaced by statehood, landlessness by home. And hell is replaced by hope.”[1]

The disconnect between the State as a source of hope and Orthodox Judaism as defining Jewishness is resulting in a growing crisis within the State of Israel. The disconnect between the state and Judaism as defined by the Orthodox is at the heart of the conflict with non-Jews, Arabs, and others that live in the land. The conflicts between Jews and non-Jews are not about the society being able to protect Jewishness. Jewishness has many meanings. There are other expressions of Jewishness that would provide a solid basis for peace, for protecting human rights, and freedom of speech.

For example, the 400 Yeshiva students exempted by Ben Gurion from paying taxes and serving in the military have since grown to 50,000 exempt students as of 2011. Of the Orthodox men only 25% are employed. But all exempt families receive government subsidies for each member of the family. The Orthodox are exempt from military service. Although the Orthodox are only 10% of the population, because of the preferential treatment by the Israeli government, they are increasingly controlling the future of the State of Israel. As a consequence, they have twice as many children as the overall Israeli population. By 2028, it is projected that they will make up one-third of the Jewish population.

The Orthodox have gained such influence politically that they are an essential part of every coalition government and a strong voice in the Knesset. The ultra-Orthodox (haredi) has control over the Department of the Interior which grants visas, and recognizes residential status and grants citizenship in the State of Israel. This office is used to control any influence deemed as competition to Orthodox Judaism. As a result, the State of Israel budgets money for Yad La’Chim which follows the activity of any other religious groups especially those of Christians who attempt to influence Jewish people.

Because the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox increasingly have openly challenged the secular Jewish leaders, there is an increasing discussion in the Knesset and in public life about recognizing other Jewish Rabbis and leadership. The conservative and reformed Jewish Rabbis would be recognized as representative of Judaism. This would begin to mute the privileges given to the ultra-Orthodox. But the Orthodox holds substantial control of the State of Israel today.

We must ask the question, what are the sources of Orthodox Judaism? How does Orthodox Judaism impact Israel today? Is there not another form of Jewishness other than Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism that would result in peace for Jerusalem?

It is Orthodox Judaism that isolates Israelis from Palestinians, from Christians, from Muslims and from everyone else. If Jewishness is defined by Orthodox Judaism then Judaism is defined by contrast to Gentiles, then there is little wonder that there are no points of shared universal principles and values which allow for unity between Jews and Gentiles. Yet such a flawed view does not grow out of the Torah or Tanakh but out of the extremist illusions of the founder of Rabbinic Judaism – Rabbi Akiva. In no way is this to say that everything Akiva or the Talmud says is false. As with the Koran or other holy books, the majority may be helpful guidance. However, as a system, Rabbinic Judaism has a distorted view of Jewishness that will only breed conflict even among Jews themselves. At root, the values of Orthodox Judaism can never connect with Arabs. Unity is impossible until the Jewish leadership goes back to the written word of God – the books of Moses and the Bible.

What to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem:

• Pray for the Jewish leadership of Israel to be open to other understandings of Jewishness such as that of Messianic Judaism.

• Pray that the Orthodox Judaism would continue to lose favor in the minds and hearts of Israeli Jews.

Dr. Douglas W. Kittredge is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is pastor of New Life in Christ PCA in Fredericksburg, Va.

[1] Daniel Gordis, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, 2009, p. 19.