Pluralism and Zionism

-Andrew Fretwell-

So this is a heavy entry into the blogosphere but what can I say, this is what is on my mind. A lot of my thinking about what you're about to read is directly related to the work I've been doing with the outgoing National Mazkirut (teen leadership board) of Young Judaea. There has been a discussion that has finally started evolving a bit over the last year of the meaning of Pluralism. Is it just trying to get as many people into one tent as possible? Is it bringing together a diverse group so as to blend and converge all the colors and idiosyncrasies into a hybrid "super-Judaism?"

Traditionally, my organization/movement has swayed towards the "Big Tent" theory; that the goal of Pluralism for the Jewish people is just getting everyone in the same room. But, is there room for a fascist in a Pluralist community? The big tent theorists might say yes, but I don't buy into that theory and I reject it. To me, Pluralism is as much about convening a community of intentional Pluralists as it is cultivating Pluralist community of diverse, but not necessarily intentionally Pluralist Jews. I would say Pluralist practices only extend themselves to those who buy into Pluralism on some level already.

However, Pluralism is not a value or an end unto itself, it's an ism, a strategy to accomplish a greater goal just like capitalism (to achieve maximum wealth), fascism (to achieve maximum control/'order'), or vegetarianism (to achieve maximum health or animal rights.) So what is the (or one of the) goals of Pluralism for Jews? To me, the answer is Klal Yisrael, Jewish Peoplehood. Pluralism is the strategy with which we attempt to help sustain the Jews as a People and continue to evolve and help evolve mankind, as we have for thousands of years.

I can't talk about Klal Yisrael though without another necessary "ism": Zionism. I think I would argue that Pluralism (in terms of Jews) is only possible within the realm of Zionism. In the Diaspora, it would be easy enough to get along with Jews who are nothing like me because I'm not forced to interact with them in any direct way. That's the cost of being a small scattered minority. If I don't have any kind of needed interactions with Jews of different denominations, backgrounds, beliefs and outlooks, Pluralism cannot exist. What we need is a place where a diverse community of Jews are forced to interact with and learn from one another in a search to better understand the basic elements of the Jewish People.

So maybe by now I’m illustrating the forest, not just the trees. Assuming you buy into what I've written thus far, then you could jump to the next level, declaring Zionism as a necessary ingredient to the pursuit of Pluralism and Pluralism as necessary to the achievement of Klal Yisrael. So there it is, Pluralism and Zionism as two core components of the same quest.

So when I look at Israel, here's the question I am asking, "How is (or is not) Israel nurturing Jewish Peoplehood?" and "Are we developing a country of Jewish Pluralists?" This is why I cringe when I hear statements from Moshe Gafni, Chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee calling Reform Jews "treacherous backstabbers" to Judaism or when a masked Jewish gunman murders and terrorizes other Jews because of their sexual orientation (i.e. Tel Aviv gay community center attack on August 1st). As stated by a policy paper recently ratified to the Young Judaea Chukah (Constitution), “While these two acts are not directly connected, they share a common thread of hatred, bigotry and divisiveness."

I am often asked about Aliyah, "Would you make Aliyah?" I don't know the answer to that. But if I were asked "What cause would you make Aliyah for?" The fight for Jewish Pluralism in the Jewish State reaches me on a emotional, intellectual and gut level. This is the portrait I want to help paint. Looking forward, I am curious and excited to observe how Project inCite shapes this and how it in turn shapes Project inCite.