r/JewsOfConscience • u/Mivasair Jewish • Aug 15 '24

AMA AMA with Rabbi David Mivasair

Hello, friends! I'm looking forward to our AMA, starting in ~10 minutes. Never done anything like this before, so it'll be a new experience. Thank you for inviting me. https://x.com/Mivasair/status/1822855344684458400

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) Aug 15 '24

Hi Rabbi,

A someone who is not Jewish but has some Jewish ancestry and relatives, and lifelong familiarity with Jewish communities, I would appreciate your advice about relating to other residents of my local area in a tense and scary time:

I worked very productively on local issues, like land use and housing affordability, with people in my community who were elderly, progressive, and Jewish for a few years. When Oct 7th happened, I was stunned (and remain so) by the unconditionality of their insistence on U.S. support for Israel.  I can't get out of my mind the extreme humanitarian disaster that I see as the consequence of the U.S. policy they support, and the juxtaposition with their identity as otherwise progressive Democrats as well as the fact that I had come to know them as sensitive, thoughtful, decent people. 

We have talked about it one on one, with both them and I being cautious in the conversations, and it is clear that their memories of living close in time to the Holocaust and to Israel's vulnerable early moments shape their views on the issue. 

I am in fact sensitive to this aspect of their being.  At the same time the consequences of what they are doing (and they do take action, such as small scale donations and political volunteering, to advance their viewpoint on this issue) seem unacceptable, full stop. 

My father told me to just compartmentalize and keep working with them on the land use and other issues while avoiding the Israel / Palestine issue.  I don't know what to do.

Thanks for your presence here today.

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u/Mivasair Jewish Aug 15 '24

You are very thoughtful and clearly very aware of the inner dynamics motivating the people who you are talking about. I am impressed with your analysis.

And, saying "I don't know what to do" is the first step toward doing whatever is going to turn out to be "right" for you. The Talmud Bavli Brachot 4a says, למד לשונך לומר איני יודע -- "Teach your tongue to say, 'I don't know'".

My simple response is to do what your father said. Not because he's your father and he said it, but because I think he gets right.