Glenn Beck and Jews

In July, Glenn Beck gave a speech in which he asserted that if Israel is threatened or Jews are being killed, the perpetrators of violence should count him a Jew and come for him first. The statement was somewhat of a political success for Beck, who has been criticized by many for his comments comparing Reform rabbis to Islamist extremists.

I have news for Glenn Beck. If you want to show solidarity with Jews, you cannot pick and choose which Jews you support. Judaism is not a religion of convenience, and the Jewish people are not a nation of convenience. So, let me introduce myself:

I am a liberal, transmasculine Jew, who is attracted to people of a variety of genders. I identify as queer. I was raised in the Reform Movement and still find my Jewish home in a Reform synagogue. I am young, Zionist, and a harsh critic of Israeli policy. I am for peace and Palestinian statehood, not necessarily in that order. I am not traditionally observant, but I am deeply religious. I believe in equal marriage, a woman's right make choices regarding her body, and big government. I believe that Israel needs to obey international law, and I personally hold Israel to a different standard with regard to its politics, policies, and international relations, but mine is a higher standard, not exemptions. I have no plans to move to Israel and no plans to start observing Shabbat in a tradtional way or plans to keep kosher. I have no plans to serve as anyone's token Jew. In my Judaism, recognizing the godliness in every human being is my paramount value. I believe in the separation of church and state in the United States, and I believe I should be able to walk down the street and not be harassed based on my gender expression, sexuality, or religion.

So, Glenn Beck, I ask you, if they come for me first, will you stand up for me? Will you say, count me in community with Kythe because he's a Jew? Or will you say "Kythe is not really a Jew, because good Jews aren't like Kythe?" The difference between you and me, Glenn Beck, is that you can choose in which contexts you affiliate with Jews. I can't.

I am a Jew always, not only when upstanding communiy members are under attack, but also when Jews murder young boys. I am not only a Jew in my synagogue or in interfaith dialogues, but I am a Jew when I am amidst groups of transgender folk, lesbians, gay men, bisexual people, genderqueer persons, and other people who have been systematically dehumanized by religious people and instituitons, including Jewish ones. Judaism is not a hat I take on and put off as it suits me.

I am glad that you were moved about persecution by your experience visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau. But I ask you, will you stick up for all those oppressed, or just those you approve of already?

Also, how will you stick up for others if they come for you first? You are a straight white man of considerable wealth. Using that advantage to end persecution is much better than using it to fall on a sword.

Say publicly that you'll stand up for people like me and I might take your commitment to be counted among Jews seriously. Until then, it's all enunciated hot air.

What else?

Writing about my love is hard. I promised to love her and I don't know how to move beyond that. I had to write to her brother that he wasn't responsible this year. He's getting to the age of maturity in his Catholic guilt.

An Open Letter to ARZA chair Rabbi Daniel Allen

Dear Rabbi Allen:

I am a Zionist and a Reform Jew. I received your letter about the ARZA petition against a United Nations (UN) process for a Palestinian state through my synagogue, and I was extremely offended. My Judaism demands that I speak out against injustice, and I will not refrain simply because ARZA is a Reform Jewish organization.

The petition which you requested Reform Jews sign is hypocritical, unjust, and contrary to Jewish values. In addition, the petition relies on false premises surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also believe focusing on preventing a UN vote is focusing on the wrong part of conflict mediation.

The letter you sent as well as the petition set up direct negotiation and UN action as mutually exclusive. However, there is no reason why the processes cannot be utilized in conjunction with each other. A UN vote only precludes negotiation if we let it, but Jewish groups taking that

Bringing statehood issues for a vote at the UN is not only one of few ways new states have to assert their legitimacy internationally, it is also the very path that Israel took to statehood. Rather than criticizing governmental entities using well-established legal means to achieve statehood, we should applaud foreign entities who seek out legal avenues to pursue change. Since the petition reaffirms support for a two-state solution, the only other principled objections can be to the timing of the request or to the borders proposed.

Asking millions of people to wait to gain citizenship rights until people who have not managed to reach solutions by war or negotiation for over 50 years is unreasonable. We do not ask people denied rights in the United States to wait for those rights. Amazing rabbis like Joachim Prinz and Arnold Jacob Wolf were extremely involved in the civil rights movement. The notion that this concern for human rights ends because the government denying them rights is Israel's is ridiculous; if anything, this should prompt us to work harder to advocate for their rights.

In 1947, the partition plan was created on the principle of dividing the land based on population. Jewish areas would become the Jewish sate and Arab areas their own state. That state was never declared. The problem with returning to the borders drawn up in 1947 is that they are no longer demographically tenable. So, if this is the ground of the current objections, it is an understandable objection. However, then the appropriate action is to propose a plan with more reasonable borders, and to encourage ongoing negotiations to finalize borders and other issues.

I am a religious Zionist and a political Zionist. My religious Zionism has nothing to do with my political Zionism, and I find your use of the pulpit to promote denying rights to millions of people unconscionable. You are promoting political stability over human rights. It wouldn't go over well as a d'var torah, and I didn't appreciate it in my inbox.

If you want to help Israel and the Palestinian Authority achieve an end of conflict agreement as well as a two-state solution, act reasonably to promote that goal. Promote negotiations in all circumstances. But don't use my religious affiliation to ask me to abandon my religious principles.

Sincerely,

A Reform Zionist in America

Grandpa

My grandfather was one of the best human beings I've known. He was kind and generous and never insulted anyone. I think some of my more masculine behaviors were learned from him, which may be why I come of as old-fashioned sometimes. And I wish I could raise a gin and tonic to him tonight and talk to him about girls (women - he would correct me), because he always had the best stories, if not the best advice.