Shabbat Nachamu could not have come at a better time this year.

With images of Jews fighting Jews, and soldiers tearing settlers from their homes in Gaza we are still reeling from the horrific week that has just ended. Who could imagine Israelis calling their own soldiers Nazis? Who could foresee rabbis telling their students to defy the orders of their own government, or making a synagogue into a fortress? Who could envision Israelis throwing stones at their own boys, smashing the windows of military vehicles or slashing their tires?

Of course, the people we saw in the media this week were only Miut sh’bamiut, a minority within a minority, but that did not make the images we saw any less gut-wrenching or devastating. If there was ever a time when the Jewish people were in need of comfort it is now for we have reached a new low and we have entered a new chapter in the Zionist endeavor. The words of Isaiah echo through the Jewish communities of the world: Nachamu nachamu Ami, “Comfort oh, comfort my people says your God; speak tenderly to Jerusalem….”

Does the world really understand what happened this week in Israel? Can they appreciate what a sacrifice Israelis have made? Imagine being told and even encouraged by your government to settle in a particular area, to make a life for yourself there and then having the same government tell you that you must leave the place you have lived for over two decades.

When, in history, has any nation been willing to making such a sacrifice? What nation has given back territories that were confiscated in a war of attrition against its own people? And what nation has been willing to turn over land to another group unilaterally even though members of that other group have sworn the destruction of its neighbor?

Most Israelis strongly supported the actions of their government this week, but they have no illusions. Giving Gaza to the Palestinians will not guarantee peace or even stop the acts of terror. If anything this act may even make the terrorists bolder – they will see this as a victory and a defeat of Israel. The truth is, the giving of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians was not a concession but a necessity. Israel could not afford to live with a million and a half Palestinians in its midst. And it could not maintain this territory with only eight thousand Jews.

I have been unwilling to comment on the Gaza disengagement in recent weeks, though like all of you, it has not been far from my mind. I don’t live in Israel. And I don’t feel I have a right to criticize or support actions that will not intimately affect how I live. There is no question in my mind that if I lived in Israel I would have been one of those people actively protesting our presence in Gaza in the first place. We never should have been there. And our attempt to control a large population of hostile Palestinians has only served to brutalize the people of Israel. This is not why we created a Jewish state in the first place.

But the issues involved in disengagement are more fundamental and crucial to the future of the state of Israel. It is not simply a question of borders, or sovereignty. It is a question of what defines Israel as a Jewish state.

The settlers speak of Greater Eretz Yisrael. They argue that we have no right to give back land that ‘God’ has given to us. They seem to be more certain than I am about what the biblical borders of the state of Israel aught to be. Where does it say that God gave us Gaza? Isn’t it interesting that like the Palestinians, the right wing settlers seem to be redefining history and religion in ways that are convenient for their own ideology and political beliefs? Ironically these two groups have more in common than they would care to admit!

The point is, however, rabbis are not the ones who aught to be defining the terms of the political realities in the land of Israel today. The argument that is taking place in Israel is not about borders but about whether Israel is a democratic political entity defined by the representatives elected by the people or a religious state defined by a group of rabbis. Israel is not an autocracy run by its so-called rabbinic elders (like Iran) or a theocracy, a nation run according to divine law (like many countries in the Middle East.) It is neither of these things. Israel is a state that belongs to all Jews and all its citizens, Jewish and non-Jewish, secular and religious. And until such time as the Messiah comes and tells us otherwise no group should have the Chutzpah to suggest that there is only one truth and that they know what it is.

Israel must be run by “Teiku.” Teiku is the Hebrew word in the Talmud which appears at the end of discussions about which there is no conclusion. Literally it means “Let it stand,” but the rabbis suggest that the word is an abreviation for Tishbi yitaretz kushiyot uba’ayot, Elijah, the Tishi’ite, will answer all difficulties and questions. We live in an age of uncertainty. And we must have the humility to understand that we can do no more than follow the will of the people and the rule of law until such time as we know better.

So the events of the past week were a resounding defeat for the national religious party in Israel. It was a defeat, but not a failure. It will only become a failure if the right wing does not take advantage of the events of this week to spark a serious Heshbon Hanefesh – a serious time of self reflection, discussion and re-assessment. They must look carefully at what the Zionist endeavor is all about and to whom Israel belongs. It is possible to live by Halacha and promote a Halacha in the state of Israel without denying the rights of all the other citizens there to live according to their own will and choices.

It is worth noting that the Masorti movement has been saying this for a very long time. Our movement in Israel has uniquely been able to be an advocate for Jewish values while living in the real world of secular, humanistic values. Like it or not that is where we all live today. I cannot imagine that any of us would want to live in a state like Iran – but that is the logical conclusion of what the national religious parties having been saying in Israel for a long time. The Masorti movement has argued that there is another choice – that it is not an issue of religious or secular but learning to promote religious, ethical values in a secular world.

The rabbinate of Israel has rejected this suggestion. It was much easier for the Orthodox in Israel to simply ignore or even demonize the Conservative and Reform movements than acknowledge the truth of what they have been saying. I believe that the devastating events of this week must now send the rabbis back to the planning table. They have a choice: they can turn the Israeli government into the enemy or they can reassess their own value system and possibly say, Lo zo haderekh – this was not the way we must travel.

So Israel is at a turning point today. We have given the Palestinians a large piece of land. But there is a greater agenda which the state of Israel must now consider. Israel must learn to look at its neighbors as more than the enemy. And Palestinians must grab this unique opportunity to prove that their hatred of Israelis is not greater than their desire for a state. Israel has been the one to make compromises up until this point and I suspect that she will be willing to make more compromises but the Palestinians must prove themselves worthy recipients of these compromises.

Israel needs comfort these days. And we need to be the ones to comfort our people in the land of Israel. They are the ones who have made devastating compromises and we need to show them that we believe in them, that we support them, and that we care about them. Now more then ever we need to visit Israel and we need to increase our verbal and monetary support for Israel. We need to show them that we understand how difficult this decision was – and that we are beside them always.

Comfort takes more than words. It demands actions – and today we must show the people of Israel that we share their destiny no matter where it leads.

Let us join together in saying Nachamu, nachamu ami….

Shabbat Shalom