Before the holidays come to an end, I have one last Al Cheyt that I must confess and share with you this morning. There’s a sermon that I didn’t give during the High Holy Days that I probably should have delivered while I had the attention of the entire congregation. It is a sermon on why we need to do more to support Israel and why it is so important for Conservative Jews to become members of Mercaz.
  
This is not meant to be an excuse, but I must tell you that I feel cheated as the rabbi of the Oceanside Jewish Center. Unlike most rabbis I only get two chances to address our congregation on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Most rabbis give at least four major sermons. Because we have a parallel service with a second rabbi, I deliver one sermon twice on Rosh Hashanah and a second one twice on Yom Kippur. As a result I have to choose my topics carefully. I only get two opportunities to hit the bull’s-eye. After that most of the congregation will be gone for another year.
    
Not that I’m complaining. It is just that there are so many pressing issues that need to be addressed. Because the themes of the high holy days are important in and of themselves I usually avoid talking about politics at this time of year in favor of addressing more spiritual and existential issues. As a result, at the end of the holidays I feel like I missed out on something big.

You know that uneasy feeling you get when you leave on a trip and you think you forgot something important? (Did I lock the door? Did I turn off the oven?) That’s how I feel after Yom Kippur. What didn’t I say to the congregation that I should have mentioned? With only two sermons I just don’t feel like I have the luxury of addressing all the issues I would like on the Yamim Noraim.

But maybe I should rethink my priorities. Israel has fallen off the radar of the American Jewish community. It has become passé and even an embarrassment to all too many of us. We would rather build holocaust monuments than talk about the needs of our people in the land of Israel today. The sad truth is, when there aren’t suicide bombers or major crises taking place in the Middle East we just don’t seem to be that interested in Israel any more.

Of course that changed for a short while this summer. Israel was on the front page of the news as it went through the trauma of disengagement from Gaza. The images were devastating as we watched Israeli soldiers physically removing people from synagogues and homes in places like Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, and K’far Darom. We felt vaguely uncomfortable. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. We argued the pros and cons of disengagement. Were Ariel Sharon’s policies in Israel’s best interests? Who does Israel belong to? Has orthodoxy lost its moorings in understanding what Zionism is all about? The events of the summer came and went and we seem to have fallen back into the same lethargy that plagued us before. We’re out of sync with the land of Israel. For most of us the existence of Israel does not seem to make a difference. For younger people it is not even a thought.

Several years ago at the height of the Soviet Jewry movement I heard a story from one of my colleagues who was fortunate enough to visit the former Soviet Union. During his visit he was approached by an elderly Jewish man who rolled up his sleeve to show the rabbi that he was wearing not one but two watches. At first glance the rabbi thought this was a strange until the elderly gentlemen explained that one watch contained Moscow time and the other, Jerusalem time. For this man the dream of returning to Zion was fulfilled by simultaneously living in two time zones. In his mind he lived in Jerusalem but he was present in Moscow. His actions were not so different from the poet and philosopher, Yehuda Halevi, who wrote, “Libi mabizrach va’ani bma’arav. My heart is in the east but I am in the west.”

Ever since I heard that story I think about the old man with the two watches. I wonder what happened to him. Did he live long enough to witness the return to Zion of his fellow Soviet Jewish brothers and sisters? Was he privileged to discard his Moscow watch as he de-planed at the airport in Lod? Or did his two watches remain a dream that was never fulfilled?

Remembering his example, several years ago when I purchased my first PDA, I made a point of setting the clock so that it would report the time both in New York and Jerusalem. The idea of being in sync with Jerusalem was so appealing to me. And now it’s even more important with Mordy studying at Hebrew University and participating in Nativ, a program sponsored by the Conservative movement. A day does not pass that I don’t find myself asking, “I wonder what Mordy is doing right now?”

But you don’t need a PDA to be in sync with Jerusalem. In just a few minutes we’ll recite Geshem, the prayer for rain. It’s seems ironic if not superfluous to be praying for rain these days. We have more than we can stand. But our prayer is not for rain here in America. We pray for the critical rainy season in the land of Israel. In fact our entire liturgy is timed to reflect the seasonal cycle of Eretz Yisrael. Long before Zionism was a political reality, Jews felt they had a stake in the land of Israel. We lived our lives with our hearts facing east.
   
Several years ago, Dr. Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Seminary, wrote an essay entitled The Sacred Cluster in which he defined the core values of Conservative Judaism. He wrote, "The centrality of modern Israel heads our list of core values. For Conservative Jews, as for their ancestors, Israel is not only the birthplace of the Jewish people, but also its final destiny." Dr. Schorsch poses the following challenge: What can we, who live in the comfort of the Diaspora, do to help Israel? How can we make a difference?
  
It’s no accident that on the final day of Yuntif we read Deuteronomy, Chapter 16 which describes the pilgrimage festivals. We end Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot by contemplating the obligation to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Our worship is not complete outside of the land of Israel.

Most of us, however, will never live in Israel. But that does not mean that we do not have a stake in the land and in its destiny. We have a responsibility not only to support Israel but to advocate the kinds of values that will make Israel a stronger and more vibrant society. We have something to say, something to contribute.

Israel is a diverse society. In fact it is more diverse than we often realize. While 15- 20% of Israelis identify themselves as Orthodox Jews, the vast majority of Israelis are anything but “secular” despite the fact that we refer to them that way. On one of my recent trips to Israel, Tommy Lapid, a member of the keneset and the head of the Shinui party addressed our group. Shinui has a reputation for being outspokenly secular and anti religious. Mr. Lapid said that only in Israel would a person like him who keeps a kosher home, lights Shabbat candles and makes Kiddush on Friday nights, and celebrates the Passover Seder be considered secular.

That, in a nutshell, is the great problem that Israel faces today. The Orthodox would have us believe that Israel is not nearly as diverse as it is. They tell us that Israeli society is black and white, that you are either religious or you aren’t. It’s just not true. And that is why the Masorti movement is so important to the well being of Israel – it offers an alternative for those who are looking for a gateway into Jewish life, and it suggests that a vibrant society is a diverse one.

Last year, a poll was taken of Israeli attitudes towards attending services for the High Holidays. You might be surprised to learn that not only were many Israelis planning to attend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at non-Orthodox congregations, Masorti or Progressive, but even more would be happy to attend such services were such a synagogue present in their neighborhood. Yet, in the current situation, where the Israeli government provides funding only for Orthodox synagogues to be established, it falls to us in the Diaspora to secure the resources needed to build and develop the Masorti Movement.

That’s why it is so important for us to register for this vote and then to vote for Mercaz. Mercaz does not build synagogues but it does build a consensus of opinion for the future of Israel. Mercaz is the Zionist arm of the Conservative movement. It allows us to say we not only believe in the existence of the State of Israel but that we believe that Israel must be a pluralistic society in which people of all religious backgrounds are given the opportunity to participate in Jewish life. Every several years a gathering of the world Zionist congress is held. Each Zionist organization is given a vote in the congress depending on the number of members it represents – and that vote will determine how the budget of the Jewish agency is spent to promote Zionist and Jewish values. With a budget of 300 million dollars that is used to support aliyah, promote Jewish education, and various programs in Israel we need to have a voice in what happens. And that depends on you and me. By registering for the vote (the registration fee is only $7 for adults and $5 for young adults) and then voting Mercaz we can help influence the number of delegates that will be assigned to the Masorti movement. We will have a voice in the world wide Zionist movement.

A significant portion of the Jewish Agency’s budget will be given to religious organizations. Will the Masorti movement be one of them? That depends on you. What I am suggesting is that a small investment can make a big difference not only in funding but in changing the culture of Israel.

You can register for these elections at the MERCAZ website at www.mercazusa.org. By investing just a little bit of your time, you can insure the spiritual well being of the Jewish State. And by becoming a member of Mercaz, you can stake out a place in the future of the land of Israel. You will be stating for the whole world that you are proud to be a Zionist, proud to support the state of Israel and proud to help build a Jewish home land.

There are many other ways of supporting Israel from UJA to the JNF to the Magen David Adom to Israel guide dogs. You can also join Mercaz as a member and support the Masorti movement in Israel – with much needed funds. There are also organizations that represent a wide variety of different political perspectives in Israel. I would encourage you to find the organizations and causes that are most meaningful to you and to get involved with them. But don’t forget Mercaz – because Mercaz is all about our place in the land of Israel and that of Conservative Jews who live and visit Israel.

Our greatest strength and our greatest weakness as Conservative Jews is our commitment to Klal Yisrael. We are the ones who frequently support the big and global causes as Jews often to the detriment of our own self interests. You can bet the Orthodox and Reform Jews will be promoting their own Zionist organizations. The time is now for us to do the same.

So I ask you make this small commitment of time and money this year and your support Mercaz. You will be planting your own stake in Eretz Yisrael!!

Hag Sameach!