I am looking forward to attending this year’s AIPAC Policy conference, beginning on
Sunday through Tuesday in Washington DC. I am proud that I will be sharing this experience
with over 50 members of our shul, making us the largest synagogue delegation in Broward
County. I hope to learn about and be inspired by the State of Israel, the US-Israel relationship,
and the citizen activists who work hard to ensure the continued strength of that relationship.
Bi-partisan support of Israel remains strong within Congress. It is a support that emerges
from shared values and shared interests between the United States and Israel. But this bipartisan
support is something that cannot be taken for granted. It needs to be constantly
nurtured and strengthened. That’s where each of us has a role. Many Americans are in favor of
a strong US-Israel relationship. But only the pro-Israel, Zionist community cares enough to
bring the issue to the forefront and lobby on its behalf. Over the course of modern Israeli
history there have been Presidents with closer and more strained relationships with the State of
Israel and her leaders. But the US Congress, as representatives of the American people, has
served as the buffer within our system of government, and has kept support for Israel
consistently strong. It is our job to make sure that continues to be the case in the future.
“Call or write your Congressman.” People think it doesn’t matters, especially today
when it takes almost no effort to send an e-mail to your elected officials. But it does make a
difference. Members of Congress keep track of the issues that are trending among their
constituents. One way they do so is based on the correspondence that they receive. We need to
stay in contact with our elected officials: encouraging them to vote for pro-Israel legislation,
and thanking them when they do so. Contacting our elected officials may seem like a small
thing. But by doing so we are transformed from Zionists who are bystanders, standing on the
sidelines, to pro-Israel activists who are doing our part.
Parshat Ki Tisa warns us of the perils of sitting on the sidelines. In the aftermath of the
Golden Calf, Moshe punishes the People by smashing the Luchot which he had just received
from Hashem. Asks Rav Shaul Yisraeli (Siach Shaul p 288): Moshe punishes the perpetrators
of the Golden Calf a few verses later. We read how Moshe galvanizes the Leviim to wage
battle and kill the 3,000 men most directly responsible for the sin of the Golden Calf. So why
must the entire Jewish nation be punished because of a crime committed by less than one half
of a percent of the population? Rav Yisraeli answers that the entire nation is punished due to
their indifference. No one spoke up. No one took action, great or small, to stop the sin from
occurring. The Luchot are broken as a collective punishment for the sin of sitting on the
sidelines.
One of the many questions being asked in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting
is: Why didn’t anyone do anything sooner? There were many warning signs, many cries for
help. Even those who were aware of the problems did not know where to go for help, and they
did not feel knowledgeable or empowered or confident enough to intervene in a helpful way.
Let us utilize Parshat Ki Tisa to appreciate the power within each of us to get up from
the sidelines and do our part to make the world a better place.
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