Perhaps no issue in the news is as fraught with emotional drama for Centrist Orthodox Jews as the peace process.
While most of American Jewry largely supports efforts made by Israel in the peace process, the Orthodox community stands out in its opposition.
Orthodox Zionist Orthodox Jews have found themselves in what is for many of them the uncomfortable position of publicly disagreeing with the government of Israel.
For Zionist Orthodox Jews, the issue touches on some of their core religious beliefs, which include the tenet that the land given to the Jews by God should not be given up to other peoples.
“To use the word religious before Zionism is redundant,” said Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and chairman of the school’s biology department.
“Zionism is an absolute commitment to the return of the Jew to Eretz Yisrael and to the land of Israel as absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of many of Cod’s commandments, ” said Tendler. And, he added, “Every inch of the land is holy. “
The notion of land-for-peace is also a deeply personal issue for many Orthodox Jews.
They, more than other North American Jews, back their religious beliefs about Eretz Yisrael by moving there.
Although the Orthodox account for only about 6 percent of American Jews, roughly 20 percent of the 3,700 North Americans who made aliyah in 1994 were Orthodox, according to statistics compiled by the Israel Aliyah Center.
And nearly all the North Americans who move to Israel and settle in the disputed territories are Orthodox.
“Most of the 130,000 settlers came from within our ranks,” said Rabbi Steven Dworken, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America. “It’s a much more personal issue than political one.”
The heightened passions play out in the Orthodox community in several ways.
The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is working with Orthodox synagogues affiliated with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the National Council of Young Israel to raise money and support an “Adopt-a- Settlement” program.
There is an atmosphere of political correctness about the issue even among relative moderates in the Orthodox world.
To say that you support the government in its peace efforts is viewed as tantamount to declaring that you are anti-settler, say observers.
Some, however, have broken with the mainstream Orthodox line.
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, N.J., recently formed an organization called Shvil HaZahav, or the Golden Mean.
His goal, he said, is to represent some of the voices in the Orthodox community that have been muted.
The goal of Shvil HaZahav is “to serve as a responsible, reciprocal communicator between the Diaspora Orthodox community and the Israeli government,” according to its statement of principles.
His nascent organization has gotten an outpouring of response from like-minded Orthodox Jews, he said.
“There were people who felt that because there was no public posture (other than rejecting the Rabin government), they felt isolated and unable to speak. We’ve created an address that allows for this,” said Goldin in a recent interview.
He went public with his dissent from the accepted Orthodox line on the peace process early last year, with an article in a local Jewish newspapers.
By summer, the vitriol against Goldin was flying fast and furious, particularly in editorials and articles in the pages of Jewish papers that target the Orthodox community.
In response, members of his congregation took out an ad in one paper defending his right to free speech, even as they distanced themselves from his views.
In August, someone called his synogouge who said that if did not stop his activities,
“they would kill me or a member of my family,” said Goldin. “Thank God nothing came of it.”
In mid-December, with only a few days lead time, the group organized its first public meeting, which featured Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein, head of Yeshivat Har Eztion in Alon Shvut on the West Bank. Lichtenstein is seen as a moderate on issues related to the peace process. About 250 people attended the meeting.
So far, Goldin’s efforts have been local, with ads in New York-area Jewish papers. He plans to go nationwide in Jewish publications shortly.
Meanwhile, he and other members of Shvil HaZahav meet regularly with Israeli government officials at the New York consulate – including Rabin, with whom they met in November for 90 minutes.
“We represent people with various different approaches,” said Goldin. “We’re not the government’s mouthpiece, which is what some have tried to portray us as. But there must be a considered effort with great deliberation when we approach complex issues.”
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