Friday, August 25, 2023

Jane Eisner is the Future of Pro Israel [J Street Conference 2012]

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpmyW8OHAUo

Jane Eisner is The Future of Pro-Israel

J-Street Conference 2012   Mar 26, 2012


 Transcript

hi my name is Rachel Cohen and I'm the

0:15

president of j street you at Johns

0:16

Hopkins University

0:23

salam fayyad occupy Judaism the Israeli

0:28

social justice movement in equality and

0:30

pay for men and women in Jewish

0:32

organizations Marwan Barghouti these are

0:36

just some of the topics the Jane Eisner

0:38

has written about recently in her role

0:40

as the editor of the Jewish daily

0:42

forward in doing so she explores and

0:45

engages some of the most important

0:47

questions facing all of us my generation

0:49

especially as we look to the future of

0:52

Israel its neighbors and the role of the

0:55

American Jewish community here as a

0:58

young woman i am especially honored to

1:00

introduce Jane Eisner tonight five years

1:03

ago in 10th Grade I read her book taking

1:05

back the vote which played a truly

1:06

influential role in helping me to

1:08

realize the necessity of political

1:10

participation in enacting meaningful

1:12

social change she is one of the most

1:15

important voices in our community

1:17

highlighting the distance that remains

1:18

in ensuring that the American Jewish

1:20

community is fair and equal and

1:23

continues to raise up women's leadership

1:24

I'm honored to introduce Jane Eisner

1:40

Thank You Rachel it is always a special

1:44

privilege and a pleasure to hear rabbi

1:47

Hartman speak and I thank him for his

1:50

inspirational words of Torah and the

1:52

Zionism that he embodies I am here for a

1:56

different reason as head of a news

1:59

organization that covers J Street and

2:01

the many fascinating aspects of the

2:04

contemporary American Jewish story what

2:07

I can contribute I hope are a few words

2:10

not of texts but of context that's what

2:14

we journalists do we tell stories and we

2:18

try to tell you what they mean the story

2:22

happening here and around America is one

2:25

of a Jewish community at a historic

2:27

turning point we face challenges that we

2:31

might not have even imagined a

2:33

generation or two ago challenges brought

2:36

by our prosperity our transition from a

2:40

victimized minority to a group with

2:43

extraordinary wealth social status and

2:46

political power and alongside the

2:50

challenges that come with power that is

2:53

first and foremost to use it well we

2:58

have an unprecedented opportunity to

3:00

bring our religious values and our faith

3:02

commitment into the public square so how

3:07

will we do that there's an old saying

3:11

that good journalism is all about

3:13

comforting the afflicted and afflict

3:15

income fir tible we Jews are for the

3:19

most part the comfortable in 21st

3:22

century America and we need to recognize

3:25

that to absorb that to allow it to shape

3:29

our public behavior or religious

3:32

expression and our pro-israel advocacy

3:36

to illustrate how quickly this change

3:39

has happened and how very American it is

3:42

I'll start with a brief story

3:45

some years ago I was named the London

3:48

correspondent for the Philadelphia

3:50

Enquirer before moving there I went to

3:53

look for a place to live and since my

3:56

visit was during sukkot a friend from

3:58

our acara in Philadelphia put me in

4:01

touch with an English family and they

4:04

offered to host me for a meal so there I

4:07

am sitting at their table I'm trying to

4:09

sort of build a kind of connection with

4:11

them and so I thought I'd relay some

4:13

news about our mutual friend I told my

4:17

English hosts about our kuvira's

4:19

celebration of Simplot hora the previous

4:22

year we brought the Torah's from the

4:25

place where we had dhavan into

4:27

Rittenhouse Square in center city

4:29

philadelphia we danced out in the open

4:32

and invited others to join in our mutual

4:36

friend who was a rabbi took great

4:38

delight in standing in the middle of the

4:41

street leading to the square his arms

4:44

stretched out like this stopping traffic

4:47

for us to cross so i joyfully recounted

4:51

how wonderful it was to see our friend

4:53

dressed in a white kittle holding up

4:56

cars and bicycles as if he was Moses

4:59

crossing the Red Sea all of this in

5:01

public in the fanciest square in

5:04

Philadelphia well this did not go over

5:09

as I had planned rather than delight in

5:12

my story my hosts were stunned silent

5:17

they were too polite to say what I

5:19

realized afterwards they were probably

5:21

thinking which is that American Jews are

5:24

crazy to be so demonstrative in public

5:27

to literally bring their religious zeal

5:30

into the public square and maybe we were

5:34

then but we no longer are now let's

5:39

fast-forward to October 2011 another

5:43

group of young engaged Jews wearing

5:46

white kittles are leading a prayer

5:48

service outdoors but this time it's yom

5:51

kippur the holiest day of the year and

5:55

the place is not a small fancy square

5:58

in Philadelphia but a large encampment

6:01

just steps from Wall Street the center

6:05

of finance in the richest country on the

6:07

planet instead of a few dozen people

6:11

dancing with Toras the kolnari service

6:14

associated with Occupy Wall Street last

6:16

year drew hundreds of Jews and probably

6:20

some non-jews who repeated ancient

6:23

prayers and beat their breasts in

6:25

repentance under the bright lights of

6:28

lower Manhattan this was an

6:31

extraordinary assertion of power and

6:33

identity a sign of a rival for Jews and

6:37

incense a return to the historic place

6:41

that religion has played played in the

6:44

public face of progressive activism in

6:46

America at the time it seemed kind of

6:50

new and gutsy because for at least the

6:53

past three decades religious expression

6:56

in the political sphere has been

6:59

dominated by evangelical conservatives a

7:02

trend that we are seeing in dismaying

7:04

detail in this current Republican

7:07

presidential primary but the right has

7:10

not always had a monopoly on the

7:13

expression of faith in the public square

7:15

in a sense the Jews who chanted Kol

7:19

Nidre were upholding a tradition that

7:22

began in the revolutionary war continued

7:25

through the anti-slavery and civil

7:28

rights movements and even was manifested

7:31

in the protest against the Vietnam War a

7:34

weaving together of faith tradition and

7:38

progressive politics there was a time

7:42

not very long ago when rabbis like

7:44

Abraham Joshua Heschel marched for civil

7:47

rights and Arthur wasps Kyle created a

7:50

freedom Seder and Catholic priests and

7:53

nuns were instrumental in anti-war

7:56

agitation their actions propelled by a

7:59

fervent religiosity and expressed in

8:02

liturgical terms rooted in this

8:05

progressive past this new form of what

8:09

some of us have been calling occupied

8:11

Judea

8:11

ism is very much a creature of the

8:14

moment it could not have come together

8:16

without the extensive use of social

8:19

media by savvy organizers who didn't

8:23

need or seek the blessings of communal

8:26

leadership like the social justice

8:29

protests that swept Israel last year it

8:32

is bottom up not top down in both its

8:36

political and its religious character

8:38

and to be successful and sustainable

8:42

this style of activism requires more

8:46

than just a motivation for change it's

8:49

not just that the organizers of Occupy

8:52

Judaism didn't depend on a hexer from

8:55

the Jewish establishment they were

8:57

knowledgeable enough and skilled enough

9:00

to conduct a service on their own this I

9:04

think is an important point if we are as

9:08

Jews going to bring about a new

9:10

relationship of faith in the public

9:12

square we have to know what our faith

9:15

tradition believes and what it asks of

9:18

us the foundation for this new

9:21

relationship can't be built on some

9:24

squishy iteration of tikkun olam or

9:26

other sorts of bland universal

9:29

sentiments if we're going to be more

9:32

public Jews we have to know what Judaism

9:34

requires of us and similarly if you're

9:38

going to be effective advocates for

9:41

Israel you have to be informed learn

9:44

more visit debate engage we also have to

9:50

recognize that a religious tradition as

9:53

old and is which as ours omits several

9:57

and sometimes competing strains of

10:00

values and narratives we can't be so

10:03

arrogant as to say that the true Judaism

10:06

is only a progressive one an even

10:11

greater challenge is to incorporate a

10:13

realistic appraisal of who we are in

10:16

this society into our public role it

10:19

seems to me that most of the

10:22

establishment Jewish organizations

10:25

operate under the assumptions of the

10:27

last century that Jews are vulnerable

10:30

and this close to another disaster and

10:34

that the best people to lead those

10:36

organizations are white men of a certain

10:39

age and experience I understand where

10:44

that comes from I understand where that

10:49

comes from our history is littered with

10:51

examples of Jews attaining great wealth

10:54

and status think of Spain in the 14th

10:57

century or Germany a century ago only to

11:03

have that privilege crumble under the

11:05

oppressive weight of an inquisition or a

11:07

Holocaust I understand the fear that

11:11

good moments will evaporate in an

11:14

instant hey I'm a Jewish mother guilt

11:18

and anxiety are my constant companions

11:22

but those episodes in history didn't

11:25

happen in America which I believe has a

11:28

far more tolerant DNA and despite our

11:32

sometimes ugly past has a far better

11:35

chance of guaranteeing the rights of

11:37

minorities than any other place on earth

11:46

nevermind the fact that Americans love

11:50

us here they really do Robert Putnam in

11:54

his recent seminal work Amazing Grace

11:57

how religion divides us and unites us

12:00

asserts that we Jews are the most

12:03

popular religious group in America and

12:06

he offers the data to back it up this

12:10

very fact I know does create a kind of

12:13

cognitive dissonance with some Jews I

12:15

actually spoke to Putnam about this and

12:18

he told me that when he lectured at his

12:20

own reform synagogue just outside Boston

12:24

about this topic and here I'm quoting he

12:26

said people said you're wrong they do

12:29

hate us and he replied to them best as I

12:32

can tell they don't they don't so as you

12:38

chart the future of pro-israel advocacy

12:41

I urge you to do that in the context of

12:44

this new reality we are a vulnerable

12:47

people in many places in the world the

12:50

tragic events last week in Toulouse are

12:53

just only the latest reminder but right

12:56

now here in America we are in a

13:00

fundamentally different place and we are

13:03

a fundamentally different people we

13:06

should never forget that power is always

13:09

a privilege that it can corrupt those

13:12

who wield it and that it comes with its

13:15

own sense of demands and

13:17

responsibilities as we become more

13:20

assertive in the public square we should

13:22

also be mindful to support and maintain

13:25

the constitutional separation of

13:28

religion and state that I believe has

13:31

enabled us to function as such a free

13:34

religious minority and ethnic group here

13:37

in this country

13:44

when I was researching an essay on

13:47

occupied Judaism last fall I had a

13:49

wonderful conversation with Alan wolf a

13:52

political scientist at Boston College

13:54

and he offered an astute observation by

13:58

linking public prayer with protest he

14:01

told me quote it says that the protest

14:04

has an element of the sacred associated

14:08

with it invoking holiness in the public

14:12

square implying that such work is

14:15

divinely inspired can make us

14:18

uncomfortable because it can't smack of

14:21

the kind of arrogance and certainty that

14:24

becomes dangerous and intolerant but

14:28

thinking of this as sacred work can also

14:30

be viewed in another way it can

14:33

encourage humility you can embrace a new

14:37

vibrant role for Jewish faith and

14:39

progressive activism that is also

14:42

respectful of the past and untell intend

14:45

on upholding that legacy for me this

14:49

balance is beautifully enunciated by

14:52

Martin Luther King in his letter from a

14:54

Birmingham jail and I can't help but

14:57

quote that in my closing we must come to

15:01

see that human progress never rolls in

15:04

on wheels and inevitability it comes

15:08

through the tireless efforts and

15:10

persistent work of men willing to be

15:13

co-workers with God thank hi my name is Rachel Cohen and I'm the

0:15

president of j street you at Johns

0:16

Hopkins University

0:23

salam fayyad occupy Judaism the Israeli

0:28

social justice movement in equality and

0:30

pay for men and women in Jewish

0:32

organizations Marwan Barghouti these are

0:36

just some of the topics the Jane Eisner

0:38

has written about recently in her role

0:40

as the editor of the Jewish daily

0:42

forward in doing so she explores and

0:45

engages some of the most important

0:47

questions facing all of us my generation

0:49

especially as we look to the future of

0:52

Israel its neighbors and the role of the

0:55

American Jewish community here as a

0:58

young woman i am especially honored to

1:00

introduce Jane Eisner tonight five years

1:03

ago in 10th Grade I read her book taking

1:05

back the vote which played a truly

1:06

influential role in helping me to

1:08

realize the necessity of political

1:10

participation in enacting meaningful

1:12

social change she is one of the most

1:15

important voices in our community

1:17

highlighting the distance that remains

1:18

in ensuring that the American Jewish

1:20

community is fair and equal and

1:23

continues to raise up women's leadership

1:24

I'm honored to introduce Jane Eisner

1:40

Thank You Rachel it is always a special

1:44

privilege and a pleasure to hear rabbi

1:47

Hartman speak and I thank him for his

1:50

inspirational words of Torah and the

1:52

Zionism that he embodies I am here for a

1:56

different reason as head of a news

1:59

organization that covers J Street and

2:01

the many fascinating aspects of the

2:04

contemporary American Jewish story what

2:07

I can contribute I hope are a few words

2:10

not of texts but of context that's what

2:14

we journalists do we tell stories and we

2:18

try to tell you what they mean the story

2:22

happening here and around America is one

2:25

of a Jewish community at a historic

2:27

turning point we face challenges that we

2:31

might not have even imagined a

2:33

generation or two ago challenges brought

2:36

by our prosperity our transition from a

2:40

victimized minority to a group with

2:43

extraordinary wealth social status and

2:46

political power and alongside the

2:50

challenges that come with power that is

2:53

first and foremost to use it well we

2:58

have an unprecedented opportunity to

3:00

bring our religious values and our faith

3:02

commitment into the public square so how

3:07

will we do that there's an old saying

3:11

that good journalism is all about

3:13

comforting the afflicted and afflict

3:15

income fir tible we Jews are for the

3:19

most part the comfortable in 21st

3:22

century America and we need to recognize

3:25

that to absorb that to allow it to shape

3:29

our public behavior or religious

3:32

expression and our pro-israel advocacy

3:36

to illustrate how quickly this change

3:39

has happened and how very American it is

3:42

I'll start with a brief story

3:45

some years ago I was named the London

3:48

correspondent for the Philadelphia

3:50

Enquirer before moving there I went to

3:53

look for a place to live and since my

3:56

visit was during sukkot a friend from

3:58

our acara in Philadelphia put me in

4:01

touch with an English family and they

4:04

offered to host me for a meal so there I

4:07

am sitting at their table I'm trying to

4:09

sort of build a kind of connection with

4:11

them and so I thought I'd relay some

4:13

news about our mutual friend I told my

4:17

English hosts about our kuvira's

4:19

celebration of Simplot hora the previous

4:22

year we brought the Torah's from the

4:25

place where we had dhavan into

4:27

Rittenhouse Square in center city

4:29

philadelphia we danced out in the open

4:32

and invited others to join in our mutual

4:36

friend who was a rabbi took great

4:38

delight in standing in the middle of the

4:41

street leading to the square his arms

4:44

stretched out like this stopping traffic

4:47

for us to cross so i joyfully recounted

4:51

how wonderful it was to see our friend

4:53

dressed in a white kittle holding up

4:56

cars and bicycles as if he was Moses

4:59

crossing the Red Sea all of this in

5:01

public in the fanciest square in

5:04

Philadelphia well this did not go over

5:09

as I had planned rather than delight in

5:12

my story my hosts were stunned silent

5:17

they were too polite to say what I

5:19

realized afterwards they were probably

5:21

thinking which is that American Jews are

5:24

crazy to be so demonstrative in public

5:27

to literally bring their religious zeal

5:30

into the public square and maybe we were

5:34

then but we no longer are now let's

5:39

fast-forward to October 2011 another

5:43

group of young engaged Jews wearing

5:46

white kittles are leading a prayer

5:48

service outdoors but this time it's yom

5:51

kippur the holiest day of the year and

5:55

the place is not a small fancy square

5:58

in Philadelphia but a large encampment

6:01

just steps from Wall Street the center

6:05

of finance in the richest country on the

6:07

planet instead of a few dozen people

6:11

dancing with Toras the kolnari service

6:14

associated with Occupy Wall Street last

6:16

year drew hundreds of Jews and probably

6:20

some non-jews who repeated ancient

6:23

prayers and beat their breasts in

6:25

repentance under the bright lights of

6:28

lower Manhattan this was an

6:31

extraordinary assertion of power and

6:33

identity a sign of a rival for Jews and

6:37

incense a return to the historic place

6:41

that religion has played played in the

6:44

public face of progressive activism in

6:46

America at the time it seemed kind of

6:50

new and gutsy because for at least the

6:53

past three decades religious expression

6:56

in the political sphere has been

6:59

dominated by evangelical conservatives a

7:02

trend that we are seeing in dismaying

7:04

detail in this current Republican

7:07

presidential primary but the right has

7:10

not always had a monopoly on the

7:13

expression of faith in the public square

7:15

in a sense the Jews who chanted Kol

7:19

Nidre were upholding a tradition that

7:22

began in the revolutionary war continued

7:25

through the anti-slavery and civil

7:28

rights movements and even was manifested

7:31

in the protest against the Vietnam War a

7:34

weaving together of faith tradition and

7:38

progressive politics there was a time

7:42

not very long ago when rabbis like

7:44

Abraham Joshua Heschel marched for civil

7:47

rights and Arthur wasps Kyle created a

7:50

freedom Seder and Catholic priests and

7:53

nuns were instrumental in anti-war

7:56

agitation their actions propelled by a

7:59

fervent religiosity and expressed in

8:02

liturgical terms rooted in this

8:05

progressive past this new form of what

8:09

some of us have been calling occupied

8:11

Judea

8:11

ism is very much a creature of the

8:14

moment it could not have come together

8:16

without the extensive use of social

8:19

media by savvy organizers who didn't

8:23

need or seek the blessings of communal

8:26

leadership like the social justice

8:29

protests that swept Israel last year it

8:32

is bottom up not top down in both its

8:36

political and its religious character

8:38

and to be successful and sustainable

8:42

this style of activism requires more

8:46

than just a motivation for change it's

8:49

not just that the organizers of Occupy

8:52

Judaism didn't depend on a hexer from

8:55

the Jewish establishment they were

8:57

knowledgeable enough and skilled enough

9:00

to conduct a service on their own this I

9:04

think is an important point if we are as

9:08

Jews going to bring about a new

9:10

relationship of faith in the public

9:12

square we have to know what our faith

9:15

tradition believes and what it asks of

9:18

us the foundation for this new

9:21

relationship can't be built on some

9:24

squishy iteration of tikkun olam or

9:26

other sorts of bland universal

9:29

sentiments if we're going to be more

9:32

public Jews we have to know what Judaism

9:34

requires of us and similarly if you're

9:38

going to be effective advocates for

9:41

Israel you have to be informed learn

9:44

more visit debate engage we also have to

9:50

recognize that a religious tradition as

9:53

old and is which as ours omits several

9:57

and sometimes competing strains of

10:00

values and narratives we can't be so

10:03

arrogant as to say that the true Judaism

10:06

is only a progressive one an even

10:11

greater challenge is to incorporate a

10:13

realistic appraisal of who we are in

10:16

this society into our public role it

10:19

seems to me that most of the

10:22

establishment Jewish organizations

10:25

operate under the assumptions of the

10:27

last century that Jews are vulnerable

10:30

and this close to another disaster and

10:34

that the best people to lead those

10:36

organizations are white men of a certain

10:39

age and experience I understand where

10:44

that comes from I understand where that

10:49

comes from our history is littered with

10:51

examples of Jews attaining great wealth

10:54

and status think of Spain in the 14th

10:57

century or Germany a century ago only to

11:03

have that privilege crumble under the

11:05

oppressive weight of an inquisition or a

11:07

Holocaust I understand the fear that

11:11

good moments will evaporate in an

11:14

instant hey I'm a Jewish mother guilt

11:18

and anxiety are my constant companions

11:22

but those episodes in history didn't

11:25

happen in America which I believe has a

11:28

far more tolerant DNA and despite our

11:32

sometimes ugly past has a far better

11:35

chance of guaranteeing the rights of

11:37

minorities than any other place on earth

11:46

nevermind the fact that Americans love

11:50

us here they really do Robert Putnam in

11:54

his recent seminal work Amazing Grace

11:57

how religion divides us and unites us

12:00

asserts that we Jews are the most

12:03

popular religious group in America and

12:06

he offers the data to back it up this

12:10

very fact I know does create a kind of

12:13

cognitive dissonance with some Jews I

12:15

actually spoke to Putnam about this and

12:18

he told me that when he lectured at his

12:20

own reform synagogue just outside Boston

12:24

about this topic and here I'm quoting he

12:26

said people said you're wrong they do

12:29

hate us and he replied to them best as I

12:32

can tell they don't they don't so as you

12:38

chart the future of pro-israel advocacy

12:41

I urge you to do that in the context of

12:44

this new reality we are a vulnerable

12:47

people in many places in the world the

12:50

tragic events last week in Toulouse are

12:53

just only the latest reminder but right

12:56

now here in America we are in a

13:00

fundamentally different place and we are

13:03

a fundamentally different people we

13:06

should never forget that power is always

13:09

a privilege that it can corrupt those

13:12

who wield it and that it comes with its

13:15

own sense of demands and

13:17

responsibilities as we become more

13:20

assertive in the public square we should

13:22

also be mindful to support and maintain

13:25

the constitutional separation of

13:28

religion and state that I believe has

13:31

enabled us to function as such a free

13:34

religious minority and ethnic group here

13:37

in this country

13:44

when I was researching an essay on

13:47

occupied Judaism last fall I had a

13:49

wonderful conversation with Alan wolf a

13:52

political scientist at Boston College

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and he offered an astute observation by

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linking public prayer with protest he

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told me quote it says that the protest

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has an element of the sacred associated

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with it invoking holiness in the public

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square implying that such work is

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divinely inspired can make us

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uncomfortable because it can't smack of

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the kind of arrogance and certainty that

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becomes dangerous and intolerant but

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thinking of this as sacred work can also

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be viewed in another way it can

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encourage humility you can embrace a new

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vibrant role for Jewish faith and

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progressive activism that is also

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respectful of the past and untell intend

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on upholding that legacy for me this

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balance is beautifully enunciated by

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Martin Luther King in his letter from a

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Birmingham jail and I can't help but

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quote that in my closing we must come to

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see that human progress never rolls in

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on wheels and inevitability it comes

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through the tireless efforts and

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persistent work of men willing to be

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co-workers with God thank

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