To Infinity and Beyond....?

I officiated at the funeral last week of the 95 year old mother of a dear family friend.  At the graveside, several family members came to me to point out the nearby headstones, noting how many of their family members were buried right alongside one another.   It spoke not only of their family, but of the Toronto Jewish community of yesteryear and still even today, with its strong bonds uniting family and community. 

I had that image in my mind as I thought about the recent furor over the strength of our future here in the North American Jewish Diaspora (and I know when I speak of a "furor in the North American Jewish Community" that this is in truth a debate amongst a cadre of what has sometimes been uncharitably referred to as "Professional Jews" and not really the talking points of Jewry in general, but that is a question to be examined another day).  Although Zeev Bielski, the head of the Jewish Agency, spoke warmly at the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly (which just concluded in Los Angeles), he had all too recently declared the death of the diaspora, stating that the only viable Jewish future will be in Israel.  You can hear excerpts from his GA talk here: UJC General Assembly speakers (as well as hear from other noted speakers, such as Bernard-Henri Levy and Ehud Olmert) and then read about his prior assessment of the diaspora here: Bielski on Diaspora.

All of this is a continuation of the fallout from the noted Israeli author A.B. Yehoshua's dismissal of Diaspora Jewry at the American Jewish Committee's (AJC) Centenary Symposium this past spring (read his bio here).  If you find a way to access the video of the symposium, please both watch it (it is fascinating) and send me the link.  The AJC published many of the responses to Yehoshua, including one by our own Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Union of Reform Judaism.  His words made me proud to be a Reform rabbi and hopeful for our future.  You can access his words, together with the thoughts of many other leading thinkers at: The Yehoshua Controversy.