“I think there is a difference in how Israelis and Americans think of being Jewish, and that it can be hard for each to understand the other in this area. Israelis think of Israeli as their nationality, Judaism as their religion, and Jewish as their cultural heritage.”

The Interviewee – Rhonda Rosenheck (Born 1962) Wordworker-in-Chief, RE: WORK Editing, Former Jewish educational leader (1983-2015). Born in a small, upstate NY town with one synagogue and a Jewish community that had kosher foods shipped up from a butcher a few times/year. Raised on Long Island, in public schools that had a high percentage of Jewish students. Went to a large, Conservative synagogue and Hebrew School. Went to State university in NY. Studied Hebrew one term and took my first trip to Israel as a 6 credit college Anthropology course.

In your opinion, what importance, if any, does the existence of a Jewish state have to you personally and to Jewish people in general?

“Israel has been central to my life, all my life. My maternal great-grandfather was at an early World Zionist Union conference and was deeply engaged in the early, pre-Israel movement to make Hebrew a living language. My paternal grandparents were avid Zionists, too, and brought their 4 children from the US to the Moshav at Beer Tuvia when there was little yet from which to make a life. While one side of my family is mostly religious and the other, mostly secular, Thank God, both sides were fervent and unwavering Zionists.

“I am a mutt Jewishly, and Israel has been a complicated place and set of ideas of me. I have a strong sense of a God that while God may have ‘given’ us this land, the terms were quite strict that this gift could be taken away if we do not elevate ourselves there through our behavior and choices as rulers, as the empowered party. So I worry very much that when we are too little skilled at or committed to ethical power holding, that we will love the land.

“My geo-political, secular self–and the self that believes that the world will always return to violent antisemitism when their powers that be want to distract them–understands that without a strong nation of Israel, the rest of us are doomed to be at the mercy of people who do not have our best interests in mind.

“As an egalitarian Jewish woman with socially liberal views, I find myself deeply frustrated with the linkage of ‘Orthodox’ religion, power and money in Israel. I am an angrier Jew at other Jews when in Israel than when in NY, where there is a generally strong acceptance that Jews practice Judaism in many different ways.

“As a fourth generation American who miraculously lost nearly no one in the Holocaust and grew up in Metropolitan NY, I have never personally felt the need for Israel as a refuge. But I empathize with the feeling and can, sadly, imagine the need occurring even for Americans in some version of the future.

“As a Jewish educator from 1983-2015, I understood that to get students to fall in love with Israel, my best bests were culture and people. Fall in love with Israelis, Israeli pop music, Israeli foods, etc., and then address the tough questions.”

Do you feel committed in some way to defend the future existence of Israel?

“Yes. Getting my students to fall in love with Israel was a key value and goal of mine as a Jewish educator. I have also done all the American things personally — marched in parades, given money, gone on ‘missions’ etc. I felt the need to be more proactive when I was younger. Also, before I began to wonder whether the ethical foundation of the Israeli project has been too far uprooted by the need to defend oneself and survive. We must survive, but I am uncertain which way to support that survival, since I am not sure whether our leaders or our enemies are doing more damage, so I’m more than a bit stymied. Paralyzed by it. I think, how did the historic Zealots and their competing groups of Jews know what sort of support to lend? How am I supposed to know now?“

Do you affiliate yourself with a specific denomination in Judaism? What is your view regarding the dominance of the Orthodox denomination in Israel religious establishment?

“I am most closely associated with the Conservative Movement, though I am a mutt by family background and personal history also including Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist, Jewish Renewal, and secular Judaism. If I call it the Orthodox stranglehold, does that answer your question? I find it potentially catastrophic.“

Do you feel morally responsible for Israel’s actions (such as its management of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

“Yes. Very. Israel is part of the web of world Jewry, and we are all part of Israel, or could be if we so choose. Therefore, I have an obligation of loving support, participation and even guidance to some extent. By not being in Israel often, it’s harder for me — in some ways — to have a realistic perspective on what’s possible. Although, by my exemption from the daily tussles, might I be able to hold up the dreams with less cynicism, and if so, isn’t that a helpful thing?”

In your opinion, what is the main thing Israelis fail to understand about the reality of being Jewish outside of Israel?

“I think there is a difference in how Israelis and Americans think of being Jewish, and that it can be hard for each to understand the other in this area. Israelis (if I may extrapolate from many conversations I’ve had over the years) think of Israeli as their nationality, Judaism as their (or their parents) religion, and Jewish as their cultural heritage. American Jews are likely to conflate into their Jewish identity: ethnicity, cultural background, nationality, religion, source of values, historical position in the world, reason to marry, political stances, and who knows what else.

“So, I may see an Israeli as my sister and she may say to me, Why? I may feel a right and obligation to engage in/have views on Israeli political and military choices and she may say, again, Why? And this time, add, ‘Who the hell are you? You, who lives in NY and has no idea.’ As an American Jewish educator I allotted a significant percent of every week teaching my students about Israel and Israelis — what, if anything, are their peers in Israel learning about us? All reasonable, justifiable divides.”

How would you describe Israel’s policy (formally and in practice) regarding its relationship with the Diaspora?

“Formally — The Israeli government cares about Diaspora Jews when they can influence their own governments to support Israel and when the Diaspora Jews are in the sort of trouble for which immigration to Israel is a solution. Informally, The Israeli government has a love-hate, appreciation-resentment, relationship with Jews in the Diaspora. (Who wouldn’t?).”

In your opinion, does Israel have an obligation to defend and help Jewish communities in need?

“Yes. To me this a fundamental core of Israel’s purpose; this stood at the core of the imagined modern state, and should always be of high priority.”

Have you ever been to Israel? if you have, can you summarize your impression from the Israeli reality?

“Many times. Lived there for 18 months and been back and forth with students, as a profession/student, and on my own. Each place has its mood and its feel. The streets are filled with a diverse palette of skin tones and clothes. People can be warm or dismissive, as in any other urban areas I’ve been, perhaps leaning toward warm. A national obsession with the news is a sad necessity. Generous and curious spirits pervade most environments I’ve been in; I don’t tend to hang out in insular communities, though.“

What was your best experience of Israeli culture in the past year (book, music, TV, movie, theater etc.)?

“Flag work for Yom HaAtzmaut at the school I led, taught to the middle school by the community shlichim.”

Can you tell us a bit about the Jewish community in your hometown? Is it organized? Are there any community activities?

“I’m in Albany, NY. Rather engaged Jewish community, though nothing like what it was. Two day schools, two JCCs, and more than a dozen synagogues in the area, a significant UJA-Federation, Jewish family services and a Jewish nursing home/assisted living facility. A Jewish cultural festival, Jewish US veterans of foreign wars division, an Israeli sub-community, and a Jewish singles group exist, though at a smallish scale. Mostly Ashkenazi, some Sephardi/North African-Israeli.”