Avraham Burg Last Night at Adas Israel

Avraham Burg is very impressive. His background is impressive, his father having been an Israeli cabinet minister and his maternal grandfather the former chief rabbi of Hebron. He himself has been a cabinet minister, the speaker of the Knesset and the head of the Jewish Agency. He has his share of charisma. His accented English speaking style is punctuated and animated. Because of his religious upbringing, he can bring biblical quotes to whatever is the task at hand. His mind is very agile. And he has a good sense of humor.

He divides the worlds into what appears to be an infinite series of groupings. People who like Jews, people who hate Jews. People are universal thinkers, people who are parochial. People who embrance modernity, and people who shun it. People who say potayto, people who say potahto. People who are part of the problem and people who are part of the solution.

He talks about the Jewish world going into many directions - insular, wordly, observant, humanistic. Some (or all) will succeed, and split further, while some (or all) will fail.

He is on the side of those who favor humanistic values, and universal thinking.

Then there is Israel. While discussing Israel from several aspects, he avoided (perhaps as a result of bad experiences in other American synagogues?) the tough questions, questions that he has written about and been such a lightning rod at home. He did say that the state of Israel's leaders have not treated its Arab neighbors well, and he did say that this was not consistent with Jewish values. (One thing of interest in his remarks was something like: "If you ask any Jew, what makes up Judaism, the answer will always include a reference to treating people well.")

But he did not talk about the ultimate dilemma which has been a focus of his most controversial remarks in Israel: can Israel remain a Jewish state without continuing to maltreat the Arabs, and if it does so, is it really a Jewish state? (He did give a reference to his appearance on an Israeli talk show where he 'debated' several former Gaza settlers and announced that he was not their 'brother'; he was their adversary, and that he only had one sibling, his birth sister. But then later on he addressed the audience talking about their 'brothers and sisters in Israel'.)

And his lecture was noticeably absent on solutions. Particulary at a time when the acting head of the Palestinian parliament gave a Friday talk at a mosque in Sudan, saying that all Jews and all Americans must be annihilated.

He was very good to listen to. He was provocative and hopefully he got some in the audience, who were not used to thinking, to start thinking. But this was not an adverse audience, as it seemed to me that most of the more right wing members of the Congregation did not attend. It was appreciative of his remarks, and (whether it knows it or not), it is looking for leadership on the issue. In the diaspora (a term that Burg thinks has become archaic), he might be able to provide this type of leadership. In Israel, it seems to me that he has come too close (by his march leftward) to becoming the Ramsey Clark of Israel. But perhaps that is too harsh.

I would definitely like to hear him again, and give him a chance to expound on what he said, and move to the next level. Whether, in a discussion rather than a lecture format, he would be effective, I don't know. He may overwhelm any discussion. If not, the discussion would be worth having.

Examples of the humor: What is a conservative? A liberal with teenage daughters? What is the diaspora? Exile, after it has become comfortable.