Flags on the Bimah
You may have noticed that our bimah contains both an American and an Israeli flag. I do not know the particular history of that choice for Temple Israel, but I have a sense of how flags entered Jewish sanctuaries.
A desire to be recognized as patriotic Americans, while also having solidarity with the state of Israel probably put many flags on bimahs after Israel was established. While prayer books include prayers for the country, I have not heard them said regularly in my years of attending services across denominations.
So there is a counter element among clergy and ritual committees to remove flags from the bimah. After all, this is a spiritual space, not a civic one. Reaching beyond political differences, some spiritual leaders want to remove symbols of the state completely. We’ve even had the conversation here at Temple Israel. One of the reasons we didn’t move forward with removing the flags is that we had nowhere to put them.
Prior to October 7, I rarely mentioned the state of Israel, in part because I felt that bringing people together around our souls’ journeys would be more inclusive than trying to explain my particular adherence to cultural Zionism.
I say all of this as an introduction. The hardest thing for me to deal with in the last week is self censorship. I’ve been overwhelmed by the news and I am eager to retreat from the world. I fear that you too might be seeking a refuge from the storm of the world outside these walls. I get anxious before I say or write anything and then it takes me four times as long to write a weekly email message or a sermon. Please forgive me, because I must address the elephant in the room.
The truth is that rabbis have never been apolitical. The reason for “freedom of the pulpit,” is to be able to say things from the pulpit that some people might disagree with. I understand that intellectually. But, emotionally, I want to be with you. So, I remain trepidatious.
Though patriotic fervor may have been a mid-20th century addition to many Jewish sanctuaries, it is not a new concept within Jewish culture.
From Pirkei Avot, the Sayings of the Fathers, chapter 3:
Rabbi Hanina, the vice-high priest said: pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.
רַבִּי חֲנִינָא סְגַן הַכֹּהֲנִים אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתְפַּלֵּל בִּשְׁלוֹמָהּ שֶׁל מַלְכוּת, שֶׁאִלְמָלֵא מוֹרָאָהּ, אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ חַיִּים בְּלָעוֹ.
Let’s deconstruct this sentence.
Who made this statement? A guy named Hanina. What was Hanina’s role? He was S’gan HaKohanim, the Deputy of the Priests. He lived at the end of the Second Temple period: he served at the Second Temple and recorded aspects of Temple service, believing that the Temple would be rebuilt soon and how to sacrifice at the Temple needed to be remembered for future use. Like many of the people quoted in the Talmud, Hanina probably didn’t use the title Rabbi, rather the redactor gives him that title because the Talmudic redactor wants the reader to associate all important people with the title “rabbi.”
And when did Hanina tell us to pray for the welfare of the government? During the first century CE, probably after the Roman siege of Jerusalem. In other words, Hanina had been a high authority at the Second Temple, saw it burned by the Roman army, and is telling his fellow Jews to pray for the welfare of the Roman government.
Why would Hanina take this approach? Well, for one, he saw people die during the Roman invasion of Jerusalem. I imagine at this point in time, he cared more about saving Jewish lives than he did about Jewish sovereignty. It is interesting to note that Hanina eventually switched positions and became a partisan against the Roman state. He is believed to have become a martyr.
Now, there was a lot of death after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple. The Bar Kochba revolt, 132 to 136 CE, was the last time Jews collectively fought for our political independence until the modern era. Because of how thoroughly Jewish civilization in our homeland was destroyed by the Bar Kochba Revolt, rabbis further elevated accepting the state’s political authority, even when Jews were being discriminated against. Our continued existence as a people became more important than political sovereignty.
So, we’re not just people who created laws for ourselves to live by. We’re also people who pray for the stability of the state. Almost any published siddur, prayer book, will include a prayer for the government. Displaying the government’s flag in our sanctuary is a natural extension of this impulse.
Now, if you look back at the birth of the modern state of Israel, it did actually take awhile for organized diasporic Judaism to decide that Zionism would be a central pillar. And before October 7th, leaders of our own community were wary about including prayers for the government of the United States and Israel in our services, particularly in our High Holy Day services. It is hard to understand praying for government leaders with whom you disagree vehemently. And yet, that is what our prayer book asks us to do. Indeed, Jewish prayer books insist on it. Because, as Haninah the Deputy High Priest tells us, were it not for the that the government inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.
And this is exactly the justification of the Israeli government for its continued war with Hamas. They treated Hamas like a regular governmental neighbor until Hamas broke through Israel’s borders and swallowed their neighbors. In order to create a peaceful future, Israel is determined to break the grip that the terrorist organization Hamas has on Gaza.
As the New York Times reported, Hamas chose its inhumane acts of terror on October 7 in order to create a perpetual state of war with Israel.
And so, we return to the idea of praying for the government in order to ensure neighbors do not swallow one another alive.
Part of these prayers are for the government’s ability to keep its population safe, internally with just police forces, and externally through a military. Which brings us to Veteran’s Day.
I have to say, it took me many years to appreciate the weight of Veteran’s Day. I was quite wary of the strength of the United States military as a young peace activist. My belief in diplomacy made me quite angry that the United States seems to lead first with its military rather than its diplomatic corps.
Over time, I’ve come to understand that many of my positions were based on a naive belief in humanity. I failed to internalize the lesson of Haninah the Deputy High Priest, reminding us to pray for the government because left to our own devices, humans would swallow one another up.
The truth of this statement is not just in the Middle East. The existential crisis we are living through is not just about the continued existence of the state of Israel; it is also about the future of liberal democracy.
I believe we need to pray for the government and remind ourselves of our civic duty to participate in our democracy. We should honor our veterans. We need to thank members of the military for making the sacrifice of learning how to kill and defending our country. It is a heavy burden our veterans bear. And it is a heavy burden that their families bear.
Without the rule of law, without the protection of a functioning state, unfortunately, our safety as Jews would be among the first to vanish. I am so grateful for the service of our veterans, ensuring that we have the ability to live peacefully and pray together today and throughout the year. Shabbat Shalom.
Sermon at Kabbalat Shabbat Service at Temple Israel of Alameda on 27th of Cheshvan, 5784. Parashat Chayei Sarah, entering Veteran’s Day, 2023.
Josefin Dolsten wrote about the history of flags on the bimah in the United States and Canada at JTA.
CCAR, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, wrote a responsa regarding flags on the bimah. (A responsa is an authoritative review of religious reasons for choosing to do or not do something.)