OPINION | First Reflections From Showing Up in D.C.

by Rabbi David Basior

(This op-ed was originally published on the Kadima Reconstructionist Community blog and was reprinted under an agreement.)

I write this on the airplane home from Washington, D.C., where I arrived less than 48 hours ago. I don't think I've ever bought an airline ticket for a flight that same day, thank G-d, as it is the kind of thing a human might reserve for a total emergency. It likely won't be the last.

​I went to D.C. on such short notice because now is an emergency.

Let me repeat: Now is an emergency.

The sky is falling on Gaza right now. The Israel Defense Forces are unleashing the bombs. The U.S. government is supplying many of those bombs and more and more money to purchase more bombs from the U.S. military supply industry. The white Christian nationalists and Christian Zionists are cheering this on and providing the political will/trap for the vast majority of even the most well-meaning U.S. politicians who have at worst cheered it on and at best said meaningless words toward ending this war, this time. The exception, of course, are Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush — a Palestinian American woman and a Black woman, respectively — who have waded into the water, praying the sea splits.

A group of organizers who are pro-human life at Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow created a container for anyone and everyone to do something about this emergency. For a Jewish response to the ongoing onslaught that threatens genocide on the people in Gaza. For a container to hold and help direct the grief Jews feel both about the atrocious Hamas attack on Simchat Torah and the collectively punishing retaliative response. They invited the world to attend what became the largest Jewish-led showing for Palestinian lives in recorded history.

As I said, this is an emergency.

We all respond to emergencies differently. The trauma specialists among us can tell you. Some flee. Some fight. Some appease. Some freeze. These are some of the survival responses of the part of our mind-body-soul that will override just about anything else to preserve the life of the beholder. We must hold these parts of us with compassion — inside our own selves and inside of others.

But there is another part of our mind-body-soul. We hold the drive to preserve all life. All the lives. All of us. No "them." It is this part that we must feed and nourish these days. That we must check in with. That we must listen to and act from, as much as we possibly can.

I could tell you about my time in D.C. I could tell you that when I got to the church that provided us sanctuary to set up our action, they provided me food, drink, and dignity after a red-eye flight. I could tell you that as I davened/prayed in their sanctuary, the room filled with a beautiful, ready, inspired, and inspiring intergenerational mass of Jews and allies from all over the world, pre-organized into pods to protect and defend and support one another. I could tell you about the rabbi pod I was in, with the two dozen amazing colleagues from all over the country — from elders to rabbinical students —— who on short notice had been asked to be at the center of the action. I could tell you about blowing shofar and leading songs from the center of the Cannon House Office Building's iconic rotunda, surprising and overwhelming onlookers and security with our nonviolent showing of prayer, plea, and unity. I could tell you about the 400-plus of us who were arrested and held together in a warehouse for hours and hours without food and with very little water (admittedly more than the residents of Gaza are alloted). I could tell you about the cathartic moment of being released when all of the feelings from the day finally welled up in my chest and my throat and my cheeks and my eyes. I could tell you about all that. And I'd be happy to. Let's talk.

But what I want to tell you about is this: Just at the cathartic moment of being released, I noticed a dear rabbinic colleague being comforted by others, crying tears of pain and tragedy.

While we were being arrested and held for hours, the family of her dear friend had all been killed in Gaza by another Israeli bombing.

This is an emergency.

Please do whatever you can today — moving beyond the part of us that is designed to preserve our own individual life to the part of us that can be creatively and resiliently tapped to preserve all lives. The people in Gaza need us to act. The people of Gaza need us to act now.

This is an emergency.

And we can do something about it. And what we do about it can work.

Since beginning our showing to Congress, there has been a wave of change. While we were singing in the rotunda, WA-7 Rep. Pramila Jayapal signed on to the Tlaib/Bush Ceasefire Now Resolution. The next day, Thursday, California (Oakland area) Rep. Barbara Lee and Texas (Houston area) Rep. Greg Casar both joined in as well. At the time of this newsletter, the list has grown to include 18 House representatives. Let us multiply this 18 — the Jewish number for life, chai — until ceasefire comes! And on the flight home, a friend shared the news that over 400 congressional staffers joined in calling for a ceasefire as well.

Of course, coupled with this momentum is a U.S. veto of the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and an Oval Office speech from President Biden not calling for a ceasefire, despite calling to "not to be blinded by rage" [sic]. And so.

We must keep the momentum. We must create systems where some of us rest while others are pushing. And then switch. This is an emergency and our efforts are working. It is working and this is an emergency.

As some Kadima elders/longtimers and board members said during calls this week to move Kadima toward principled action: This is not the time to critique language and theory. This is a time to act alongside anyone who is willing to say, "Ceasefire now!"

And as the psalms say:

" " —™' "' '
Mi ha-ish ha'chafetz chayim, oheiv yamim lir'ot tov
Who is the person who desires life, who cherishes years to experience creation? (Psalm 34:13)

May we act as though we desire life. May life be our motto. May we act as though we desire more time for all upon this Earth to experience creation. May the answer to the psalmist's question above prove to be you and prove to be me.

L'ceasefire,

R' David

ACTIONS

Jewish Voice for Peace: President Biden, call a ceasefire now and tell Congress to support ceasefire.

MPower Action: Ceasefire in Gaza Now! petition.

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights: Ongoing list of ceasefire protests across the U.S. and Canada as well as an Action Toolkit.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib's Office: Sign to support immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine.

Synagogues Rising: Get your synagogue to sign on for ceasefire joining the 22 nationwide already signed on, including two in Seattle.

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📸 Featured Image: Protestors calling for a stop to genocide in Gaza march toward the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 21, 2023. Photo via Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB/Shutterstock.com