Why We Are Fighting Against Iran

What follows is my Shabbat evening sermon about the war against the Iranian regime.

I awoke Saturday morning to news about the start of the US-Israel war against Iran. I checked on family and friends living in Israel, in particular my nephew and cousins. I read the news incessantly. I listened to podcasts that I agreed with and those I disagreed with. I continue to read daily briefs. I worry. And so, this evening let me share my concerns and thoughts.

I have often said and continue to believe that we must take antisemites at their word. When they say they want to kill us, we should not say that’s just bravado. Our history is filled with too many examples of antisemites fulfilling their murderous fantasies and wiping out Jewish lives. And when antisemites try to get the means to kill even more of us, we should take them even more seriously. Since 1979 Iran’s leaders have chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” For decades they have sought to build nuclear weapons. There should be no pretending that the threat this regime represents to Jewish lives is real. There should be no pretending that the threat it represents to America and its interests is real.

My high school years were lived in the shadow of the Iran hostage crisis. I remember the daily counting of days on the TV from its first days to the 444th day. I recall the blowing up of the Marine barracks in Beirut. I cannot forget the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994. We should recall that Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah who share its antisemitic genocidal designs.

One core definition of Zionism is that we must defend Jewish lives not with words and arguments, but action and military might. We must write our own history and not sit around waiting to be the victims of history. Zionism is about taking the painful lessons of antisemitism to heart and taking the fight to the antisemites. There is no doubt that this war is Israel’s fight. That is why the vast majority of Israelis support it even though they are the ones running to bomb shelters in the middle of the night. Israel is obviously within firing range of Iran’s rockets! That is why to 93% of Israelis this is a necessary war of self-defense. And this is why to rabbis such as me who have read and lived too much recent history, filled with antisemitic attacks and terrorist bombings, understand the moral legitimacy of Israel’s fight against Iran. The State of Israel was founded in the shadow of the Shoah’s devastation. That past Holocaust motivates today’s preemption. I stand with Israel.

And yet military might can only achieve limited objectives. It can remove immediate threats. It can secure borders. Perhaps it can so decimate weapons stores, military know how and skilled commanders that it buys even longer-term security. But war cannot effectuate regime change. It’s not so good about long term objectives. For the first time Israel killed a head of state. However loathsome Khamenei was this may lead to unforeseen and even more dangerous outcomes. Our attempts at regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan failed. The Taliban are back in power. ISIS emerged out of our attempt to bring democracy to Iraq. And in the early 1980’s when Israel went into Lebanon to root out the PLO Hezbollah emerged out of that violent quagmire. I wonder why we cannot take these lessons to heart as well. War could very well strengthen hardliners. Once wars start to rage the dangers can start to multiply and can stray beyond the conflict zone. That’s not a reason not to fight them when circumstances force them upon us, but it is cause to exercise greater humility and even more caution.

Of course, the Iranian regime is not only a threat to us, but a threat to its own people. January’s massacres are only the most recent evidence of that, but the quick and inefficient tools of war are not the slow and equally inefficient, but far more lasting, work of fostering democratic principles by building responsible governmental institutions. I pray the Iranians might find a new government and discover the freedoms they so richly deserve.

The Iranian regime is a self-proclaimed enemy of Israel and the US. President Trump is right to recognize the threat it represents. He is right to recall the many battles this regime waged against Americans going all the way back to 1979. And yet the president has not made the case to the American people why this is America’s fight and why it is our country’s fight right now. Just because I don’t need convincing does not mean that most Americans don’t deserve to hear reasoned arguments and weigh their merits. To his credit Netanyahu has been building this case for twenty years!

While there is consensus among Israelis about the need to take the fight to Iran, President Trump has not marshaled support among the majority of Americans. I worry his failure to make the case to Congress, and the American people, will further divide us and potentially lead to even more dissension and hatred in American society. It is a leader’s responsibility to make the case for military action when it is this consequential and sustained. In the American system the decision to go to war is not supposed to be a demonstration of decisiveness but rather an example of plodding and deliberative decision making. Arguing the case for war before Congress is not just a formality. It is fundamental.

I am a Jew who has taken to heart the painful lessons of our history. Even though I may think that Israel resorts to military action too often, I recognize its necessity and moral legitimacy. I cheer the fact that in my own generation unlike the countless generations of Jews who preceded me, the Jewish people can defend itself. But I am also a rabbi who has taken to heart the rabbinic tradition of peacemaking and compromise and one that harbors deep skepticism about war.

The rabbis began writing the tradition that I so love in the shadow of another destruction, namely the destruction of the Temple and then Rome’s ruthless crushing of the Bar Kokhba rebellion in the second century. Their answer was not that of Zionism that we must build a powerful Jewish army. Their answer was to prioritize compromise and peacemaking.

In this week’s portion, we read about the building of the Golden Calf. According to the Torah Aaron, who Moses left in charge, was not only a willing a participate in this sin, but a leader who helped the people build their idol. Even though Moses is disappointed with his brother, Aaron does not get punished. And that leaves room for the rabbis to read his actions not in a negative light but a positive one. They see him not as the leader of a rebellious and sinful people who built an idol but as the archetypal peace maker. He kept the people together. He forestalled a riot. Rabbi Hillel said, “Be of the disciples of Aaron. Love peace and pursue peace.” (Pirke Avot 1:12)

The rabbis teach. We should never cheer war. War is tragic. We must only pray for peace.

At best war only offers temporary fixes and short-term gains. It does not afford long term solutions. There are no quick fixes.

Despite my concerns and worries, all I can do is hope the Iranian threat is eliminated. I pray for peace. I pray for peace for Israel. For the Palestinians. For the Lebanese. And for the Iranian people.

Ohev shalom v’rodef shalom. Love peace. Pursue peace.