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| The skyline of Cincinnati - inset: Rabbi Ari Jun (JTA) |
It is true that the definition of ‘progressive’ is broad.
But as it has come to be defined today, it is entirely cultural. Meaning that
one must always view issues in terms of oppressors and victims. There are no
other considerations. So, any support at all for the Jewish state disqualifies
you from the privilege of being called a progressive.
This is what Ari Jun, a Reform rabbi from Cincinnati,
learned the hard way. Rabbi Jun thought he was a progressive. But then this
happened:
When Rabbi Ari Jun learned that faith leaders were invited to speak at a rally in Cincinnati against neo-Nazis and white supremacy, he quickly responded that he would be there.
As the former director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, who had recently taken the helm of a progressive Reform synagogue, Jun had experience responding to antisemitism and a passion for social justice.
But a week later, he was told he was off the docket. The reason? He is a Zionist.
It’s not like Rabbi Jun was pro-settler or that he
automatically supported every policy of the Israeli government. Far from it.
He has been highly critical of the Israeli government and
its right-wing U.S. supporters. He has also expressed empathy for the suffering
of Palestinians under Israeli occupation - even in the immediate aftermath of
the October 7th Hamas massacre. He might as well have said that what
happened on October 7 didn’t happen in a vacuum. He has also condemned Trump’s
Gaza plan as ‘nothing short of the dictionary definition of ethnic cleansing.’
Rabbi Jun’s views would fit very nicely into the narrative
of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress. But to a progressive, the idea that
Israel has a right to exist at all disqualifies you from being considered one
of their own.
When a ‘progressive’ Reform rabbi is rejected by progressives from a rally against neo-Nazis and white
supremacy because he is a Zionist, that should tell you something about the
very essence of progressives. Namely, that (despite their protestations to the contrary) they are themselves antisemitic.
That’s because most Jews that have the slightest connection with their Judaism - have at least the kind of connection to the Jewish
state that Rabbi Jun does.
Some might argue that this group does not have the last word on who is progressive and who isn’t. Maybe not. But I would be hard-pressed to believe that this isn’t the direction in which things are heading. And fast.
