The Accidental BDSer

Jon Haber
Divest This!
31 August '10

I recently had the unsettling experience of accidentally falling into the shoes of a practitioner of BDS.

Allow me to explain.

I joined a synagogue for the first time when I moved into my new hometown and, after a few years of getting to know the place, I took part in and now co-chair the temple’s Israel Action Committee (IAC). And despite my own strong views on the Middle East conflict, the committee’s work continues to be centered on opening up dialog within the temple community that takes into account the many differing opinions one would expect to find at a large synagogue of nearly 800 families.

Earlier this summer, our rabbi was contacted by a local pro-Israel organization about sponsorship for a major event they were having in the area and he, in turn, contacted me as head of the IAC to discuss whether or not we should participate. I informed him that it would be a good event to support, providing input as someone on the advisory board of the organization putting on the event who would also be speaking at the conference under discussion.

After agreeing that the temple should support the event, I informed the group that our synagogue was onboard, after which both I and our rabbi went on our own much-needed summer holidays. It was only after I got back that I discovered I had made a major blunder: failing to take a step I now know is required for such a sponsorship: getting approval for such a move by the temple’s board of directors.

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