Stop Traveling to Places Where They Hate You

 There must be something wrong with me.

I often feel like that when I have thoughts about a particular matter or subject that fly in the face of what just about everybody else I know and respect thinks.

Now as a Rabbi, I am no less entitled to my thoughts or feelings, even the farfetched and crazy ones, than any of you. It is my responsibility, however, to make sure that somehow these ideas and thoughts aren't presented in such a manner as to convey the idea that my views are actually synonymous with what Judaism actually teaches. I've seen Rabbi's play that game all my life and it is as wrong as it is irresponsible. But there is one crazy idea that I've let slip on more than a few occasions over the years. It has to do with travel, especially foreign travel.

Or more specifically, travel to places where they hate Jews.

I'm not talking about where they hated us 500 years ago. I'm talking about right here and now.

Last month, Israel dealt with several major issues simultaneously. There was the brewing controversy with the Biden administration about their plan to open a consulate in Jerusalem to handle Palestinian consular affairs. (It’s a horrible idea, one which American Jews and the pro-Israel community must oppose vigorously. That's not the point of this Shabbat message, but I want to say it anyway!) Israeli agents stopped a major weapon smuggling ring from Jordan, and successfully prevented assassination attempts against Israelis in both Africa and South America. There was a lot going on. But what had been on the front page of every Israeli newspaper all week long and necessitated diplomatic efforts on the highest level -- meaning Israel's foreign minister and Prime Minister? The arrest of two Israeli citizens for taking pictures of one of the official residences of Turkey's president. After several days, they were released, thank God!

Now there is no doubt that these intrepid photographers were not spies engaged in espionage against sensitive Turkish sites. They are bus drivers from the city of Modi'in, the hometown of the Maccabees who were on a vacation to Turkey, a popular destination for Israeli tourists for over 40 years. Now I understand the wanderlust of Israelis. It's a small country. But why any Israeli would go to Turkey, no matter how inexpensive, no matter how interesting, is literally beyond me. I simply don't understand it. Are people so unaware of how Turkey, once a strong ally of Israel, has sought to pretty much destroy any cooperation with Israel and actively opposes Israel in both the regional arena as well as the international arena? Do I really need to remind anyone reading this message about the way that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s leader has provided a safe haven for Hamas and their terrorist leadership, undermined Israel in international forums, and threated Turkeys indigenous Jewish community?

Why would any Israeli think that they could possibly be safe there? It makes no sense to me. But off they go.

I shouldn't be surprised by this. I remember in the 1990's, how Jews, many Rabbis among them, flocked to Jordan after the peace treaty with Israel was signed, despite the fact that we all knew that most of Jordan's government and all of its leading public and civil organizations remained opposed to the deal. Yet off they went. Israelis regularly traveled to the Sinai desert even after it had been transferred to Egyptian administration despite the dangers and numerous terrorist attacks that occurred. I don't understand it. I remember in 1984, on a day trip sponsored by our seminary in Israel, when there was an announcement that there would be a surprise addition to the itinerary, an excursion into the Sinai desert I was the only person who refused to participate and demanded to get off the bus.

I simply recognized then, as so many fail to recognize now, that there are places in the world where being Jewish makes us a target. And in such places, our American passport or our Israeli passport will not save us. In fact, it makes us even more vulnerable. As I've said many times, I know travel is important. True, it's not important to me. But I certainly recognize that it is important to many of you. But it's not that important. And whereas a free nation should not and must not inhibit their citizens from traveling, there must be a limit on the amount of protection or efforts a government must exercise to secure the freedom of their citizens when they travel to a hostile country. 

There is no doubt that those two Israeli tourists were not spies. I want to say that they made a stupid and irresponsible decision by travelling there in the first place.  But I can’t really because my own relatives in Israel have all been to Turkey, as have been a surprisingly high percentage of Israelis. My father-in-law, a well-known and respected Rabbi in New Jersey, went on one of those first junkets to Jordan and we argued about it for weeks! But those tourists, and all who travel to places where Jews are hated and Israel mistreated as a matter of government policy are not only jeopardizing their own safety by such irresponsible behavior but other Jews as well.

In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain. That is well known. But what is less well known is that for hundreds of years, Jews throughout the world effectively boycotted anything having to do with Spain. Yet we lack the self-respect to actively avoid those places that threaten our safety and literally deny our existence.  We flock to them instead.

Could it really be, to paraphrase a famous Torah verse, that we have traded our birthright for a cheap leather handbag, sandy beaches, and a good foreign exchange rate?

Shabbat Shalom