OpEd — Today, modern Israel turns 70 years old. As goes New York City, so goes Israel.

 

 

Today, modern Israel turns 70 years old.  This anniversary will be marked by many celebrations here in New York City and a move of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn will launch a dozen events around the anniversary. The Celebrate Israel Parade will take place on Sunday, June 3rd under the slogan “70 and Sababa!” (70 & Awesome!). Chosen People Ministries will take 600 people to Israel this summer to celebrate.

The Embassy Act was passed in 1995, but the actual move to Jerusalem was delayed until recently.[1] The new administration in Washington, D.C. came into power with a promise to move the capital. The announcement was made on December 6, 2017.  A little over two months later, the State Department issued a statement declaring, “In May, the United States plans to open a new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The opening will coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary.”

 

 

So, how do New Yorkers feel about the modern state of Israel and the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem?

The answer lays in the deep roots in New York of the Jewish people and a history of pro-Israel support by city leaders.

 

Jewish New York

New York City has more Jewish people than any other city in the world. The five boroughs of New York City have almost 2,000,000 Jewish people. Brooklyn alone has more than three quarters of a million people of Jewish descent. The suburbs surrounding New York City include another few million Jewish people when Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland County and New Jersey counties within commuting distance of Manhattan are considered.

Moreover, the ties between New York City and Israel go far beyond the mere numbers of Jewish people resident in both places. New York City is home to one of the largest religious Jewish communities in the world. It is difficult to say, but Brooklyn alone might have as many as 200,000 Orthodox Jewish people within its reach. The communities of Monsey, New York, Lakewood New Jersey and the Catskill Mountains (arguably a six or seventh Borough of New York City) also have large Jewish communities that are ultra Orthodox and Hasidic.

 

 

New York City is also a brain trust for religious Jews around the world. The city is home to Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox), Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) and one of the main campuses of Hebrew Union College (Reform). There are dozens upon dozens of Yeshivas (boys schools), Mesivtas (girls schools) and smaller Hasidic or old style Orthodox Yeshivas where young men are trained to study Torah and how to serve as teachers, community leaders, and Rabbis for the large number of parochial schools, and synagogues in their communities. Morristown, Fairlawn, Teaneck and Lakewood, New Jersey also have some of the largest Yeshivas in the world as does Monsey, New York.

The city has a thick strudel of Jewish-orientated religious and secular and social and commercial organizations. Kibitzing and kosher flavor every layer of New York City life. It is layered with synagogues of every stripe, kosher butchers and grocers, Jewish book stores, community centers, social agencies and organizations.

Jewish history of the world is indelibly connected to Ellis Island — the gateway for millions of Jews into the modern democratic world, and the fabled Lower East Side, which was the first American home for many.

Then, the vast movement of Jews into the suburbs created a Jewish belt around the city. Although some moved away and others returned to Israel by making aliyah, most Jewish people stayed in the greater New York City area, which became a haven of safety, creativity, business opportunity and community strength for the global Jewish community.

However, you might be surprised that not every Jewish New Yorker is enthusiastic about the modern state of Israel. There are a number of Orthodox Jewish sects, especially the Neturei Karta, who believe Israel is only supposed to come back into existence through the means of the mighty hand of the Messiah. Modern Israel is perceived as a secular Moshe-come-too-early to God’s party. Additionally, the greater New York area brews up a rich variety of liberal and radical political views, including some that involve vociferous criticism of Israel and some that favor a two state solution.

But still, local Jewish people generally give strong support to the independence for a Jewish state. They believe in Israel’s right to exist, based upon history, the need for survival and the vote of the United Nations. So, it is safe to say that most Jewish New Yorkers are pro-Israel but not necessarily supportive of every political decision or military action taken by the still fledgling nation.

 

 

New York’s Pro-Israel Legacy

Many non-Jews in the greater New York area also embrace Israel for a variety of reasons. Non-Jewish New York City politicians even played a major role in the creation of the modern state of Israel.

If it were not for the efforts of one non-Jewish New Yorker in particular, the nation of Israel might never have gained the early support of the United States.

This hero of Zion is Robert F Wagner Sr., a German immigrant who was an anti-Nazi. In 1926 he won as a Democrat a seat in the United States Senate, to which he was re-elected three times. Few people worked harder than Wagner to ensure the safety of the Jewish people. At times, it was an uphill battle.

For example in 1939, Wagner co-sponsored the Wagner-Rogers bill to admit 20,000 German Jewish refugee children to the United States. It did not pass. So, the senator worked to rally more support among the American people. He lent his support to the American Palestine Committee’s effort to mobilize Christian support behind the Jewish aspirations to statehood.

As World War II drew to a close, Wagner passionately believed that the Jews in the Nazi extermination camps would need a safe place to call home. Consequently, he intensified his support for the idea of an independent state for the Jews in Palestine.

In 1944, he maneuvered a pro-Zionist plank into the Democratic platform and enlisted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to support it. He was also canny in how he worked with the Republicans on behalf of establishing Israel.

In 1944, Wagner joined with Republican Senator Robert Taft of Ohio to introduce a resolution “calling on the British to open the doors of Palestine to refugees and permit the establishment of a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth there.”[2]  This bill failed, because Roosevelt did not want to anger the Arabs.

However, the New York senator did not give up. On April 30, 1946, he described the effort in historic terms. He argued that the creation of an independent Jewish state in Palestine was “the touchstone of the…world’s integrity.” Two months later, he wrote to President Harry S. Truman that the United States had to press Great Britain to allow 100,000 refugees into Palestine.[3] It is well that we recall some of his fifteen reasons for action.

12.Neither the gallant people of Britain nor the other peoples of the world, and certainly not the American people, can be in favor of such delaying toying with the souls and hearts and bodies of persecuted and destitute human beings.

13. You will be acting in accordance with world opinion, in the sense of true humanity and statesmanship if you use your influence to put an end to slow death and torture by committees, investigations, and other delaying devices. Action, not core committees, is what is required today.
14. We urgently request you, through direct communication with Prime Minister Atlee, to press again and without let up, for the admission at once of 100,000 European Jews into Palestine. That would be only right and just.
15. The government of Great Britain cannot be permitted to repudiate its commitments. To that end, it is high time that British leaders give heed to the urgent promptings of the president of the nation that helped to keep the British people themselves from being exterminated.[4]

One of these years, it would be fitting to honor Robert F Wagner Sr. for his role in helping to swing American support for the nation of Israel. He is an unsung hero of Zion that most Jews and non-Jews would not easily recognize as a friend of the Jewish people. Perhaps, this article is one way of giving him the respect he deserves. I had my Bar Mitzvah during the tenure of his son Robert Wagner as mayor of New York City. Little did I know of how devoted his father was to Israel and the Jewish people!

 

New York and Israel Today

New Yorkers today are sustaining the pro-Israel attitude of their predecessors.

Masses of people and politicians turned out for the 53^rd Celebrate Israel Parade last year. Nearly 40,000 New Yorkers marched down Fifth Avenue. Marching alongside the crowd of Israel supporters was a who’s who of New York political leaders like Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill De Blasio, city council members, and representatives from the U.S. Congress.[5] Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also joined them in the parade.

Our elected leaders are also working to deepen the relationship of New Yorkers and Israel. In 2017, Governor Cuomo launched the New York-Israel Commission to strengthen economic and cultural ties between New York and Israel. Speaking at the launch of the commission, Governor Cuomo commented:

“New York and Israel have always shared a deep cultural, social and economic bond and I am proud that we are working to make our partnership stronger than ever before… These individuals will help continue to strengthen our relationship with the Jewish community and reaffirm our commitment to Israel, and I look forward to seeing the impacts of this partnership resonate across the state and the globe for years to come.”

In New York City, Mayor Bill De Blasio has supported Israel and been an outspoken critic of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS). According to De Blasio, defending Israel is a progressive value, based in the belief that the Jewish people have a right to live in their homeland. Matching the conviction of his New York City counterpart, Governor Cuomo said, “If you boycott against Israel, New York will boycott you,” after signing an executive order in 2016 banning the state of New York from doing business with any group that has ties to the BDS movement.[6]

Recently, the New York City Hispanic evangelical community has made a point to support Israel. In 2016, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference co-hosted at King Jesus Ministries of Astoria, pastored by Leonardo Gomez, and at the Consulate General of Israel a nationwide gathering of Latino church leaders to celebrate the state of Israel. The meetings included Israeli and American Jewish leaders along with evangelicals like Bronx City Council member Fernando Cabrera.[7]

From the streets of Fifth Avenue, to the Governor’s mansion in Albany, the Jewish people are an important component of the life and community of New York City. If a New Yorker is not Jewish, they have many Jewish friends, family members and co-workers.  New Yorkers generally care about what happens to the Jewish people, and by extension, to the nation of Israel.  We know that Israel, along with every other nation, is not perfect, but is still an inspiration to those who cherish freedom and a democratic society, which are critical New York City values!

 

The Hand of God on New York City and Israel

Many Jewish and Christian New Yorkers see the movement of Jews to New York and then the founding of Israel as the work of the hand of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. God promised that one day his chosen people would return to this sliver of oil-less land in the Middle East. That fate involved the work of New Yorkers: the Jews who had settled in the city; and the non-Jews who saw their role as protectors of the Jewish people.

So, 1948 is not simply a year of celebrating an almost impossible human achievement. It is a year that perhaps the curtain on God’s work was pulled back for just a moment so that one could see how He moved together the interests of Robert F. Wagner in New York and David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and Abba Eban in Israel. Such a peak behind the curtains makes any Broadway savvy New Yorker take notice!

 

Dr. Mitch Glaser is president of Chosen People Ministries, a Messianic Jewish organization with headquarters in New York City and The Jerusalem Center in Israel.

 

 

[1] Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, Public Law No: 104-45, 104^th Congress, (10/24/1995) Library of Congress, accessed April 3,2018,  https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/senate-bill/1322

[2] The Encyclopedia of America’s Response to the Holocaust , s.v. “Taft, Robert,” accessed April 3, 2018 http://enc.wymaninstitute.org/?p=511

[3]The Truman Library, “Memo from Robert F. Wagner to President Truman regarding the horrors of the treatment of Jews by the Nazis, June 20, 1946,” accessed April 3, 2018  https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/documents/newPDF/41.pdf

[4]The Truman Library, “Memo from Robert F. Wagner to President Truman regarding the horrors of the treatment of Jews by the Nazis, June 20, 1946,” accessed April 3, 2018  https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/documents/newPDF/41.pdf

[5] Danielle Ziri, “ NYC Turns Blue and White for 53^rd Annual Celebrate Israel Parade,” The Jerusalem Post, June 5, 2017, accessed April 3, 2018, http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/NYC-turns-blue-and-white-for-53rd-annual-Celebrate-Israel-Parade-494829

[7] National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference ( NHCLC) “ New York summit advances Hispanic Christians’ pro-Israel momentum” (Accessed April 3, 2018 ) http://nhclc.org/new-york-summit-advances-hispanic-christians-pro-israel-momentum/

 

 

Horatio Gates Spafford, the writer of the famous hymn “It is Well With My Soul,” was born in New York state and became a close friend of evangelist Dwight W. Moody. After his four daughters died in a shipwreck (which provoke the hymn), he and his wife went onto found the American Colony in Jerusalem in 1870. One of his most famous hymns from this period was “Next Year At Jerusalem.” Below is a copy of Spafford’s hymn written by his hand in September 1879. His body is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery of Jerusalem. In 1992, representatives from Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization met in the hotel where they began talks that led to the historic 1993 Oslo Peace Accord. 

Note by author at the top reads “in London, Israelites, at the close of the last meeting held on the day of atonement shake hands with one another, with these words, ‘next year at Jerusalem.’ From letter of Miss Dryer from London, Sept. ’79.”

American Colony, and Horatio Gates Spafford. Draft manuscript of hymn “Next Year at Jerusalem” by Horatio Gates Spafford. Draft manuscript, ca. September, 1870. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mamcol.004/.

Singer Wintley Phipps rendition of “Amazing Grace” at Carnegie Hall is justly famous. Here is his version of “It is Well with My Soul.”

[constantcontactapi formid=”2″]