September 24, 2026
Rabbi Loren Sykes
Shalom,
Each week when choosing my subjects for writing, I try to balance Israeli creativity and innovation with inyanei d’yoma, current events; arts and culture with politics; and the ways the Masorti Movement enriches Israeli lives with the ways some Israelis, private citizens and politicians alike, undermine pluralism at home and abroad. Sometimes my desire to share the best of Israel must give way to darker news. This is one of those weeks.
On Yom Kippur, a gunman attacked Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario. The only fatality was the shooter himself. Constable Jeff Smith was the only person injured, and only because of his heroism was no one else physically harmed. The emotional wounds inflicted on the congregation will take far longer to heal.
Belleville was not the only synagogue attacked on Yom Kippur. The two attacks are not morally equivalent, and I do not mean to treat them as such. But placing them side by side reveals something troubling. In the Diaspora, the threat to our synagogues comes from outside the Jewish community. In Jerusalem, it now comes from within. Kol HaNeshama, the city’s main Reform congregation, was vandalized for the fourth time in a month. Security footage from the earlier incidents had already been given to the police, but the four Jewish teenagers responsible were arrested only after the fourth attack, between Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur morning. Kol HaNeshama has been a fixture of the Baka neighborhood for forty years and has been vandalized before. This time feels different and more ominous.
The attacks on Kol HaNeshama are part of a broader rise in religiously motivated violence. Ads featuring women have been torn down or defaced on buses and construction fences. Othello, an ice cream shop in largely secular Herzliya, has been vandalized and set on fire because it opens on Shabbat. These are not isolated acts. They are attempts to settle by force a debate Israel has conducted mostly implicitly:
Will Israel remain both Jewish and democratic?
What kind of Jewish state will it be?
Will its democracy be pluralist or theocratic, grounded in liberal values or in a majoritarianism that excludes Jews whose practice differs from the government’s definition of Judaism?
With elections approaching, ending religious violence and holding this debate openly are more urgent than ever.
MERCAZ USA’s position is clear. Our mission is “to further the cause for true religious pluralism in Israel and strengthen the connection between, and create engagement opportunities for, the people of Israel and Jews living in the Diaspora.” The fifth principle of our platform for the most recent World Zionist Congress elections envisions “a secure, pluralistic and democratic Israel with fair treatment of Jews and non-Jews who call Israel home, regardless of beliefs, gender or sexual orientation.”
Keeping Israel Jewish, democratic, and pluralistic is one of the MERCAZ USA’s raison d’être. None of our kehillot were vandalized this High Holiday season, but they have not been immune in the past, and they will not be in the future. And we do not stand with our own kehillot alone. We stand with the Reform Movement and with every Jew who observes Shabbat differently from those who advocate, incite, or commit violence against synagogues and businesses they deem insufficiently “Jewish.” We expect to guard our synagogues against those who hate Jews. We should never have to guard them against other Jews.
The current situation echoes the emotional tension of Sukkot. The Torah commands us, וְהָיִיתָ אַךְ שָׂמֵחַ, to be wholly joyful, yet the festival’s haftarot carry ominous visions of the future. We sing Hallel to energetic, joyous melodies, then circle the sanctuary with lulav and etrog, crying “Hoshana,” save us, again and again. We decorate our sukkot and fill them with family, guests and the Ushpizin, our heavenly guests, even as we acknowledge that the sukkah, like each of us, is temporary and fragile. We celebrate every positive achievement made by Israel, like the sporting medals they earn at international competitions and the technological advances made by Israeli companies, and we need to share our concerns about changes in the relationship to pluralism and democracy in Israeli political and social society with those who share our values and can protect them against change.
As Shabbat and Sukkot arrive, I pray for:
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameah,
Loren