By Morris Malakoff, JTNews Correspondent
When Rabbi Donniel Hartman speaks of “next year in Jerusalem,” he wants to make it clear he says so with multiple interpretations in mind.
“Yes, it can mean getting yourself a plane ticket and going there,” he told JTNews prior to his appearance at the Seattle Hadassah Gala earlier this month. “But it also is a statement of commitment to examine one’s life and find those spiritual voids and work to fill them.”
Hartman, who serves as co-director of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, said that the concept was closely tied to the topic for his talk at the gala, “The Changing Faces of Israel.”
Hartman’s institute, which was founded by his father Rabbi David Hartman, is an Orthodox institution that focuses on staying grounded in Judaism in modern times. Many of its adherents are rabbis and lay people who don’t necessarily identify themselves as Orthodox, but do find universal value in the messages imparted by Hartman and the institute.
“As a community, Jews are at a crossroads,” he said. “For much of our history, we have lived dreaming of fulfilling our aspirations personally and as a people. We have sung ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’
“For 1,800 years, for Jews around the world, that meant taking the path to a better life, to examining your morals and ethics in light of your aspirations,” he said.
Then, about a century ago, this aspiration became the Zionist dream to establish a Jewish homeland.
“That dream is now a reality,” he said. “The question now for Jews is, ‘what’s next?’”
In terms of the nation of Israel, he said that while many there feel a personal satisfaction when it comes
to being economically and socially stable, there is a fatalism and depression about the broader issues of peace and security.
“Today, for the first time, there is no viable political suggestion for a solution to those concerns,” he said. “Many people feel like there is no solution. It is a lessening of the aspirations the founders and generations since carried.”
While he believes that political leaders will continue to pursue a two-state solution, he is more concerned that a combination of political malaise and personal material fulfillment will cause Jews around the world to stop using their most powerful tool — the never-ending conversation.
“It is too easy to become complacent or discouraged and concentrate on the material world,” he said. “In Israel, that can mean neglecting the examination of the aspirations that answer the question of what the next steps are for the nation to grow and develop.”
According to Hartman, while the affairs of Israel are a cause for concern for all Jews, there is another, equally important conversation that must occur.
He says that the current economic downturn and its attendant effects are an opportunity to revive examinations of forgotten or neglected personal values, ethics and morals.
“For many years, we have seen a lot of material success,” he said. “People have been focused on their economic well-being, their success and accumulation of material goods. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But sometimes things get lost along the way.”
“Maybe your business is down or you find that things are a little tougher. It is an opportunity to take some time to examine your aspirations,” he said. “At the core, they haven’t changed.”
He says that Jews are a people who have a long history of not letting reality shape their aspirations and dreams.
“We are a strong people who know that failure is a part of life and that we don’t fear trying to fulfill our aspirations because of fear or the reality presented us,” Hartman said. “Now is a time to examine your aspirations, your morals and your ethics and compare them to the standards we are given in the Torah. You will find that we are not done and that there are hundreds of ways that one can change for the better — in their personal relationships, with their families, in their congregation and the community.”