by Shari Eshet, director of NCJW's Israel office

Since New Year's Day is not a recognized holiday in Israel, I decided to spend the eve counting my blessings instead of partying. One of the biggest blessings I have is the honor of living in Israel, in the State of Israel. A Jewish democratic state is not something that we should take lightly -- after all, we waited for it for 2000 years. I do not take it lightly and as the director of NCJW's Israel Office, I have been charged with working with Israeli organizations here in Israel that advocate for or help protect human rights. 

Israel is an amazing country that has managed to create a viable state with a stable economy, as well as having absorbed millions of immigrants from over 70 countries who speak 40 different languages. This all takes place in the violent and troubled Middle East, and in an area no bigger than the State of New Jersey. I do count my blessings for being able to be part of this amazing miracle in the Land of Miracles.

But Israel is also the Land of Promises and, unfortunately, many promises have not been kept. Most (but not all) of those promises relate to personal status issues: marriage, divorce, burial. Other promises come into conflict with the Jewish part of the Jewish Democratic State, especially because here there is no separation of religion and state.  

And so, while I count my blessings here in the Holy Land, I also want to count the issues that are not blessed, the issues that interfere everyday with the one million Israelis who cannot marry or divorce in this country. For the hundreds of Israeli soldiers who have died in this country -- for this country -- and cannot be buried in state military cemeteries because their Judaism is being questioned. For those who want to convert and are turned away, or -- even worse -- for those who have converted and are having their conversions illegally annulled. For those women who are being told to sit in the back of the bus, walk on the other side of the sidewalk, or not enter supermarkets or health facilities on the same days that men do.

For all of those who cannot count as many blessings as we can, NCJW is there to help them carry the message, speak out, and advocate for a more just society -- where Judaism and democracy do not met each other head–on, but rather where they converge.

To learn more about the issues mentioned here and NCJW's work in Israel, please contact Shari Eshet, director of NCJW's Israel office.

Photo: Shari Eshet, second from left, with the staff at the Kedma School in Jersalem. The Kedma School is one of NCJW’s 2009 grant recipients. Photo by Vera Etzion.