The Israeli flag ought to be displayed in our synagogues

As a family, we have had the opportunity to visit Jewish communities this year in a number of countries and across three continents. There were of course plenty of differences that we noted, linguistically, culturally or indeed architecturally.

There was however one overarching similarity the prominence of which, whether in Europe, Asia or North America and across the communal spectrum too that was quite overwhelming and that was the display of an Israeli flag. Sometimes these appeared alongside those of the home country, they were often erected within the sanctuary itself but if not just outside but always front and centre, for all to see.

We can’t know for certain whether they had all been there prior to October 7, no doubt some had but it was also perhaps not a detail that we might have paid attention to before this date. Whatever the case, seeing the notable presence of Israeli flags in these far-flung places of worship brought a sense of pride and evoked a remarkable love for Israel during these difficult times.

By contrast, we and others within our own synagogue, New North London, are dismayed that it has so far not placed a flag permanently on the premises. Such is the frustration that one leading member of the community now dons a t-shirt most weeks that proudly displays the blue-and-white flag.

There are of course many who may well regard the sight of an Israeli flag as anathema to their Judaism. In his recent book, For Such a Time as This, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, a leading Conservative rabbi in the USA, has the fictional teenage Maya say that the overt display of such a nationalist symbol as a flag in a place of worship makes for a toxic blend of religious ethnocentrism and is a far cry from the sort of ethical Judaism to which she espouses.

This character may well be invented but she certainly represents a glaring generational divide that is now such a fault line in the Jewish world.

How then should we argue for the need to exhibit an Israeli flag, given such tensions?

We should first ensure that it is not regarded as demonstrating outright support for the incumbent government by any means and it must be reclaimed as a symbol beyond party political divide.

The late Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook (1891-1982), referencing the flags used by the twelve tribes in the desert, believed that the modern Israeli flag is also imbued with a sense of holiness as it is: ‘’the healthy expression of the nation who recognises and gives thanks for the divine blessings bestowed upon it’’.

The Hebrew word for banner is nes, which is coincidentally also the word for “miracle” or “sign” (the oil that lasted eight days in the Temple at Chanukah is described as a nes gadol, “a great miracle”).

Whenever we see an Israeli flag, then it should fill us with a consciousness of the miraculous as while we today can enjoy a connection with an independent and flourishing Jewish state, this was but a dream for our ancestors over the millennia.

While looking at the flag to trigger an appreciation of divine blessings is perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, we might well follow the route taken by the late Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (1903-1993), the leading exponent of modern Orthodoxy of his generation, who saw in the flag the immersion of the blood of thousands of young Jews who had fallen in wars defending the country and the people; and for that reason it should merit our respect.