It is a beautiful afternoon as we arrive at Efrat settlement; cloudless blue sky, gentle sunshine, cool breeze. Just like a picture perfect Southern California day.

Efrat Settlement

Efrat Street

Efrat home

We could easily be in a nice Southern California suburb, looking at the shining clean streets lined with red roofed villas, well kept yards, slopes covered with greenery and trees gently swaying in the breeze; Convincing, that is, if we don’t look in the direction of the ramshackle Palestinian village on the nearby hills, the mosque minaret a dead giveaway to its dreary surroundings .

We stop at Pizzeria Efrat, to have a quick bite, before our afternoon meeting with Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin.

Pizzeria Efrat looks just like a pizza joint in Brooklyn, and owner Mordechai sits down with us to chat. The walls are lined with framed posters of a younger and very fit Mordechai, running the New York marathon.

” Efrat was built by Rabbi Riskin starting in 1984. He came from Brooklyn, and many families followed him to come settle in Efrat.  I have lived here for 22 years with my 9 kids. I have a GREAT lifestyle, a basketball court, mountains nearby, tremendous health-care for just $100/month for my whole family! My mother lives in Houston and she has terrible health-care in comparison. I don’t read the newspaper, watch TV, listen to the radio, no political nonsense! We have gone on with our lives and so have they! (meaning the Palestinians)”

(I wonder what he means when he says the Palestinians have gone on with their lives?  Which ones, the one’s who left Palestine and cannot return, or the one’s whose land Efrat settlement is built on?)

The pizza arrives. It is delicious. Thin and crispy crust, loaded with veggies, just the way I like it. Pizzeria Efrat has been the pizza joint of choice for the likes of political leaders and foreign dignitaries. It’s reputation is well deserved.

Pizzeria Efrat

“We also have one of the biggest supplies of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream”, Mordechai says proudly, motioning at the large freezers in the corner, where every tantalizing flavor is represented. I quickly eyeball the freezers for Coconut Almond Fudge Chip, my favorite, which has (alas!) been discontinued in the US (almonds got too expensive), but can’t see it. Too bad!

Feeling pleasantly full and relaxed, we stroll over to the main synagogue/community center of Efrat to meet Rabbi Riskin. It is an impressive building, simple contemporary architecture made of hewn Jerusalem stone, spacious and filled with light. We settle down on some modern looking, velvety,  ruby red couches in a large hall, with walls displaying  colorful artwork .

Efrat Synagogue

Hot beverages await us, perking us up and dispelling  some of the afternoon lethargy. It appears that the center is used to hosting lots of outside visitors.

Rabbi Riskin joins us. He is not very tall, somewhat stout, but looks dapper in his pinstripe suit and bright red tie. My eyes are drawn to his kipa, and then I notice what appears to be a renewed and fuller hair line, thanks to hair grafts. Just like anybody else, the rabbi too, cares about maintaining a youthful appearance.

Something very interesting happens next. In a jovial manner, the rabbi says something like:

“Are all of us Jewish?”, meaning the members of our group.

Not used to beginning a meeting with a public declaration of my faith, I feel a little awkward. We have met many people in Israel and the West Bank and nobody has asked that question out loud, let alone as an “ice breaker” at a group meeting.

Too polite to say “Why do you want to know?”, we dutifully go around the circle and say our names and our religion.

The rabbi begins his story:

” I’m Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Efrat 27 years ago, I’m a Proud Settler.There are 10-11,000 settlers who reside in the area, 99% of them are religious and attend synagogue. We have 33 synagogues.

4 generations of my family have lived here. I live here with my children and grandchildren.  My parents moved here from the United States after I did, and they are buried here.”

I get a sense that it is very important to the rabbi  that we understand and appreciate his deep generational ties to Efrat (as though living for 27 years on land that doesn’t belong to you, erases the claim of its rightful owners of centuries.)

“I have no problems with people who are different from me. I lived in African-American neighborhoods and got along famously with the black kids. I would play ball with them and they called this my ‘Jew beanie'”, he motions to his kipa.

“I am a leader of an initiative to promote Christian-Jewish understanding and cooperation. Muslims are afraid of being part of the dialogue because of the threat of reprisals as a result of being seen as ‘collaborators’ with the Jews.

When I first came to Efrat I made it a point to learn about the local Arab culture. I invited all the neighboring ‘mukhtars’ (leaders of the villages) to my home for dinner. I knew it was not acceptable to serve alcohol to Muslims so I was sensitive not to serve any wine. I became good friends with one of the neighboring mukhtars. With a $25MM donation promised by a financier friend in the US, I wanted to partner with the Arab mukhtar and open a Muslim-Christian-Jewish hospital.

A short while later, the mukhtar was found dead, hanging naked from a tree with his genitals removed.

We are two people with roots in the same land, vying for the land. Jews have always lived here in an unbroken chain for 4000 years.”

(I thought Moses lived about 3000 years ago?)

“About the time Israel came into existence , 22 Arab states were formed. England cared about the Arab world. They wanted to give 80% of the land to Arabs and 20% to Jews. Eventually Jews got 35% but lost East Jerusalem. Arabs were ‘dislocated’ in the war, but right of return is nonsense! ” the rabbi says vehemently.”

(The rabbi needs to consult factcheck.org to brush up his historical facts. Israel was created with 55% of the land and 45% for the proposed Palestinian state. The Jewish-Arab population split at the time, was 30% Jewish and 70% Arab. )

He continues:

“I believe that what unites us should be stronger than what divides us.  I believe in the strong Jewish moorings of Christianity.”

(I’m a little confused.  Forgive my ignorance but I don’t believe Jews accept Jesus to be the Messiah. And what about the strong Jewish and Christian moorings of Islam, which considers both Moses and Jesus prophets?)

“We here believe in our own military security. There have been more than 20 indictments of Israel. We don’t trust the UN and the world.  What kind of crazy irrational religion tells its followers to go kill themselves? You know what research has found about suicide bombers? They are not poor, illiterate and oppressed. They are middle class and educated. A war with suicide bombers is impossible to win, unless you nuke the other side. We won’t nuke the other side…But if we have to, we will.

We are all children of Abraham. We should exist in peace. I have wonderful relations with the Palestinians. They do all kinds of work on the settlement.

I support a two state solution, and I believe Temple Mount should be internationalized, with a synagogue and a church built on top.”

Daniel wants to make sure he heard right and asks:

“Where do you think the synagogue and a church should be built, on top?”

“Yes, why not?” the rabbi answers.

“Look, there is no limit to the concessions I would make for peace. If it means leaving Efrat, I will. I will get out of Efrat, get out of Jerusalem, get out of Tel Aviv!”

(Now he’s getting a little carried away. Yes he did say that, I wrote it down.)

Here comes the punchline:

“But Morality says: No suicide bombers!”

(In my opinion Morality says: No Bombers, period. Whether they are of the nuclear, conventional or suicidal variety)

I’m getting a bit riled up now and ask the rabbi a question:

” I completely agree with you that suicide bombing is irrational and utterly reprehensible. But it’s much more than just a simple death cult. It defies logic that there are never ending factories of suicide bombers, ready to give up their lives.  This ‘never ending’ phenomenon begs the question, what are the conditions that exist, that perpetuate this phenomenon and motivate a seemingly endless stream of people to squander their lives in this senseless manner?”

“What do you think are the reasons?” the rabbi says.

(He is clever. He wants to hear my views first so he rebuts and gets the last word. I see through this and refuse to fall into the trap.)

“No, what do you think?”  I maintain.

He repeats something along the lines that it’s the religious fanatics.

“And we have one right here”, I whisper under my breath, thinking nobody heard me, until I hear Ellen suppress a chuckle on my right. Oops!

When he is done I speak up:

” The reason this endless stream of suicide bombers exists is not solely because of fanatical religious ideology. It also has much to do with the hard fact that the two parties to this conflict are hugely unequal in every way. One side is is much stronger militarily, economically and politically. The weaker side has no tanks, no fighter jets, no missiles or nukes or phosphorus shells. So they use their bodies as weapons, and use them in an irrational and reprehensible manner, that inflicts the most damage to the enemy”

What needs to be recognized is that every human life lost is a tragedy; it is immaterial whether it is Arab or Jew. According to conservative estimates by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem at least 6 times as many Palestinians as Israelis, have been killed  between 2000-2008. At least 10 times as many Palestinian children have been killed.

As we say goodbye to Rabbi Riskin and leave the center I see an Arab visitor on the street, perhaps a workman. As I glance over my shoulder, I see that the rabbi greets him effusively and shakes the Arab’s hand for a very long time.

In researching Rabbi Riskin, I discovered this interesting analysis about his life and activities by orthodox Jewish professor of philosophy, Jerry Haber of Jerusalem:

Shlomo Riskin-Bad Moral Luck

Giving Rabbi Riskin a gift from our group