RELIGION / JOHN DART : Peace Is an Oft-Repeated Message in the Sermons for Rosh Hashanah : Reflections: The historic Israeli-Palestinian accord was on the minds of many rabbis as they prepared holiday remarks.

The historic Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, signed only days before the start of the Jewish New Year, gave many rabbis material for their Rosh Hashanah sermons this week. Others were saving their thoughts for Yom Kippur next Saturday, and still others decided not to deviate from previously planned subjects during the reflective holidays.

Here are portions of Rosh Hashanah sermons by some San Fernando Valley-area rabbis who submitted texts or excerpts in response to requests for prepared pulpit remarks:

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“What can compare to the events that have ushered in this year of 5754? We watched in disbelief as Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, career soldier and veteran of so many of Israel’s bitter, bloody conflicts with her Arab enemies, shook hands with Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO, the man who heretofore had devoted his life to seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.

“Islamic extremists represent the primary threat to the successful conclusion of the peace process. All Arabs who cooperate in bringing the promise of peace to fruition stand under the threat of ruthless violence and merciless death.

“But we Jews are not without our fundamentalists. For ultra-Orthodox settlers on the West Bank, all of Israel’s territorial holdings are a direct gift from God to the Jewish people. And then, there is the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who promised to ‘launch a massive campaign to prevent the Israeli government from surrendering lands to the Arabs.’ This from the Rebbe who refuses to live in the Jewish state because it was not established by the Messiah.

“Clearly there are those in Israel who still have not learned the wisdom of the Talmud’s ancient pronouncement: ‘Jerusalem was destroyed only because of internal hatred and conflict among Jews.’ ”

--Rabbi Jerry Brown, Temple Ahavat Shalom, Northridge.

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“Two very stubborn peoples, well-versed in suffering and persecution, have shown ... that they are capable of both determination and devotion. Now, as we saw on the White House lawn, both of them finally stand a chance of turning those virtues into building their semi-detached house.

“Whatever your reading of Jewish history and all of the suffering that’s going on, one also has to understand and accept the present history of a huge Palestinian population with Israeli territory does not bode well for the future of Israel. We must persist in our commitment to compromise because of all the risks, this, I believe, is the least perilous.

“I know that we are tied to a political condition which demands that we must act cautiously and in stage, but I, with many of you, reject those who would not give an inch and who are consequently prepared for unending war, for the bleeding of Israel, for the depletion of its economy and the possible loss through immigration of many of its best people. The greatest threat confronting Israel will be the intimidation by the extreme religious right.”

--Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, Kol Tikvah, Woodland Hills.

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“When there is peace in the Middle East there will most likely be a move away from extremism. The orthodoxies of Islam and Judaism will lessen when peace surrounds the region.

“Fanatical Muslims thrive under poor economic conditions and impossible political conditions. Similarly, Holocaust horrors enhance the influence of orthodoxies within Judaism.

“It is no accident that Rabin signed the peace agreement with Arafat and not (earlier Israeli Prime Ministers) Yitzhak Shamir or Menachem Begin. Rabin was born in Israel, and has a more realistic view of the Arab enemy. Shamir and Begin were both products of the Holocaust, which totally shaped their outlooks.

“Peace will be primarily good for the world, but it will tangentially be good for moderate, mainline Judaism--the centrist Orthodox, Conservative and modern Reform (branches).”

--Rabbi Gary Johnson, Beth Haverim, Agoura Hills.

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“Relations among nations is based on mutual self-interest. That there is any movement toward peace in the Middle East is owed not to a sudden sense of compassion, but rather of an awareness that there is little alternative.

“Arafat now realizes that the years of bloodshed has produced nothing, and it is in the interests of the Palestinians that they set out on a new direction to get any results. The Israelis likewise realize that peace with the enemy is required in Israel’s long-term interest.

“The High Holy Days, on the other hand, remind us that our relationships, one to the other, must not be based on mutual self-interest, but mutual concern. Self-sacrificing is needed if tikun olam, repairing the world, is to take place. Charity, volunteerism, caring, altruism--all are predicated on selflessness, not selfishness.”

--Rabbi David Vorspan, Temple Beth Ami, Reseda.

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“(In ‘The Brothers Karamazov,’ Feodor) Dostoevski’s Grand Inquisitor reveals our dirty little secret. Slavery is not an external event. Authoritarianism is not imposed from chains without. People crave it on their own.

“The whole of Jewish history is a defiance of the Grand Inquisitor.

“Do not surrender the integrity of your God-given soul for the sake of false camaraderie. That struggle is for the character of Judaism.”

--Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino.

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“Perhaps the most important message of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is that we, and we alone, are responsible for our behaviors.

“Our genes may determine the color of our eyes, but we determine whether they will look out at the world with hate or with compassion. Our genes may determine our physical height, but we determine the moral stature that we will attain. Our environment may determine the dialect with which we speak, but we determine what we will speak.”

--Rabbi Eli Schochet, Congregation Beth Kodesh, West Hills.

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“The power of the word profoundly affects each of us in our relationships to each other, far more than we ever realize. Husbands and wives, for example, by their words alone can make each other feel happy or depressed. Our very words can build (our children’s) confidence or shatter their egos.

“It was Shakespeare who said: ‘They do not love who do not show their love.’ Rosh Hashanah is a wonderful time to begin to tell people we most cherish that we love them, and to do it not only today but every day of the coming new year.”

--Rabbi Harold F. Caminker, Temple Solael, West Hills.

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“(As an immigrant from Europe,) I came in 1936 as a child of six to the first grade speaking only Yiddish and French. When I subsequently enlisted as a chaplain in the U.S. Army and served during the Korean War, I did so because I wished to express my gratitude to this land.

“That is why I am so sad that today a very different mood dominates the United States, a bitter, close, ugly mood. We in Los Angeles have lost one of every four jobs lost in the U.S.A. and our angry response is to scapegoat the latest arrivals. What short memories we possess.”

--Rabbi Akiva Annes, Temple Judea, Tarzana.

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“The Jewish dream (is) a dream of a world without war, without hunger, without suffering, without sickness, without tyranny. The High Holidays teach every year that we are a people who believe that we can make the world better. The High Holidays teach that it is the Jewish goal to stop the entropy of the world; that it is the Jewish goal to affirm the divinity of history; that it is the Jewish goal to let all people recognize our God through our deeds.”

--Rabbi Aaron Kriegel, Temple Ner Maarav, Encino.