I could write for eons about the politics of the past few weeks. A Democratic party cheering on a virulent anti-Semite winning in Michigan. A Republican Vice President blaming his party’s losses on Israel – not immigration policy, not the economy, not his boss’s arrogance, not corruption. Just a state the size of New Jersey. Interestingly, both the Senator-elect from Michigan and the Vice President are buddies with anti-Semite and white nationalist Tucker Carlson. Showing just how fucked our political system is now and how easy it is to blame Jews for our country’s ills.
I’m not interested in litigating these points – it’s exhausting. And unfortunately, too many Jews excuse bad behavior from our elected officials in the name of party unity. Or worse, they even vote for the bigoted politicians themselves!
Meanwhile, in Israel, Bibi seems committed as ever to claim an election fraud that has no basis in reality. President Herzog has accepted the election results and has decried Bibi’s vitriol towards Arab citizens of the country.
As someone who has spent the better part of two years exploring Arabic-speaking Israel (and wrote a book about it), I could write an entire blog just about the current political dynamic. But that is not the purpose of this post.
When we look at the situation around the world, it is dire for the Jewish people and much is out of our control. Israel has far too many foes chomping at the bit for the chance to attack it. Its internal divisions provide ample opportunity for its enemies to take advantage, just as they did on October 7th.
In the U.S., we face an anti-Israel hate movement, a modern-day Inquisition in which Jews are constantly asked to prove their hatred of Israel as a way to gain social legitimacy. To be a “good Jew”. Not like one of those “bad Zionist pigs”. You need not look any further than Philadelphia, where a gang of anti-Semitic lunatics is boycotting Jewish-owned businesses on the eve of Kristallnacht, the day Nazis destroyed 1,400 synagogues and imprisoned 26,000 Jews in concentration camps.
We stand on the edge of the precipice. And our allies are few. And fewer yet speak up.
Our only true ally is Our Creator. We must face these challenges with courage. And without being rooted in our tradition, we will fail.
As Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said: “even in hiding, within hiding, God the Blessed One is certainly there. And behind the the difficult things that stand before you, I stand, I stand, I stand.” You can hear a beautiful rendition of these spirit-filled words here. It has given me hope in dark times.
We enter uncertain territory. And such has been the fate of the Jewish people since slavery in Egypt. Since wandering in the desert. Since the Babylonian and later Roman destruction of the Temple. Since our 2,000 exile. And the countless Christian and Islamic persecutions, expulsions, and humiliations of our tiny yet brave people.
All of which is to say, as novel as today’s problems might seem, none of them are. We are being tested by our enemies and we must find a way to stand together and fight for our survival.
This will require great fortitude. Which brings me to the title of this blog. If we are to make it through this wave of hate, it will be because we are grounded in our tradition, rooted in our relationship with Our Creator. Praying as though everything depended on Him and acting as if everything depended on us.
May God bless his Chosen People and keep us and our friends safe during these turbulent times. We know that even when we can’t understand You, in hiding or plain sight, we will trust in You and You will deliver us. And if that doesn’t work, we are grateful for your faithful servant Shimon Peres and the research facility that bears his name in Dimona. God forbid we have to ever use it.
