A year since
Ten Seven

What have we learned in 5784?

It's a terrible zero-sum situation. While claiming to have nothing against us as individuals, our haters are not willing to tolerate, let alone accept us as a collective, as a people. Having listened (mostly on YouTube) to countless lectures, conferences, podcasts etc. from the last year outlying what this is really about - it is clear that the so-called "Anti-Zionist" ideologists do not want a Jewish homeland, that they do not want Israel to exist at all. For our haters, the only tolerable Jewish way of life, i.e. existence, would be as a centerless diaspora (which is an oxymoron).

Upholding our Jewish identity, especially in the diaspora, has returned to its unfortunate historical "normality", requiring of us various sacrifices, be it in our professional opportunities, social contacts, mental health and, at some places, even physical well-being.

Indeed, not all Jews are Zionists. Not all Jews eat kosher, not all Jews keep shabbat. "Nobody's perfect", as the saying goes, and for every two Jews there are probably three different ways to be Jewish... Our tent includes Sefaradim and Ashkenazim, Chassidim and Misnogdim, Yiddish and Ladino, Gefilte Fish with pepper and with sugar - to name a few examples. "How lovely are your tents, Jacob!" 

The line is crossed when one turns on his own people because they keep shabbat, eat kosher or make aliya. Not to mention justifying a horrible pogrom against other Jews because one pictures them as "settler colonialists". This is where our tent is in danger. This year forced us therefore to reckon with our own imperfections, but also with our values. Just like the difficult questions dealt with in Israel, we too had to face difficult questions: What does it mean to uphold our Jewish identity in the often hostile environments of the diaspora? How do we strengthen the poles of our tent to withstand such winds? 

Having survived Pharaoh, Haman, Antiochus, Chmelnitsky, Hitler and countless other haters, we will survive this too. What began on Ten Seven as a double attack both against Israel and against diaspora Jews, has brought us over this traumatic year much closer to each other. Jewish communities from literally all corners of the earth have come together this year in remarkable ways, supporting each other in shared grief and resilience.

And together, we shall prevail.

Am Yisrael Chai
❤️
Shana Tova