America and Israel

Reflections on Connection

Having grown up in the rather antisemitic city of Manchester, I’m always a little self-conscious about my Jewishness when I’m outside of Israel. And this is all the more so with this year’s global explosion of antisemitism. On Tuesday I was in a store in New Jersey, and the assistant was of the pierced purple-haired type that I don’t encounter in Beit Shemesh but which I have seen in videos of anti-Israel college protests. When she stared at my large kippah, I was a little uncomfortable and prepared myself for hearing some kind of statement. And I got one.

“Is it Shavuos tonight already?!” she said. “Chag sameach!”

I was taken aback. She subsequently told me that her sister just moved to Israel and she wishes she could join her.

It’s easy to be a proud Jew and supporter of Israel if you are part of a community where everyone feels that way. If you’re in the type of community where people are not Jewish and/or have purple hair, I would imagine that it might be more challenging. When people in those communities join pro-Israel rallies or otherwise support Israel, I think it’s particularly impressive.

Anyway, I spent Shavuos as scholar-in-residence in the lovely community of Agudas Achim in Jersey Shore. The prayer for the IDF is standard in American modern/centrist Orthodox shuls, but I was moved to see the degree of empathy and connection to the situation in Israel. The shul recited Avinu Malkeinu (the rabbi told me that Rav Hershel Schechter recommends that practice), and when reciting the prayer for the hostages, the rabbi listed them all by name.

In one of my speeches, I commented on how I was touched that the shul is so connected to what’s going on in Israel. Afterwards, one woman told me that she travels and circulates among both Orthodox and non-Orthodox synagogues, and the non-Orthodox synagogues that she attended make no mention at all of the soldiers and hostages. I was appalled. But then I realized that the same is tragically also true of many Orthodox shuls - even in Israel!

I was thinking of this in light of the story of Ruth. Her famous speech to her mother-in-law is all about her commitment, her connection: Your people are my people, your God is my God, wherever you will go I will go. And when the Gemara speaks about the process of accepting a convert, it’s also all about commitment to the nation. It says (and I’m paraphrasing) that we ask him/her, Why on earth would you want to be part of the Jewish People - are you out of your mind?! Don’t you know how hated and persecuted we are? And if the person still wants to join, says the Gemara, we accept them immediately, and only afterwards start teaching them about some of the halachot.

Commitment and connection to the Jewish People is paramount. Perhaps that’s why the wicked son of the haggadah, who excludes himself from the Jewish community, is described as kofer b’ikkar - denying the fundamental.

Who is more committed and connected to the Jewish people - a Jew who is lax about their bein adam l’Makom but who puts himself/herself out and makes sacrifices to help keep Jews safe, or a Jew who is scrupulous about ritual observance and Torah study but has no interest in sharing the national responsibility of protecting the Jews of Israel, and won’t even attend a rally for essential political support of Israel because he might get too connected to the rest of the Jewish nation? The latter will likely be more successful in transmitting Judaism to the next generation, which is no small thing, but to what extent does the kind of Judaism that they are transmitting have authenticity and value?

It’s something to think about.

Meanwhile, if you’re in New York, you might want to attend my presentation this Sunday in Jamaica Estates: