Articles

This series of articles were prepared prior to the events of October 7th. The analysis of these ongoing political challenges sadly aligns with what we are currently experiencing.

This article follows two earlier commentaries, one on the current state of our society and its implications for Jews.[1] The other provides an internal Jewish response to these challenges.[2] In this column a set of proposals are introduced for reinvigorating the American experience, where the Jewish community can and must play an essential role.

Over these difficult weeks, I had occasion to address several audiences in connection with the events unfolding in Israel. Posted below are some of the reactions that I have received. They reflect both the diversity and complexity that one finds at this moment within our community.

The anti-Israel campaign is alive and well. Immediately following the Hamas attack on civilians in southern Israel, groups across the anti-Israel spectrum were defending these actions. In their minds this is a war of liberation. As a colonialist occupier, Israel has no standing, and its American (government) supporters are seen as enabling the Jewish State to unlawfully control peoples and lands.

It has only been two days since we learned of the terrorist assault on the State and people of Israel. Yet, for those of us who have lived a lifetime parallel to the story of the founding and evolution of the Jewish State, this marks another moment of reflection, of sadness, and of concern but always of hope.

The anti-Israel campaign is alive and well. Immediately following the Hamas’ attack on civilians in southern Israel, groups across the anti-Israel spectrum were defending these actions. In their minds this is a war of liberation. As a colonialist occupier, Israel has no standing, and its American (Government) supporters are seen as enabling the Jewish State to unlawfully control peoples and lands.

Unlike any moment since the 1972 Munich Olympics, the scope and depth of violence directed against the Jewish people last weekend has never been so dramatic.

Hamas’ pogrom against Israel represents another dimension of conflict and war. The actions of their foot soldiers were not merely the tactics of a military operation or even terrorism, but a concerted effort to annihilate Jews. Its boldness and ruthlessness served as an intentional statement that Jews are expendable.

It is exactly fifty years ago to the day that Israel experienced its worst surprise military attack. It was Yom Kippur 1973. Now, on Shabbat as we conclude Sukkot and observe Simchat Torah, Israel is once again under attack. A military assault this time from Gaza would upend a peaceful Israel morning.

Despite his efforts to cultivate them, American Jews have never liked Donald Trump.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote against Trump by 48% to 46%. Only 37% of white voters favored Clinton, but of those, Jews did so by 71% to 23%. Four years later, Joe Biden beat Trump 51% to 49%. Only 41% of white voters picked Biden, but among Jewish voters, almost all of whom are white, Biden received 77% of their votes.

In 1953, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson launched the Shofar Campaign, instructing Chabad rabbis to make certain that the Shofar would be heard by Jews wherever they maybe during the High Holy Days.[1] The idea of the “moveable feast” is not a new concept in religious practice. Portability enables folks removed from the formal structures of religious life to also embrace and benefit from the tradition.

American democracy is in trouble. Democratic governments here and elsewhere are being tested and challenged. Liberalism as a political and moral ideology based on the rights of the individual, the centrality of liberty, and the consent of the governed is particularly under attack, as political nationalism and authoritarianism expand their presence. In part, the downsizing and questioning of democracies emerged as a result of a number of factors, including the impact of the pandemic, the collective economic and social grievances of various classes of citizens, a growing uncertainty about America, an expanding credibility gap in connection with leaders, and a corresponding loss of trust in the capacity of democratic governments to perform.