Shalom. And a happy and sweet new year to all!
In a normal year, we gather at my brother-in-law’s home for a festive, delicious and game-playing celebration of the Jewish new year. Being traditionalists, we will of course do that once again, but things are far from normal in the Jewish world. Even in the afterglow of my niece’s beautiful and awesomely fun wedding this last weekend, I will not be able to escape the feeling that we have just lived through one of the darkest years in my Jewish memory. First, judicial reform posed an internal threat to the very heart, spirit and soul of Israel, and then we took a gut punch on October 7th, and the ongoing existential threat from Iran’s axis of Jew-hating evil, attacks from which both Israel and Diaspora Jews are still recovering. And then came the hostages and the anti-semitic after shocks. To this day I still get sick to my stomach thinking about Hamas butchers holding dead hostage bodies, or the useless idiots on campus supporting Hamas by ripping down posters of hostages or sporting their keffiyehs and chanting songs of genocide against Israel. And while I feel safe in my Jewish enclave here in the suburbs of Boston, in New York City, which I used to think was the safest place for Jews in this country, incidents of antisemitism have skyrocketed. In one case, a man who demanded that “Zionists” identify themselves on a New York City subway train during a protest over the Israel-Hamas war, then threatened that they get off the train.
So, to say the least, I am feeling a bit conflicted about how I should feel, and how we should celebrate Rosh Hashanah after all this darkness. But we are Jews, and we have a long history of dealing with this shit and finding and shedding light on a new day. We know how to deal with conflict, both inner and otherwise. Indeed, when we blow the shofar, according to our teachings, we are meant to feel two contradictory things. The terrifying call to change our ways and a great happiness that the King is about to arrive. And perhaps that is the ultimate message of Rosh Hashanah. The message also epitomized by the image of Abraham standing terrified and trembling above his beloved, much hoped-for son, with a knife of sacrifice. Namely the message of confusion. The divided mind. If, like me, you are feeling conflicted, or have a divided mind on Israel, you are in good company. And even if you don’t resolve whatever conflict you may be dealing with, fear not, in 10 days you will have a chance to atone for everything!
I started writing this blog to foster a bit of Jewishness within my family and friends, especially to connect a bit of Jewy-ness to the next generation. Part of the motivation was a selfish one: to continue the line of nachas generators within our descendants. I feel a bit of pride and success in that objective every day my wife and I pick up our grandchildren at Jewish day care/school, and they run to greet and hug their “Bubbie” and “Zadie”. But I have also tried to contribute what I can to battling the lies and misinformation about Israel and Jews, and to provide accurate analysis, and expose media bias and bullshit propaganda.
And I hope this blog has been a source of entertainment for JNR readers, as well as having an impact on your views and thoughts on Israel and Jews. One of my non-Jewish readers, my good friend Perry Leardi, texted me the other week regarding his recent email supporting top hedge fund manager Joseph Edelman, who will quit Brown University’s board of trustees to protest a planned vote on whether the Ivy League school should exit its investments in companies that have business ties to Israel. Thank you Perry! Keep those letters coming! Many others have responded to my posts with kind emails, or thoughtful and respectful responses. Please keep those letters coming as well!
In preparing each week for this posting, I read a number of Substack writers who inspire me and help me think through my own feelings about my Jewish identity and how I connect to it. One of those is Nachum Kaplan, who posts on the Substack titled, Moral Clarity. I would like to close with an excerpt from his most recent post, “How October 7 changed what it means to be Jewish”.
Reclaiming Jewish heritage: There is no topic Jews love discussing more than what it is, or what it means, to be Jewish. Judaism is a religion and an ethnicity. Jews hold many different beliefs, some hold none, and they come from many places. This lack of groupthink is a profoundly Jewish trait.
All Jews – whether observant or secular, religious or atheist, matrilineal or patrilineal, born Jewish or converts, right-wing or left-wing – must strengthen the Jewish nation by embracing and interacting with their history and traditions.
This will mean different things to different people. For some, it might mean becoming more observant. For others, it might mean celebrating Jewish holidays and rituals they normally pass over. It might be as simple as holding more Shabbat dinners. Maybe it is putting a mezuzah outside your house or simply wearing a Star of David necklace. People can find a way that is meaningful to them.
Much of this can be shared with the many people who are the Jewish people’s friends – and I mean friends, not allies – religious and irreligious, who are equally disgusted by antisemitism’s return.
It does not matter how Jews choose to connect with their identity and history; it matters that they do so. This will strengthen us all.
It is common to hear that Hamas or Islamism cannot be beaten because it is an ideology and you cannot beat an idea. Yet, being Jewish is also an idea, so we must make it one that is hard to defeat. The best way to do that is by engaging with it, connecting with it, and claiming it as an identity, regardless of how any individual chooses to do this.
This is the defense that has kept the Jewish people alive against improbable odds for more than three millennia.
Let’s continue to do our part. Stay safe out there and stay engaged with whatever form of Judaism you prefer. Celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and celebrate life. Let’s pray for the return of the hostages, and let’s look forward to a happy and sweet new year.
Brad out.
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