If there is one lesson the Galut should have taught all us Jews, it is to be fair, tolerant, even kind to minorities, to treat the stranger as we ourselves would like to be treated. As Nadav says, the Hilltop Youth are a disgrace to all of us Jews and it is shameful they have not been closed down.
Indeed. Its making it very hard to defend Israel, when that is the characterization of an Israeli people in the states have in mind. I recently heard a conservative say "I don't like any of those countries."
So the leftists say Israelis are white colonizers.. and the conservatives are beginning think of Israel along the lines of Iran and Syria...
Israelis needs to hear what diaspora Jews are saying or we will just grow farther and farther apart until we don't even recognize each other.
I predict that our next president will not be too friendly with Israel. Cant Israelis see that this infatuation with Trump is an illusion?
We are all- Israeli and Diaspora Jews alike- in the same boat, on the same ocean. Even if we don’t believe that our fates and destinies are intertwined, it doesn’t matter- because our enemies surely DO believe that. And when our Israeli brothers and sisters are spending the holiday in their safe room, we are with them in spirit. We suffer together and we celebrate together.
We are lucky to have people like Nadav to help us understand each other and create a more unified עם ישראל.
It is a new form of bigotry many Israelis dont fully understand, despite "zionism" being the focus of modern prejudice and persecution. While we fight it and try to educate our host societies, there is a danger that we lose touch with Israel itself, and that is a dialog that must be re-established
Thank you so much for writing this. You are one of the few Israelis I’ve come across who understands diaspora Jews. These past two years as I’ve stood with Israel through the Gaza war I’ve had moments of feeling deeply betrayed, I.e. pausing of humanitarian aid long past Israeli officials raised alarms of starvation and humanitarian crisis. I’ve been told I have “shtetl mentality” all while Israel further isolated itself from the world and became its own self induced shtetl. I stood with Israel and felt compassion for their circumstance but it became clear that understanding was a one way street.
I love being a diaspora Jew in New York City, where my grandparents laid roots and contributed to this society. I love the compassion that comes from being a minority. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
My wish is for one day, for Israelis to tour the US on a listening tour. Our connection can not be one-sided. Diaspora Jews cannot be taken for granted.
Thank you again for this thoughtful piece. This is always on my mind.
Israel is secure only because of the IDF. Programs such as Mahal (https://www.mahal.org.il/en/Pages/default.aspx) not only strengthen Israel, they can better prepare diaspora Jews to protect themselves. Once a specific threat emerges, it is too late to learn how to fight. If keeping one's house of worship safe requires armed protectors, then so does the rest of your life, but getting the right tools and training takes time.
Let's remember that it is the people's army, as in all except for a few that do not. Many work in the defense tech sector to invent defense systems that were never thought possible like hitting a missile the diameter of a coke bottle, or a laser that is also being tested on US Naval assets. The innovation, dedication, etc., that built a thriving economy that grows during war time and creates the economic resources to spend over 5% of its GDP on defense, and a security infrastructure that some say the USA would need 5 CIAs to replace. I could go on, but it's important not to forget that the the great success of the IDF is due to many things including a great sense of common purpose, the need to survive, and need I mention an Everlasting Covenant by The Creator! ברוך השם!
Recent historical scholarship has emphasized how Israel owes a huge debt to diaspora Jews for it's victory in 1948 whether through money, sending arms, volunteering and diplomatic efforts and this pattern continued afterwards. Israel did not succeed only due to it's own efforts. The role of diaspora Jews was also critical in the development of the Israeli high tech sector as I highlight in a soon to be published book about its history. Israel's success can be better understood as a partnership rather than something for the successful Israeli relative to teach his diaspora cousin
The Philo citation stopped me cold honestly. Most Zionist discourse treats exile as something that happened to Jews rather than something they partly chose, and the argument that 1948 changed the whole nature of diaspora existence, from something forced to something chosen, doesn't get made enough.
The stuff on minority-cultivated virtues, political realism, alliance-building, moral sensitivity, that's where things get interesting. Diaspora experience produced real wisdom, not just coping mechanisms, and that case is worth making.
But here's what I kept coming back to. Jewish identity wasn't just shaped in exile. It got remade there. The Temple is gone and suddenly everything that anchored religious life has to be rebuilt from scratch. What came out of that was something more personal, more inside the individual. Prayer instead of sacrifice. The kitchen table standing in for the altar. The Talmud comes out of Babylon, not Jerusalem. That's a pretty remarkable thing when you sit with it. The worst thing that could have happened turns out to be what made Judaism impossible to uproot, because it stopped being about a place.
Judaism stopped needing a place. It moved into the person instead.
This is a very thought-provoking essay, and the discussion should prove to be valuable, too. Would someone care to address the concern about assimilation that confronts the Diaspora? Isn't this one of the genuine risks of Diaspora? How does one think about the specific religious vulnerabilities of Reform, say, versus Conservative or Orthodox worship, to the assimilation challenge? One could argue that Weimar German Jews were already well on their way "out" of their Jewish identity. I invite a conversation about this aspect, thanks.
What concerns me also, along with assimilation, is our extremely low level of Jewish education and knowledge of our peoplehood and our history. It’s kinda frightening.
If there is one lesson the Galut should have taught all us Jews, it is to be fair, tolerant, even kind to minorities, to treat the stranger as we ourselves would like to be treated. As Nadav says, the Hilltop Youth are a disgrace to all of us Jews and it is shameful they have not been closed down.
Indeed. Its making it very hard to defend Israel, when that is the characterization of an Israeli people in the states have in mind. I recently heard a conservative say "I don't like any of those countries."
So the leftists say Israelis are white colonizers.. and the conservatives are beginning think of Israel along the lines of Iran and Syria...
Israelis needs to hear what diaspora Jews are saying or we will just grow farther and farther apart until we don't even recognize each other.
I predict that our next president will not be too friendly with Israel. Cant Israelis see that this infatuation with Trump is an illusion?
Wow. This is so great. I'm an Israeli American. This is essential reading.
Thanks Liza!
חג כשר ושמח
לבי במזרח ואנוכי בסוף מערב.
We are all- Israeli and Diaspora Jews alike- in the same boat, on the same ocean. Even if we don’t believe that our fates and destinies are intertwined, it doesn’t matter- because our enemies surely DO believe that. And when our Israeli brothers and sisters are spending the holiday in their safe room, we are with them in spirit. We suffer together and we celebrate together.
We are lucky to have people like Nadav to help us understand each other and create a more unified עם ישראל.
הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד.
This is a wonderful and honest essay. I have expressed a similar sentiment in my essays about antizionism and the Diaspora experience.
https://substack.com/@jesseguten/note/c-235207855?r=69jdwa
It is a new form of bigotry many Israelis dont fully understand, despite "zionism" being the focus of modern prejudice and persecution. While we fight it and try to educate our host societies, there is a danger that we lose touch with Israel itself, and that is a dialog that must be re-established
Thank you so much for writing this. You are one of the few Israelis I’ve come across who understands diaspora Jews. These past two years as I’ve stood with Israel through the Gaza war I’ve had moments of feeling deeply betrayed, I.e. pausing of humanitarian aid long past Israeli officials raised alarms of starvation and humanitarian crisis. I’ve been told I have “shtetl mentality” all while Israel further isolated itself from the world and became its own self induced shtetl. I stood with Israel and felt compassion for their circumstance but it became clear that understanding was a one way street.
I love being a diaspora Jew in New York City, where my grandparents laid roots and contributed to this society. I love the compassion that comes from being a minority. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
My wish is for one day, for Israelis to tour the US on a listening tour. Our connection can not be one-sided. Diaspora Jews cannot be taken for granted.
Thank you again for this thoughtful piece. This is always on my mind.
Thank you Gabrielle. Chag Samech.
Chag sameach!
True indeed.
Israel is secure only because of the IDF. Programs such as Mahal (https://www.mahal.org.il/en/Pages/default.aspx) not only strengthen Israel, they can better prepare diaspora Jews to protect themselves. Once a specific threat emerges, it is too late to learn how to fight. If keeping one's house of worship safe requires armed protectors, then so does the rest of your life, but getting the right tools and training takes time.
Let's remember that it is the people's army, as in all except for a few that do not. Many work in the defense tech sector to invent defense systems that were never thought possible like hitting a missile the diameter of a coke bottle, or a laser that is also being tested on US Naval assets. The innovation, dedication, etc., that built a thriving economy that grows during war time and creates the economic resources to spend over 5% of its GDP on defense, and a security infrastructure that some say the USA would need 5 CIAs to replace. I could go on, but it's important not to forget that the the great success of the IDF is due to many things including a great sense of common purpose, the need to survive, and need I mention an Everlasting Covenant by The Creator! ברוך השם!
Wow. Very well said.
OUTSTANDING! Yasher koach!
Great article ! Regards from a Brazilian Jew ! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇮🇱🇮🇱
Recent historical scholarship has emphasized how Israel owes a huge debt to diaspora Jews for it's victory in 1948 whether through money, sending arms, volunteering and diplomatic efforts and this pattern continued afterwards. Israel did not succeed only due to it's own efforts. The role of diaspora Jews was also critical in the development of the Israeli high tech sector as I highlight in a soon to be published book about its history. Israel's success can be better understood as a partnership rather than something for the successful Israeli relative to teach his diaspora cousin
The Philo citation stopped me cold honestly. Most Zionist discourse treats exile as something that happened to Jews rather than something they partly chose, and the argument that 1948 changed the whole nature of diaspora existence, from something forced to something chosen, doesn't get made enough.
The stuff on minority-cultivated virtues, political realism, alliance-building, moral sensitivity, that's where things get interesting. Diaspora experience produced real wisdom, not just coping mechanisms, and that case is worth making.
But here's what I kept coming back to. Jewish identity wasn't just shaped in exile. It got remade there. The Temple is gone and suddenly everything that anchored religious life has to be rebuilt from scratch. What came out of that was something more personal, more inside the individual. Prayer instead of sacrifice. The kitchen table standing in for the altar. The Talmud comes out of Babylon, not Jerusalem. That's a pretty remarkable thing when you sit with it. The worst thing that could have happened turns out to be what made Judaism impossible to uproot, because it stopped being about a place.
Judaism stopped needing a place. It moved into the person instead.
This is a very thought-provoking essay, and the discussion should prove to be valuable, too. Would someone care to address the concern about assimilation that confronts the Diaspora? Isn't this one of the genuine risks of Diaspora? How does one think about the specific religious vulnerabilities of Reform, say, versus Conservative or Orthodox worship, to the assimilation challenge? One could argue that Weimar German Jews were already well on their way "out" of their Jewish identity. I invite a conversation about this aspect, thanks.
What concerns me also, along with assimilation, is our extremely low level of Jewish education and knowledge of our peoplehood and our history. It’s kinda frightening.