The Key to Jewish Unity

Watching that video brought a tear to my eye. Not only because of the pain and anguish such tragic events bring to the families of the fallen and victims of terror.  But because it represented a dream of mine where all Jews treat each other like the brothers and sisters we are. If only this event could gain some permanent traction. How wonderful would it be to see all of us getting along despite our many differences. How wonderful would it be for each of us to respect the contributions of the other. How wonderful would it be to no longer hear about how treacherous the founders of modern Israel were to early immigrants from Yemen. 

How wonderful would it be to no longer hear the vilification of Theodore Herzl, the father of the modern state of Israel. How wonderful would it be to no longer hear ‘explanations’ about why Israel’s modern infrastructure was intended only for secular Jews and not for religious Jews who use it only by default.  

I need not remind people how much animosity there is between various factions of Jews in Israel. It has been more than obvious of late. But when tragedy strikes, we are all one Jewish people. Regardless of our politics or level of Mitzvah observance we stand together.

Oh how I wish it didn’t take tragedies to accomplish that. If only the rabbis who stood with respect at the singing of the Israeli national anthem yesterday would be a constant among them. If only they would respect every Jewish soul. If only these rabbis would recognize and respect the contributions the secular populace has made to the Jewish people and even the entire world. How wonderful would it be for them to stop patting themselves on the back over their spiritual superiority while constantly denigrating secular culture as immoral. 

But the reverse is also true. Instead of always criticizing Charedi Jews as  parasites that contribute nothing - if only they would recognize their contributions to the spiritual welfare of the entire country. And recognize Charedi contributions to perpetuating our Jewish heritage into the future by virtue of their strict adherence to Halacha as did their forefathers before them - and  transmitting those values to their children.

If only the would realize that there would be no Jewish people today if Torah observance had been abandoned by their ancestors. If only they could see how important that is to the future of a Jewish state. If only they could see the peace and serenity that an observant lifestyle can best offer them. If only they would recognize that being a Jew means more than participating in Jewish culture. If only they could both the see and understand the spiritual advantage of an observant lifestyle – even if they do not adopt that lifestyle themselves. 

I think a lot of hate would just melt away if there was a bit more effort by each side to see the value of the other. 

Another thing. Wouldn’t it be great if there was no such thing as Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform Jews? Wouldn’t it be great if we all stood under the same banner despite our different levels of observance or no observance at all? 

In terms of the entirety of Jewish history not having a denominational identity was not all that long ago. True -  there were divisions like that in Talmudic and pre Talmudic times. But those divisions all became extinct in relatively short order. For the vast majority of our time in the Diaspora there were no such divisions among us other than cultural ones based mostly on locale. Such as Ashkenazim (European Jews) and Sephardim (Middle Eastern Jews)... and Eastern European Chasidim and Lithuanian Misnagdim. Wouldn’t it be great if we could return to a time where this was the case?

For starters, I hope secular Israel is made aware of what happened in Bnei Brak yesterday. I hope as many Jews as possible see that video.  

It’s true that each side has legitimate gripes against the other and that overlooking the negative in favor of the positive is incumbent upon both sides if we are to make any headway towards unity. But as the bearers of the truth of Torah it is incumbent upon us to set the example. Let us be the first to love our neighbor as ourselves regardless of how observant they are. Regardless of how negatively they feel about us. Let us try mightily to disabuse them of those prejudices with heavy doses of kindness and looking the other way. It might be hard to do that. But its worth it. Kindness begets kindess. It is infectious. 

True there will always be outliers who do things like spitting on a Jewish woman that is not dressed modestly. Or yelling Shiksa or whore at them.  But if the rest of us treat each other with kindness, then perhaps these people will be seen as outliers instead of the mainstream.

Maybe it’s a pipe dream to believe that anything like this can happen. Especially as things stand now which seems to be going in the other direction. On the other hand what happened in Bnei Brak yesterday and what happened a few weeks ago there when protestors were ‘bombarded’ with kindness – gives me a glimmer of hope that it’s at least possible – if far fetched. 

But if the Holocaust taught us anything, this should be it.