The Unity of the Jewish People

Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad (TOI)

One of the more controversial opinions expressed by Rav Soloveitchik (fondly referred to as the Rav by his students) was that when it comes to the welfare of the Jewish people - Orthodox rabbis may join with their heterodox counterparts for our common good.  

For this he was severely criticized by the right. They followed the views of Rav Aharon Kotler who forbade any association whatsoever with heterodox rabbis. He believed that in doing so, it gave tacit approval to their theological beliefs. Which Orthodox Judaism considers distorted. The Rav only forbade joining them on theological matters for precisely the same reason. But he did not consider that joining with them on matters of public policy would give that perception. 

I agreed with the Rav. And those thoughts are what came to mind when I read the following in JTA:

Wearing army-green helmets and bulletproof vests, the group of (Conservative) American rabbis and community leaders stood next to the ruins of a building at Kibbutz Be’eri as Cantor Luis Cattan chanted El Maleh Rachamim, the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead, for “all those who were murdered in Israel and beyond.” 

The group then collectively said the Mourner’s Kaddish and walked silently back to their bus.

So went the first day of a three-day solidarity mission to Israel, which brought the group through the ravaged communities of southern Israel, to a volunteer center in Jerusalem and back home. 

Leaving aside the religious aspect of their trip, I felt a sense of solidarity with these rabbis.  A sense of unity with all the Jewish people that is rare. It’s unfortunate that it took a tragedy of this magnitude to remind me of that. But when it comes to our very existence as a people, there is no question that we are one. We are all on the same page. Despite our sometimes profound religious differences, we share a  sense of responsibility for one anther. Kol Yisroel Areivim Zeh BaZeh. 

I had the same thoughts about other prominent Jews I have strongly disagreed with. Such as those on the far left of Orthodoxy (formerly known as Open Orthodox). I could not disagree more with their interpretations of Halacha in certain matters. But at the same time I realized that their views came from a good place – the search for social justice and the promotion of equality in all areas of Jewish life. YCT ordained Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz  published his views on calls for a cease fire in Gaza in Newsweek. Among other things he said the following:

Normally, those of us active in social justice work make all kinds of friends, including allies who are partners in supporting our work for immigrants, unhoused individuals, victims of racism, and many others.

However, in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Israel... our progressive neighbors have most frequently been, at best, silent, or worse, actively working against the cause of the Jewish people. Some are even blaming Jews for the massacre that fell upon them. Amid a massive global spike in antisemitism, we're witnessing people purporting to be on the side of justice sometimes labeling Hamas's attacks as legitimate or noble resistance. We even regularly hear irresponsible rhetoric claiming Israel is engaged in genocide.  

A group of highly educated American progressives cheered on Hamas as anti-colonialist freedom fighters even though Hamas is a theocratic, genocidal terrorist force that oppresses LGBTQ people and revels in the massacres of innocents. These campus activists showed little compassion for Israeli men and women who were murdered at a music festival because they were perceived as "settlers" and hence worthy of extermination. Many progressives called for an immediate cease-fire, denying Israel the right to defend itself, which is enshrined in international law.

I could not agree with him more. When it comes to our very existence as a people, we end up all being on the same page.

I am not in the habit of referencing actress and comedienne, Amy Schumer, whose humor I find to be vulgar on occasion. But her beautiful words about antisemitism in reaction to anti Israel protestors after the October 7^th massacre should be read by everyone.   

The same thing is true about the poignant words expressed by Mayim Bialik who was shocked and dismayed at the antisemitism expressed by social justice groups she once supported.

At the end of the day, we are all Jews. We are all in the same boat. We all see a world we thought was long gone after the Holocaust now reappearing in a different guise supporting Hamas. By supporting Hamas they make abundantly clear that they are nothing more than rabid antisemites.  How can they not be if they support a group where one of their leaders said the following in an interview – as reported in the Times of Israel: 

A senior member of Hamas has hailed the systematic slaughter of civilians in Israel on October 7, vowing in an interview that if given the chance, the Palestinian terror group will repeat similar assaults many times in the future until Israel is exterminated. 

No nation can live under conditions like that.  There is no such thing as making peace with a group whose religious tenets include the genocide of your people. There is only one way to deal with people like this: To do to them what they want to do to us. Which is to hunt them down and wipe them out. Whatever it takes. And to ignore calls for a cease fire until the job gets done. No matter who is telling us to do it.