Our Destiny as a People

Jews in communities around the world are being told, for their own safety, not to wear outward signs of their Jewishness.

Is antisemitism on the rise, or was it there all along and triggered by the recent war in Israel? Either way, it is here, blasting loud and clear, and unfortunately, some of it brings good.

Years ago, we were living in Toronto, and the first Gulf War broke out; Israelis headed to bomb shelters wearing gas masks as Sadam Hussein sent rockets and threatened biological warfare. Our neighbors were a more assimilated Jewish family with young kids. The father, a child psychiatrist, told me, “This week, I have never felt more Jewish in my life.”

Indeed, when there is an existential threat to the Jewish people, even the Jew far away from his or her roots has a heightened awareness of their identity.

Our destiny is to unite and become a light unto the nations– this can happen the easy way or the hard way. Alas, it is sad that right now, it seems to take life-threatening events to wake us up, individually and as a people.

Our rabbi taught us, only when you know what you are willing to die for do you know what you are willing to live for; Israel? The Jewish People? It’s time to ask ourselves the hard questions and have the courage to live the answers.