I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn, N.Y., singing the chant “Am Yisrael Chai” with great excitement and pride. Much later, as a young adult who was growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, I remember always ending my talks and social-media posts, leading the audience by saying “Am Yisrael” and having them respond, “Chai.” Friends and colleagues thought it was cute—reminiscent of a time when they, too, may have sung the song as kids, and they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for. I was the guy who would scream out “Am Yisrael Chai” wherever and whenever possible.
Fast-forward to our post-Oct. 7, 2023 world. “Am Yisrael Chai” has once again re-emerged as the rallying cry for the global people of Israel. My wife jokes that I should’ve taken out a copyright on the slogan way back then—not that I think that would’ve been possible, but boy, would I have been a millionaire by now.
The reality is that we stand at an intersection of historic proportions, a point of reference requiring us to rise to the challenges confronting our people, once again elevating the rallying cry: Am Yisrael Chai!
Perhaps the earliest use of the slogan as a rallying cry appeared in a Zionist songbook from 1895. It emerged again at the Second World Jewish Conference in 1933 when it was summoned to fight Adolph Hitler’s new Nazi regime through an economic boycott. Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise ended his address by declaring to the crowd: “We are prepared to defend ourselves against the will of Hitler Germany to destroy. We must defend ourselves because we are a people which lives and wishes to live. My last word that I wish to speak to you is this, our people lives—Am Yisrael Chai!”
On April 20, 1945, five days after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated, British Army chaplain Rabbi Leslie Hardman led a Friday-night Shabbat service for a few hundred survivors at the camp. Knowing the service was being recorded by Patrick Gordon Walker of the BBC radio service, the Jewish army chaplain proclaimed “Am Yisrael Chai! The children of Israel still liveth” after the group sang “Hatikvah” at the conclusion of the service.
The slogan re-emerged 20 years later when Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was asked to compose a song ahead of a planned Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry rally in front of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York City on April 4, 1965. Before that rally, though, Carlebach was traveling in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, and it was there that he wrote and first performed the song “Am Yisrael Chai” before a group of youth in Prague.
At each of these historic instances, the slogan has served as a living reference and driving force inspiring Jews at their most challenging times.
Fast-forward to today, we know that Am Yisrael Chai isn’t merely a slogan. Rather, it is a way of life—a life with purpose projected forward from generations before our time to future generations yet to be born, driving our active participation in reclaiming, retelling and realizing our story. Just as in previous years, it serves our current global Jewish community as an anchor of hope and a forward-moving existence.
The question is how do we perpetuate and live this value? By doing something about it. By being an active participant and not a bystander. By getting involved in every way possible—by educating yourself, by educating your children, by sending them to Jewish youth groups and sleepaway camps, by educating your community. It means getting involved in your local synagogue and communal organizations, as well as with a cause that directly impacts Jewish peoplehood and Israel. It means role modeling for your children and others.
What kind of ancestors will we be to future generations?
My hope is that we will be just as amazing as those who came before us, ancestors who perpetuated Jewish life for 2,000 years in exile. Ancestors who witnessed the rise and fall of empires. Ancestors who maintained their Jewish way of life—in hiding, if necessary. Ancestors who survived the worst of humanity during the Holocaust. Ancestors who came out from the ashes of the Holocaust to make the dream of the modern nation State of Israel, a reality.
And now it is our turn—Generation Zion—to choose life!
In the future, this period of history will be learned about, talked about and celebrated. Who knows? It may become a holiday (think Chanukah or Purim) where we read a Megillah, pray and sing, make kiddush, eat a meal, maybe have some candy and rejoice in the fact that the people of Israel live—all because you, we, did something about it.
Remember, Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan. It is a way of life.