A few weeks ago, I was speaking with an Israeli executive about Israel’s seven-front war in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria. He asked me which of the seven threats I consider the most formidable. I answered, “The eighth front: Ourselves.”
For both practical and religious reasons, when the Jewish people are together, they can overcome almost any challenge. You see this in times of crisis, such as terror attacks and natural disasters. The nation puts aside differences in ideology, religion, background and politics, and shares a sense of purpose and mutual responsibility. Far too often, though, these feelings of unity fade once their catalyzing crisis subsides.
Even Israel’s enemies see the power of Jewish unity and its tendency to disintegrate outside of dramatic moments. Sapir Cohen was one of the hostages taken on Oct. 7 and was, thankfully, released 55 days later. She recounted that “during my captivity, one of my captors called me to watch Al-Jazeera when they were showing footage of Hostages Square [where gatherings were held to secure the hostage’s release]. I saw tens of thousands of Israelis united in purpose, and it filled me with hope. The captor smiled, interlocked his fingers into two fists, and said, ‘When all the Jews are like this, it’s strong, strong, strong.’ ” But then the captor continued, “We’ll wait a bit; there will be chaos among you.”
This week’s Torah portion, Toldot, offers an insight into extending the duration of Jewish unity. Rebecca heard that her son Esau was planning to kill his brother, Jacob. She instructed Jacob to flee until “your brother’s wrath subsides until the anger of your brother towards you leaves” (Genesis 27:44-45).
Most commentaries understand Rebecca’s instructions to mean that Jacob was to wait until Esau’s temper cooled down. Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin, presumably picking up on the double language of Rebecca’s instructions, offers a novel interpretation. The Hebrew text of “until the anger of your brother towards you leaves” can be read not as Esau’s anger towards Jacob but as Jacob’s anger towards Esau. Jacob had plenty of reason to be upset at Esau, but Rebecca was telling Jacob that to end the standoff, “You change your feelings towards him, and he’ll change his feelings towards you.”
Herein may lay the secret to lasting national unity. It’s not about waiting for the other person to change; it’s about changing ourselves. If we can improve how we feel and act towards others, then others will often reciprocate in kind. This is the message of Proverbs 27:19, which states that just as water reflects the face you show it, so too does the heart of one person to another.
This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with each other about everything, only that if we take the initiative of first releasing from our hearts our own enmity and replace it with empathy, tolerance and love, those feelings will often be reflected right back at us. For the Jewish people, unity must be more than a fleeting response to crisis, it must grasped firmly as the eternal foundation of its nationhood.
