It’s time to stop tiptoeing around. We might have boots on the ground in Gaza, but years of military action have resulted in thousands of our people dead. And after this current war, where will we be? Will using the same ideology and tactics lead us to a different crossroads 10 years from now? Five years? One year? Next month? The answer is a resounding “No.”
The main strategy of hasbara, advocacy, that Jews in the Diaspora and Israel have used to win over our antisemitic fellow citizens of the world, and those who are not quite there yet, has proven to be completely ineffective. Why? I don’t know about you, but does boasting about how great we are because of our many accomplishments relative to our numbers resonate, attract or convince anyone to stop hating us? Or does it, maybe, even increase negative feelings toward us, either out of jealousy or by being braggadocious?
If someone repeatedly leads the same in-your-face campaign to convince you to like him by spouting his many attributes, awards, achievements and so on, I highly doubt his arrogance would succeed. It simply does not connect.
Even more questionable is why, after being invaded and fighting militarily with Israel’s hands tied and adopting the most counterproductive strategies to win a war—one that not only prolongs the fighting but sacrifices our own soldiers for theirs—and providing aid to our enemy, does the world side with them rather than us? The answer: replacement theology.
Allahu Akbar, “God is great” in Arabic,is the unified call of our enemy.
What is our call? There is none. Why? Because most Jews no longer adhere to, acknowledge or even defend the Jewish people’s raison d’être: to accept the Torah and its commandments. Without this, our identity as “a light unto the nations” is just another catchy slogan with no real foundation. Unfortunately, this majority, in Israel and abroad, represents the Jews as a people simply mimicking their neighbors in culture, thought and trends, and lacking an omnipresent, God-fearing theology.
Today’s chaotic world shows increasing respect for the individual, who, lacking a solid foundation, depends entirely on reason and adopts the dominant Aristotelian mindset to decide how to lead one’s life. As a result, chaos continues to spread and weaken the laws of government, which were once based on our Torah, but now evolve under the influence of the temporary, prevailing worldview.
Under this mindset, the Jewish majority seeks acceptance from non-Jews by promoting education, especially emphasizing equality and that we are all the same. Following this logic, the familiar question then arises: Why be Jewish? If we are not different, why Israel? Why not Uganda? The same Jewish majority also criticizes the double standards held and supported by the United Nations and a significant part of the rest of the world. On the surface, it is beyond absurd for these false accusations to be hurled against us, but beneath all this, do these other groups inherently know something we, knowingly or not, choose to ignore?
We are not held to the same standards, nor should we be. We are here to serve as guides, as a true light to the nations. But to do so, we need to educate ourselves, not them. Most Jews are completely unaware of the ways, thoughts, demands, responsibilities and purpose of our presence on this earth. We have lost the essence of our being, our theology, our Judaism.
As a result, our cousins have stepped up to fill that gap with their loud voices of conviction. In their search for meaning and purpose, other nations respond to that call in pursuit of truth. Unfortunately, the call of Allahu Akbar by Islamic terrorists, an expression of their core motivation, has a strong appeal.
Now, if we Jews, as a unified nation, would not only shout “God is great” from the rooftops, but also accept our responsibilities, to live by and believe in the greatness of God according to our Torah, chances are we wouldn’t have these enemies. We wouldn’t have these wars. Why? Because the other nations would respect us. They would look to us for truth and guidance. We would then truly be a light unto the world.
The antidote to antisemitism must be the Torah. It’s all in there—truth, purpose, knowledge and guidance that refines and perfects us, leading us to a more fulfilling life—and it was given to us alone. It is the most profound book, the Torah. If only we would open it.
