At this very moment, Am Yisrael finds itself at the most critical intersection of our existential present and future. Oct. 7 isn’t just any day; it is the day. It is the day when the existence of the Jewish people in Israel and global Jewry changed—again.
After years of political instability and social tension, Israelis—and, by extension, global Jewry—found themselves at an intersection of existential proportions. The fracturing of Israeli society was compounded following the morning of Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a massive invasion of Israeli civilian areas and military outposts abutting the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip (including the launch of more than 5,000 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel and the massacre of more than 1,200 people after breaching the border). The next day, Oct. 8, Jewish communities across North America, Europe and elsewhere began to experience forms of Jew-hatred and antisemitic attacks not seen since the Holocaust of European Jewry throughout the 1920s, ’30s and early ’40s.
What preceded the invasion of Hamas into Israel, its barbaric attack people and the ensuing war was internal turmoil in the Jewish state. Instability informed by political machinations, infighting and government miscalculations impacted Israel’s social fabric—the unity that serves Israel’s national security. The sad part is that we’ve learned about internal fighting and baseless hatred in the past, and we know that it led to the destruction of both instances of Jewish sovereignty in the land during the first and second temple periods.
We are currently on our third try at sovereignty, and we must learn from the past. After all, have we forgotten what life for the Jews was like when there was no Israel? I hope not.
It is time for a new-old approach: tikkun Israel puts us back on track.
Tikkun Israel happened in the story of Exodus when Moses led Am Yisrael—the Nation of Israel—to freedom after 400 years of slavery. It happened during the times of the Israelite prophets and kings. It happened thousands of years later, in 1897, with Theodor Herzl’s answer to the Jewish question through Zionism. It happened in 1948 with the re-establishment of the modern-day State of Israel after 2,000 years of exile, and tikkun Israel is happening right now, at this very moment.
For many, Jewish identity, values and expression through tikkun olam is consumed with being about the other. Some may argue that this approach resulted in a loss of commitment to one’s Jewish self, to know yourself.
That is changing.
Today, we are beginning to witness a return to Jewish particularism. Following the Oct. 7 massacre and the ensuing rise in Jew-hatred, a Jewish awakening of internal concerns is re-emerging. Many young Jews on college campuses are seeking their Jewish home on campus, many are considering what their future might hold in their host countries and many are thinking about aliyah, living as a free Jew in Israel.
Rabbi Chaim of Sanz taught: “I was a young man, and my heart burned with the love of God. So I thought that I would correct all the people in the world and return them to the beneficiary, that they should serve God. When I saw that I could not do this, I thought, at least I will correct my townspeople. After bothering with this and seeing that this is also impossible, I thought, at least I will correct the members of my household, who will be true worshippers of Hashem. I sat down and looked at the matter and said, at least I will bother to correct myself, that I will worship God.”
The lesson Rabbi Chaim taught reflects on the need to work on ourselves.
It’s time we healed ourselves; this is the great tikkun of our time—the global people of Israel’s modern-day revelation. Tikkun Yisrael precedes tikkun olam, healing Israel precedes healing the world. After all, how can we heal anyone if we ourselves are broken?
Israel’s existence, strength and inspiration inform our collective Jewish existence, strength and inspiration. I hope this wave of collective awakening leapfrogs us into a movement of teaching and role-modeling selfless love. If Israel’s weakness in past destructions came about because of sinat chinam, baseless ego-driven hatred, then Israel’s strength and unity come in the form of ahavat chinam, selfless-driven acts of love, kindness and arevut, or accountability, for one another.
This is the calling of our time.