A couple of weeks ago I got to meet “the cowboys.” The cowboys are a group of Christian Zionists who have volunteered to come to Israel and help with the harvesting of Israel’s produce and tend the land. Israel’s agriculture is in a real crisis because of the foreign workers who fled the war, coupled with the lack of manpower because of Israelis called up for the reserves.
Pictures of the cowboys were taken when they were spotted at JFK Airport ready to take off to Israel, and by the time they landed they were already a social media sensation.
These men who left their own families and farms to come to Israel have made it clear that they do not come to Israel to missionize but out of a deeply rooted belief that even with the advent of Jesus, the covenant that God made with the Jews still stands, and Israel remains God’s chosen people. They believe it is the job of the Jews to be the best Jews they can be, and they believe it is their obligation as Christians to help us in any way they can. The thing they dislike most about Jews is when we shirk our covenant responsibilities.
I met the cowboys at a special event held in their honor at my synagogue in Efrat. I have been a member of the congregation since its founding over 18 years ago, and today it is one of the largest synagogues in the city. Due to its large physical space, our synagogue has been host to many events. Over the years we have hosted numerous well-known speakers from the media and the religious world, including the chief rabbi of Israel and other Torah personalities. In all my years, I do not remember any event hosted by the synagogue that has attracted more people than the one for these cowboys. There were over 400 people in the building, standing room only, overfilling the main sanctuary area, women’s balcony, side areas, and lobby.
Luke, John, Josiah, Zeke, and Mack (names straight out of central casting) won the hearts of our congregation with their cowboy hats, boots, oversized belt buckles, and their “Aw shucks, Ma’am, I am just doing my job” attitude. But the sheer number of people who showed up to see them was what was most interesting to me. I think the best explanation is that we Jews are so desperate to be loved, starved for it really, that when we do meet gentiles who truly do love us, we go out of our minds.
Why do we care so much that others love us?
It is probably because we don’t love ourselves enough.
Our Christian friends have a breakfast that is said to be the best tasting in the world – bacon and eggs. As a Jew who keeps kosher, I have never had bacon and eggs, but I know that its preparation requires the involvement of a chicken and the commitment of a pig.
When it comes to Israel, it seems that while many Jews in the Diaspora are happy to be involved, they are too chicken to be committed. Infinitely more important than “standing with Israel” is “standing in Israel,” and I do not see the wide-scale commitment that I would expect at this time. When the war broke out, far too many American Jewish students left Israel instead of flocking to it. The yeshivot, day schools, and college campuses in the US that sent busloads of their students to the pro-Israel rally in Washington are simply not enough. Every single Jew who was physically able to make the trip should have gone.
In addition, we also need planeloads of Jews coming to Israel now. I know the price of an airline ticket is more than a bus ticket. But almost every kid who is not visiting Israel is now holding in his/her hand an iPhone and in his/her ears AirPods equal in price to that plane ticket; and many kids will be spending even more money to vacation somewhere other than Israel during their holiday breaks.
Two hundred and ninety thousand people attended the rally in Washington. This was the largest Jewish rally in the history of the United States. Jews and non-Jews came from everywhere in the States and from outside the US to represent their connection to and solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people. By every measure, it was considered a huge success, except one. There should have been at least half a million people there. As far as I am concerned, not enough Jews showed up, especially among the haredi population, who thrice daily give lip service to the idea of a return to Zion.
Not enough Jews inconvenienced themselves to miss important classes, important meetings and engagements, and even Torah study, to make the trip to Washington. Every single Jew should have been conspicuously missing from their jobs and classrooms to be at that rally. Gentile co-workers should have noticed that the Jews didn’t show up for work and been told exactly why. Jewish law firms and medical practices should have been closed for lack of manpower. Trading on Wall Street should have been at a record low, and the financial reports should have had to explain that it was because of all the Jews who went to the rally.
It was a time of Lech knos et kol hayehudim, “Go gather all the Jews,” and too many of our most observant Jews felt themselves too pious to show up.
MEANWHILE, ON the other side of the pond, over 300,000 Israeli Jews left their studies and their vacations abroad and returned as soon as they heard that war had broken out; many went straight to their reserve units.
Over the last few weeks, we in Israel have been identifying and burying our dead, coming to terms with the atrocities of October 7, and sitting on pins and needles waiting to get our hostages back while wiping out Hamas in Gaza.
During this time we have witnessed here in Israel an amazing sense of renewed unity and brotherhood. What divided us in the past is now a distant memory. There is no more Left and Right, religious or secular. We are all Jews and share a unity that is now palpable.
However, the refrains of a shared Jewish fate and destiny between us and the Diaspora seem empty to me. The duffel bags of protein bars, socks, underwear, and power banks are amazing. I know firsthand how important they are and how grateful the soldiers receiving them are. (And it is embarrassing in 2023 how much our soldiers still need what is being sent.) But it is not enough!
More than these gifts, we need more Jews! We need your creativity and your education. We need your innovation and your dedication. We need to prove to the world, and even to ourselves, that while 80 years ago there was a sale on Jewish blood, today Jewish blood is the most expensive commodity on planet Earth.
The threat that Israel is facing is unlike anything we have faced before. Israel was dealt a disastrous blow on October 7. Our ability to live in this neighborhood is dependent on the belief that Israel’s intelligence community is all-knowing and that its army is all-powerful. Both were put into question that Shabbat.
But along with Israel’s need to reestablish its deterrence in the eyes of its neighbors, its connection to world Jewry is another strategic asset. It is an asset that extends not only to Israel’s security but also to the security and safety of Jews all over the world.
The fact that only 290,000 showed up at the rally reminds me of that old story of the man sitting on a rowboat drilling a hole into the bottom. His fellow passengers yell at him, asking him what he is doing, to which he replies: “Don’t worry. I am only drilling a hole under my seat.”
The arrival of the cowboys only makes the absence of our fellow Jews echo even more loudly. But if you don’t come and you don’t stand for Israel, we will still win. Of that I have no doubt. It will just be more work for the rest of us.
The writer has a doctorate in Jewish philosophy and teaches in post-high-school yeshivot and midrashot in Jerusalem.