I have tremendous faith in the future of the Jewish people and the Jewish world. Doomsday studies and polls do not send me into downward spirals.
Many of my colleagues quake in fear for our future. They worry about virulent Jew hatred, about massive levels of intermarriage, and about simple assimilation. They look around and predict a dire future for Jews.
I do not deny that what they see is there. I am not Pollyannish. I am brutally aware of the threat to Jews in Europe and in the United States – especially on campus. I am a professor on one of those campuses. I see the blatant hatred of Jews on college campuses and how, in response, many students consciously hide their Jewishness.And yet, my faith in our future does not falter.
The under read and underrated Zionist thinker Leo Pinsker described Jew hatred as a phobia. It is Pinsker who coined the term Judeo-Phobia. Before the advent of rhinoplasty and hair straighteners, he was convinced that Jews could not change the way they looked, and therefore, they couldn’t blend in.
Haters of Jews, he maintained, will always be able to identify a Jew by their appearance and to single us out.
The great Jewish thinker, Simon Rawidowicz who, incidentally, was the uncle of Anne Frank’s best friend Hanneli Goslar, wrote an inspiring article titled “Israel the Ever Dying People.” He posited that every generation of Jews since the Mishna sees itself as the last generation. Every generation is convinced that Judaism will end with them.What an eerie thought. I am not a subscriber to the Rawidowicz thesis.
My optimism is not scientifically based; it is anecdotal. It has historical precedent. And I am convinced that the future of the Jewish community and the Jewish world will burn bright in our lifetime.
Ari's bar mitzvah: Proof of jewish continuity and hope
Here is one of those anecdotes: I was a guest at the bar mitzvah of Ari, a Jewish day school student. As expected, he did a fabulous job. Ari was taught his entire bar mitzvah curriculum by his grandfather, a doting and wonderful man – a grandfather we could all wish for. Ari was instructed in the exact same style that his great-grandfather had taught his grandfather. These were not simple lessons. These are powerful and profound lessons that date back four generations.
In the course of the celebration, I met several of Ari’s parents’ friends. Thoughtful, insightful, curious, involved Jews and lovers of Israel. Parents of children either a little older or a little younger than Ari.
As is de rigueur, there were speeches. The final speech was delivered by the bar mitzvah boy’s father. Addressing those who had come to honor his son, he delivered a powerful and deep message of family and community. It was inspiring.
Why? Because it illustrated that these parents understood just how meaningful Jewish life is, how important Israel is to them, and how inextricable it all is to their lives.
These young parents were acutely aware of the massive responsibility of raising and educating children and of imbuing in their personal next generation the beauty, depth, and importance of Jewish life.
Ari knows what he is and who he is as a Jew. He proudly and comfortably walks in the steps of his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. There is no better Jewish education or Jewish environment than a supportive family. Ari’s Jewishness has been gestating for 13 years and, hopefully, will be transferred to his children and his grandchildren.
The bar mitzvah was so natural and so pleasant. It was organic. It was not forced.While some Jews – even many of today’s Jews – may think, as Rawidowicz suggests, that they are on the cusp of distinction or annihilation, Ari’s bar mitzvah proves them wrong.
Ari’s family – and the families of all the Aris you and I know – gives me hope. The baton has been passed and I have no doubt that the baton will continue to be passed and passed again, generation to generation.
The story of Passover further proves my point. These many years later, we are still a force to be reckoned with. That is why I am so hopeful. Happy Passover to all.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his new TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.