“For every thing there is a time.” For Jews, now is the time to realize that, though we have our passionate inner tensions as a People, the world sees us as one thing, one group deserving of hatred, unworthy of self-determination, an ever-displaced People. No more. We are wanderers no more. We have come home, and we will defeat those who try to kill us. And there are those in this world who want to kill us. They are trying tonight through missiles, they tried today by savagely beating a Swedish woman for wearing a Jewish star necklace, they tried yesterday by attacking a synagogue in Geneva, and they tried last week by declaring an “Israeli-free zone” in England. It is that brutally simple.
Peace is a commitment the Jewish People makes to the world. But it is a commitment premised upon us being alive to fulfill it. And we have no intention of dying. We’ve got work to do, ancient work under incomprehensible trials.
Never Again is not a past-tense commitment for a Jew. Never Again is right now.
Rabbi Menachem Creditor serves as the Pearl and Ira Meyer Scholar in Residence at UJA Federation of New York and as Senior Lecturer at the Academy for Jewish Religion. An acclaimed author, educator, musician, and activist, he was named by Newsweek as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America. With millions of views of his videos and essays, his leadership has helped shape national conversations on gun violence prevention, Zionism, interfaith organizing, LGBTQ inclusion, and Jewish diversity. Rabbi Creditor has published more than forty books and six albums of original music, including the widely sung anthem Olam Chesed Yibaneh. He is the founder of Rabbis Against Gun Violence and serves as a clergy coach with Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation, supporting rabbis as they navigate their careers and develop their voices. He inspires audiences internationally through presentations that unite Jewish tradition, spiritual imagination, and moral leadership. Rabbi Creditor lives in New York with his wife, singer Neshama Carlebach, and their family.
