Breaking Free From the Illusion of the Peaceniks

At every turn, we are faced with a choice: do we do things the easy way, the way that feels good at the moment and gets us lots of “likes” on social media, or do we follow Abraham’s example from the Torah portion of Veyera this week and do what is right as commanded by G-d.

Unfortunately, most of the time what we see is that people take the easy way out. For example, in the recent presidential election, we saw that Kamala Harris did disastrously. Trying to walk the line between both sides—the Hamas terrorists that started the war on October 7 and Israel defending itself—Harris managed to alienate everyone. Rather than taking a real stance, her wishy-washiness completely backfired.

Sure, it’s hard to do the right thing, so for example, exercise and fitness are challenging and hard to do every day. Recently, a swimming buddy of mine got into the pool and swam for about half an hour. As he exits the pool all exhausted, he tells me that the reason he is so tired is that he was swimming uphill in the pool. Obviously, there is no uphill on a flat surface, but it can feel that way, and no matter what, you need to keep on going because the water is resistance and you need to fight the resistance.

In fighting the good fight, mindset is all important. If you let yourself be overcome by fear, self-doubt, and the challenge of hard work, then you can’t accomplish anything meaningful. This was the hallmark of Abraham and the ten tests; he never stood down. Similarly, in the movie USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, the battleship that transported the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II was left to be sunk by the Japanese, with the sailors abandoned in shark-infested waters. But they never gave up, and the captain famously stated:

I will not be defined by what I face, but by how I face it.

One of the reasons that people have trouble following the right path in life is that it’s a “me-me-me” culture, where people are preoccupied with what happy picture they will share today on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to get as many likes as possible. This completely undermines any possibility of true meaning, and it reminds me of what the famous Latin American author, Eduardo Galeano, said:

We live in a world where the funeral matters more than the dead, the wedding more than love, and the physical rather than the intellect. We live in the container culture, which despises the content.

The High Holidays are not so long ago, but for many, it can already seem like an eternity. How tempting it quickly becomes to go back to our old ways, not overthinking anything, going with the societal flow, and generally not being uncomfortable any more than is necessary. The righteous Abraham is defined by smashing his father’s idols and turning away from all fakeness and indulgences, even though he had no idea what was coming next in his life.

The overall lesson is to stay focused on the things in life that are right and true—connecting the dots, connecting with others, correcting past mistakes, and learning and growing to be the best person you can be every day. From the perspective of achieving peace and security for Israel, understand that this means directly confronting the terrorist aggressors and their false propaganda. What we’re after is a real solution and not yet another photo opportunity.