Dear World: Here’s the Thing About Your Hate
The Jewish people have a message to the world about the antisemitic vitriol and violence confronting us. We aren’t worried about what will happen to us or what our future will look like. By the grace of G-d, we’re going to be okay. History has shown that assaults against the existence of the Jewish people have only made us stronger.
The question is about you, the world – not only those of you who have allowed yourselves to be consumed by this poisonous hatred, but even more so those who stand by silently as this ugliness once again rears its head. Just as history has demonstrated what happens to us, it has demonstrated just as clearly that this does not end well for you.
Whether you like it or not, you are facing a choice. Either you summon the courage to stand for morality and dignity (your own dignity, that is; ours is intact and growing stronger, with or without your support), or you continue to maintain your shameful silence. Choosing the latter is at best a tragic moral failure and at worst leaves you vulnerable to the poisonous lure of eventually becoming an open Israel-hater yourself.
We’re here to help you become a better version of yourselves, those of you who have yet to stand with us, with the Jewish people, and with Israel.
In fact, it all comes down to the Land of Israel.
The Land of Israel is not about the Jews possessing an exclusive territory, walled off from the rest of the world. On the contrary, Israel exists for the benefit of the entire world.
If there is one theme running through this week’s Parsha, it is this: G-d makes a covenant with the Jewish people. If you walk in My path, following My statutes, My civil laws, and My mitzvot, I will give you a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey, a land in which material blessing supports spiritual and moral growth.
But that blessing is not unconditional. Moses makes clear that the Land of Israel cannot be taken for granted. There are consequences to how we live, and our enjoyment of the land and its bounty is connected to our conduct.
All of this is a microcosm, a model for creation itself, and for how human beings are meant to live.
The Torah describes Israel as “Eretz asher Hashem Elokecha doresh otah,” a land which the Eternal, your G-d, cares for. Rashi – the primary Biblical commentator – explains that in caring for the Land of Israel, G-d cares for the other lands of the world along with it. How so? The entire world was created by G-d. He created and gave the Land of Israel to the people of Israel as a model of what creation is meant to be: when human beings live according to a moral code, life becomes a vessel for blessing.
And so, dear world, we will be okay – because we are going to continue to do our part to live in a moral and holy fashion as the People of Israel, enjoying the blessings and bounty of the Land of Israel, so blessed by the G-d of Israel.
And so will you.
Stand with the people of Israel and the Land of Israel, yes, but more fundamentally, live as a moral human being. You will be blessed, and all of your lands and countries will be blessed – not merely because you bless Israel, but because you fulfill the purpose for which you were created.
Man was made in the image of G-d, and when every human being across this planet lives in a way that reflects that image, the blessings embedded within creation come to fruition, and we find ourselves in a world of peace.