From Holocaust Badge to Abraham’s Promise: Which Star Will Guide Us?
On August 21, 2017, during the encore of his Madison Square Garden concert, Billy Joel stepped on stage wearing the yellow Star of David sewn onto both the front and back of his jacket – a striking visual statement on a momentous night.
His decision came in the immediate aftermath of the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Normally private about his Jewish identity, Joel was deeply shaken by those events.
He later explained that he “had to do something that night” to protest the resurgence of neo-Nazi and white supremacist sentiment in America. The star, he said, was his way of declaring to the world: “No matter what, I will always be a Jew.”
How sublime! Any one of us should be profoundly moved by this powerful act of courage. Despite having grown up with almost no Jewish education – at ten years old he wasn’t even sure whether he was Protestant or Catholic- and despite having reached the pinnacle of worldly success, Billy Joel was unafraid to stand before Madison Square Garden and publicly declare his Jewish identity.
Indeed, what a testament to the pintele Yid – the indestructible spark of Jewish identity. His father fled Nuremberg at fifteen in 1938, after watching Nazi parades from his window, yet generations later the flame still burns, shining through his son’s quiet but defiant stand.
But let us look more closely. The only symbol he knew with which to declare his Jewish identity was the badge Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis during the Holocaust – a solemn symbol of persecution.
How sad and tragic that so many of us have forgotten who we are. We have lost our dignity, our pride, even our sense of Jewish identity and purpose. The very narrative of our history is controlled by those who hate us and seek to destroy us.
It is time for the Jewish people to reclaim their own narrative – both in how we see ourselves and in how we are seen by the world.
The yellow Star of David, once forced upon us by our oppressors, carries within it a far brighter meaning. When Abraham, the first Jew, sought assurance about the future of his descendants, G-d took him outside and showed him the night sky. As the stars sparkled against the darkness, G-d promised that so too would Abraham’s children shine throughout history – illuminating the path for humanity, guiding and inspiring even through the darkest nights.
As we enter the New Year, we as the Jewish people face a choice. Will we allow our identity to be defined by the yellow star imposed on us by our enemies, or will we embrace the shining star G-d showed Abraham on that fateful night – a star that guides, inspires, and reminds us that our light can endure until darkness itself is no more!
