My Ten Take Aways, Two Years After October 7

1. It’s unimaginable to think that it’s been two years since the atrocities of Oct. 7, and still 48 innocent people are being held in torture dungeons. I can’t imagine the pain endured by the captives, as well as their families. And yet, Israelis’ resilience endures and remains extraordinary. Their ability to make art from their pain and to stay hopeful in the darkest times is truly remarkable. The young Israelis who are showing up to serve in the military, and all the Israeli volunteers who are doing their part, are incredibly inspiring. These young Israelis are Israel’s greatest generation and will be the future of the Jewish people.

2. It’s soul-crushing to see how antisemitism has exploded around the world, including in America. Long standing hatred is amplified and given new expression in response to Israel’s most basic need to protect itself, bring home the hostages, and fight terrorism on its borders. The Jewish people will never be the same after Oct. 7. The sense of betrayal we are feeling is irreversible and will change the way future generations connect to their Jewish identity (both positive and negative).

3. This war must end. Yes, because we need to bring home the hostages, and yes because ordinary Israelis and Palestinians must regain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, but also because the trauma and scars left behind will shape generations to come. Israel’s government will need to make very tough decisions, but together we must work to stem the bleeding, even if that means ending the war in sub-optimal conditions.

4. It is extremely disheartening to see how Israel has become a partisan issue. The left and right should be able to agree that the only democracy in the Middle East – the one country that stands for women’s rights, immigrant rights, minority rights along with religious freedom and freedom of the press – is a bipartisan American value. With one side claiming the far left has abandoned true liberal values and the other side saying the far right never embraced them, we may be headed for a future in which we can no longer muster bipartisan agreement on the issue of Israel.

5. It pains me to say this, but outside of Israel and North America, I have lost faith that Jews will be able to live safely in most of the world in the next fifty years. There may still be some islands of normalcy for a while, but those populations will be such minorities, that they cannot be true safe havens for large percentages of the Jewish population. And despite North American Jews’ fears, this is not a 1939 Berlin moment for us here. Our government is standing with us, our law-enforcement is standing with us, and we still have a level of freedom and power here that has been stolen from Jews in much of the rest of the world. Outside of North America, I question if there is a future for Diaspora Jews.

6. There will always be Jew haters. As the Haggadah says, “In every generation they try to destroy us.” Sadly, amongst our own family, there are those who stand with the Jew-haters; those who are ashamed of Israel and proudly call themselves anti-Zionists. Not those who are questioning or confused, but those who actively support Hamas. While I am not suggesting we excommunicate them, when they choose to be a part of communities of Jew-haters, as painful as it might be, we should let them go. That’s their choice. Our job must be focused on creating Jewish pride in the next generation, which comes from instilling deep knowledge and personal connection, not just teaching anti-antisemitism.

7. The distance between American Jews and Israelis has grown even more pronounced since Oct. 7. There was a moment of unity around our shared trauma, but that has faded. North American Jews are not on the front lines fighting terrorists and evading bombs like Israelis are, so most of us don’t understand the hardening of Israeli hearts toward their neighbors. And likewise, Israeli Jews don’t see the North American Jews who are fighting antisemitism and standing up for Jewish values here, so they have lost the patience with what they see as “soft Diaspora Jewry.” Therefore, we must invest significant philanthropy in programs, like the LEAP Year (joint gap year programs for Israeli and Diaspora Jews) to bring together our youth. It is more vital than ever to build back empathy and connection between these two centers of Jewish life.

8. It is uplifting to see how many members of our community – especially local Israelis and Russian-speaking Jews – have come out of the woodwork for the first time to stand up and become proud fighters against Jew-hatred. They are doing their “milium” service here in that capacity. They have filled the grassroots void and are inspiring many North American-born Jews to join them in this fight. It is this group of activists and their children who will be the leaders of the North American pro-Israel community here in the future, and we must invest in them now.

9. Our Jewish communal professionals continue to thrive, even in this challenging moment. Part of that is because of the infusion of new energy provided by “the surge,” but a great deal of that is due to how hard the Jewish professionals work, how passionate they are about the cause, and how brave they are standing up to the intense pressures, both from within and without the community. They must be supported and invested in, or they will burn-out. Similarly, we must invest in the pipeline for creating future leaders. However, while the professionals are crushing it, our legacy institutions need a rethink. The tools we’ve used to instill Jewish identity in the past are not the right ones to do so in the future. Therefore, we need a deep reckoning of all our community infrastructure to determine what works and what doesn’t, and we must not be afraid to ditch the broken pieces.

10. Can we be certain that in 1,000 years, Israel and the US will still exist? G-d willing, they will. But Jews will continue to exist. Of that I am absolutely certain. Therefore, we must ensure Jews can thrive wherever we live by bringing together the best of the Israeli Jew and the best of the North American Jew. This is Zionism 3.0: Israeli Jewish chutzpah and North American Jewish sekhel are the key traits that must be elevated and shared with each other to create the future of our people – the Alt-New Jew.