Smol Emuni US Conference – Opening Speech

הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
You have been told, human, what is good and what God asks of you:
Only to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

We chose these words from the prophet Micah 6/8 as the title of the Smol Emuni US conference, and they sound so simple  – do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. But these tasks feel exceedingly hard at this time. 

Thank you Rabbi Yosef Blau for the conference opening video remarks.

Photo” Gili Getz, SMol Emuni US Conference, Sunday, March 30, 2025

Many in this room are feeling pain and concern. American Jews have been shaken by recent experiences on college campuses and a resurgence of antisemitism. On Friday, I briefly saw, and hugged, my dear friend Effie Shoham whose son was killed in Gaza. Many of you would typically be in Central Park at this time, shouting “Bring Them Home” and “Seal the Deal” with the Hostages Family Forum. And we watch in horror the news from Gaza and the increasing settler violence in the West Bank. Collectively, in this room, we have Jewish pain, Palestinian pain, Israeli pain, American pain as well as all our personal pains.

I grew up in Jerusalem and came to the US in 1997. Despite my very privileged immigration, I speak English and have a American citizenship, I often feel like an outsider, too Israeli, too American, too Orthodox or too Lefty. This can be lonely. 

I suspect some of you feel lonely too. Lets try this:
– Raise your hand if you recently felt anxious will listening to a dvar torah
– Raise your hand if you avoided speaking about Trump or Israel with a family member
– Raise your hand if you complained to your child’s school or camp
If you have experienced any of these – you are in the right place.

You are in the right place not because you will agree with everything said. We have speakers, and an audience, from a variety of backgrounds and someone might say something that offends or triggers you. But you are in the right place, because you are in a community that is willing to join a difficult conversation, to listen with empathy, and to affirm our Jewish values and a vision for the future. 

But we are not here only to find a community, we are here because we feel it is urgent for us to speak up. 

We are facing two urgent and interconnected crises:

The first and most urgent crisis is the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis:

For 17 months, Israel has been fighting a war in response to the savage October 7 Hamas attack. 59 hostages are still in Gaza and missiles were yet again shot towards Tel Aviv last night. During this time, the American Jewish community has provided Israel with unwavering support. We refrained from questioning Israel’s military strategy, its lack of a political plan for the “day after,”  and the staggering civilian death toll. 

Last week Israel chose to end the ceasefire and resume its military campaign, killing over 400 people, including 174 children on that first day. On the news I see an apocalyptic landscape of gray dust and hungry children. It is the 21st century, yet in Gaza, donkeys pull carts on dirt roads. 

For me, this is both deeply upsetting and very confusing. How can these things be happening in a place, and by people, that I love?

I don’t have an answer to this. But this confusion cannot distract us from the facts. Perhaps, a call to end the war from people like us, who love and care for Israel, might be heard?

Photo: Lirii Agami WIWU Productions, Smol Emuni Conference

The second crisis is  a spiritual one:

I fear that our Jewish religious tradition is being “Smotriched” from us by  extremists who speak a language of revenge, power, and Jewish supremacy, laced with disdain for diaspora Jews, science, LGBTQ+ people and Western values. 

It is incumbent on us to embrace and teach a different Torah, one which affirms that all people are created in the image of God and have the right to equality and safety. One based on love, care and humility. 

We are excited to join and collaborate with the Smol Emuni group in Israel, a group that loosely formed two years ago. We are hoping to create a movement that promotes this vision of Judaism; to create new, and uncover old, Torah and to normalize these ethical values in our Observant and Orthodox community. 

Photo: Emily Einhorn, Smol Emuni US Conference

I will end with words of Torah:
Today is Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the Jewish month of Nisan. Yesterday, we read a special Maftir for  Parashat Hachodesh:

הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשׁ֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחׇדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. 

This verse comes before God instructs the Children of Israel to stay at home during the plague of the firstborns, and to preemptively prepare for the exodus with a family lamb roast and the bread that turned into Mazza. 

The traditional commentators choose to understand this verse not as an introduction, but as the first commandment given to the Jewish people. It is a commandment to witness the new moon and declare the start of a new lunar month. 

There is audacity of hope and faith in the choice to mark a historical new beginning on the calendar, and to prepare the celebration of a liberation while still enslaved, sheltering from God’s swirling wrath.

In this challenging time we too can choose to hold on to hope and imagine a future celebration as we accept Hashem’s commandment – to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.