Ever since my dream the other night when I was being castigated by victims of the Holocaust about nothing mattering if you aren’t living, I have been struggling with my emotions and waking up in the middle of the night as a result. It was a powerful dream that deeply impacted me. Yes, there are many things that matter in terms of behavior, in terms of how we treat others, in terms of values, ethics, and morals. These only matter when you are among the living. As a country and as a Jewish community, we have gotten so far away from Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs that it is scary. We forget the commandment that we are to “Live By Them, Not Die By Them”. Rabbi Yitz Greenberg wrote a great piece on this. We forget that all the laws of the Torah apply AFTER saving a life. Health concerns mean you don’t have to fast. Or keep Pesach. Or keep Shabbat. Being alive is THE most important thing

I have friends all over the political spectrum. Some are far left. Some are left. Some are center. Some are center right. Some are far right. They are my friends because of who they are as people and we have managed to stay friends even though most of them differ from me politically. Most of us still can talk about politics because we value our friendship more than dogma. We understand that by and large, we want the same things, it is more about how to get there. I’ve been ok with this for many, many years. This dream is changing that for me. I am not ok with any political stance that puts my life at risk. That has become my top priority – making sure that as a Jew I am not at risk of being killed. Many people may say that I am overreacting. Yet on Saturday in New York, outside a Chabad, a Jewish man was stabbed multiple times while his attacker was yelling, “Free Palestine”.

We see the Jew hatred and call to kill Jews not just from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. This video is from a mosque and Imam in New Jersey. Watch and listen as he praises dying a shahid (martyr). I am not condemning Islam as many do. I am condemning extremism. This extremism threatens our lives here in the United States. Just as the Jewish man was stabbed on Shabbat outside Chabad in New York, it could happen to any of us wherever we live. Here in the United States, extremists are advocating for the death of Jews. We can’t ignore this and focus on other issues when our lives are literally at risk and being threatened.

If you want to see what happens when you teach hate, listen to these children. Hate isn’t born, hate is taught. This is the evil we face. When children talk about not just Jihad but martyrdom, there is a serious problem.

The lies that are being told about the war in Gaza with Hamas have gotten worse. Per the UN/Hamas/Gaza Ministry of Health (they are all the same but I use all their names) there have been approximately 40,000 people killed. This includes those from natural causes and terrorists. In the same period of time, they state that 50,000 babies were born. So anybody who calls it a genocide is doing so when the population is INCREASING. The Lancet article, written by an anti-Israel, Jew hater, stated that the end result of the war could be 186,000 dead. People cite this as the real number without reading the article because they believe the lies. The article is including all sorts of hypotheticals and long term impact, not the actual number. Even just the other day, Israel bombed a terrorist headquarters in a former school. Instantly the report was 100 or more killed and mostly civilians. Hamas quickly reduced the number to 40 killed but no media covered it. Israel has now documented at least 36 of those killed were terrorists and shares their names publicly. No apology. No retraction. No correction.

I often tell people that they need to listen to what the people of Gaza are saying, now that they feel safe enough to say it publicly. They hate Hamas. They actually want Israel to finish the job and free them from Hamas. Instead of listening to the people of Gaza, the Jew haters in the US and Europe think they know best. Here are two videos of people speaking out in Gaza. Unfortunately, they were not safe from Hamas and both were quickly found by Hamas and murdered. Their words are powerful and we need to listen to them to honor their willingness to speak out.

Since that dream, I have been filled with an overwhelming desire to be in Israel right now. Despite the risks, despite the stress, it’s a deep feeling that I need to be with my people. I have friends in the IDF reserves who have been called up. I have friends who have children in the IDF. When I talk to my friends in Israel, the topic of what they are putting in their safe room always comes up. The country is different since October 7 and it continues to change every day. My connection with Israel is strong, and while I won’t go there today because of my family, the desire is strong. They are struggling on so many levels and I want to be there with them, struggling with them, being a part of the Jewish people in Israel.

Daniel Gordis, a wonderful educator and Rabbi, put out this video blog yesterday. With it being Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, it was very poignent and powerful. It is hard to listen to him talk about the current state of affairs. I think what really got me was when he said, “This country is broken”. It’s about 3 minutes and worth watching and listening to.

Israel is the heart of the Jewish people. We pray towards Jerusalem. We end the Passover Seder by saying, “Next year in Jerusalem”. It is a literal history of the Jews, from the graves of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel to King David to the first and second temples, to today. My desire to be there, with my people, is because I feel that connection in my kishkas (yiddish for intestines and used as my insides). It is core to who I am as a person and as a Jew. As Jews, we are a mishpacha, a family. When the Vietnamese, Buddist Bachelorette, Jenn Tran, used the word mishpacha with the Jewish guy this week, I smiled. She got that it means far more than biological family.

I read Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s substack and am a paid subscriber to it. While I disagree with many things he writes, they are thought provoking and worth reading. He usually includes some inspirational video. This one made me think of Israel and the IDF soldiers. Every time they come home safely, I imagine this happening. Every time somebody in the reserves is released and goes back to their regular life, I imagine this happening. I imagine the sadness and longing every time they are recalled to the reserves or for those in the IDF, each time they must go into Gaza or defend the north. I was on a zoom call with somebody last week who’s daughter is an IDF soldier that lives in a bunker underground in the north, right near Kiryat Shmona. It’s not safe to live above ground because of the rockets and bombs from Hezbollah. It sounds like a movie but it is real life. I knew what the end of this video was going to be and yet it still brought tears to my eyes.

These are challenging times to be Jewish in the world. The Jew hatred is real and growing. People are not afraid to say things that are incredibly offensive and not long ago would have them as pariahs. This man, in London, praises Hitler.

In these challenging times, the only way out is through. The only way to stay safe is to stick together. We cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves. It is ok to have different views on many issues. Arguing is the nature of Jewish learning. What we can’t argue about is our survival. What we can’t argue about is that survival, life, is the most important. If we are dead, none of the other things matter. We must remember the immortal words of the prophet Benjamin Franklin.

The Jewish people are not monolithic. We have many different views about social and economic issues. We pray in many different ways, from Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewel, Just Jewish, meditative, JewBu’s (Jewish buddists), and many more. At the end of the day, we are all Jews. At the end of the day, they will kill all of us. We must remember the joke about the Zionist and Anti-Zionist because at the end of the day, the world just sees us as Jews. And when they want to see dead Jews, they don’t care what type of Jew you are. Just that you are a Jew.

The future is scary. Jews are being attacked all over the world just for being Jewish. Jewish buildings are being vandalized. We are being called colonialists, supporters of Genocide, and much more. The old blood libels are returning. I wish that I was filled with optimism. I wish that the victims of the Holocaust weren’t visiting me in my dreams to remind me what happens if we don’t fight back and if we don’t prioritize our lives. What I do know is that Israel is always there and always will be there. My spiritual home. A part of my being. Am Yisrael Chai.