opinion
US, Israeli Jews Need to Come
Together, Not Criticize Each Other
Jack Rosen
T 12
FEBRUARY 16, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
It is also important to note that it is simply not true
that American Jews want or desire a confrontation
with Israel — quite the opposite.

Jews should not demand it of Israelis, even as both
sides have a perfect right to express their concerns.

American Jews also need not sever their ties to Israel
over politics because they have a much better option:
If they do not like the state of Israeli politics, then they
should work to change it to the extent they can and
the extent to which it is appropriate. Israel is a democ-
racy, and there is no shortage of options for principled
activism that can be undertaken by American Jews in
a sympathetic and supportive manner.

Perhaps most importantly, the vocal minority on
either side of this issue has no right to and must not
be allowed to define the terms of the discourse. When
they do, everyone suffers, as we have seen in our own
politics in the United States. Our silent majority has
been drowned out by extremist voices on the right and
left, leading to deep and lasting divisions that have
harmed American society and American democracy.

There is also the simple but uncomfortable fact that
undue criticism of the new Israeli government could
cause enormous collateral damage that neither side
desires. At a point when antisemitism is skyrocketing in
America — led by political extremists and major cultural
figures — stoking the fires of the world’s oldest hatred,
the polarization of the American Jewish community
over any issue could have dire consequences for
American Jews in general. This should not silence legit-
imate criticism, but it is a reality and must be taken into
account by any responsible person.

Given all of this, it should be clear that this is not the
time for fostering divisions and resentment between
American and Israeli Jews. What we require above all
in the face of the rising tide of antisemitism is solidar-
ity and mutual engagement in the struggle we face.

Many American Jews may feel they have reason to
fear what their Israeli brethren have voted for, but they
should remember the words of Elie Wiesel, who once
said: “When Jews are together, I am never afraid.”
What both Israeli and American Jews need now
is not to fly apart but come together. “All of Israel is
responsible for one another,” says the Talmud. This is
the best way to silence the extremist voices on both
sides and ensure that we retain our sense of solidarity
and mutual affection. ■
Jack Rosen is president of American Jewish
Congress and chairman of the American Council for
World Jewry.

Oleksii Liskonih / iStock / Getty Images Plus
here is currently a great deal of talk in the
media about an impending confrontation
between American Jews and Israel due to the
composition of the new Israeli government.

This right-wing coalition, led by Benjamin Netanyahu,
includes elements of the far right, such as politi-
cians Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. American
Jews are right to be concerned about Smotrich and
Ben-Gvir, who advocate policies regarding Jewish
identity and religion that are unacceptable to the vast
majority of American Jews. And they are right to be
concerned about changes to the Israeli judiciary. As
a mostly liberal community, it is not unreasonable for
American Jews to prefer an Israeli government that
reflects their own deeply held values.

But American Jews can have confidence that their
concerns will be addressed. Netanyahu has said
publicly that he will be the one to set policy and
pledged before the Knesset that Israel will not become
a state ruled by religious law. He has also stated that
his government will represent the liberal right rather
than the far right.

Netanyahu’s record is clear: For well over a decade,
he has proven himself to be an assertive leader who
can keep his cabinet in line. There is no reason to
think he will not do so again.

In addition, the far right is, in fact, deceptively weak.

They know quite well that without Netanyahu, they
could not have achieved power, and it is very unlikely
they will directly challenge him if he says no to the
extreme policies they advocate.

It is also important to note that it is simply not true
that American Jews want or desire a confrontation
with Israel — quite the opposite. Indeed, their very
expressions of concern prove this. Except for a handful
of fringe Jewish anti-Zionists on the left and religious
extremists on the far right who rejoice at the rise of
extreme political forces, American Jews are criticizing
members of the incoming government because they
want to continue and deepen their relationship with
Israel. This is precisely why they are concerned and
troubled about what may transpire.

Moreover, while American Jews have the right to
express their belief that the new government should
not go too far, this cuts both ways. American Jews also
have an obligation not to go too far. They should not
demand that Israelis conform precisely to American
Jews’ own political beliefs and ideology. Israelis do
not demand this of American Jews, and American



opinion
From Moses to Memphis, the Work
of Liberation Remains Unfinished
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
by-studio / AdobeStock
R ereading Exodus this month in synagogue
reminds me of when I first learned about
Moses’ role in freeing the Children of Israel
who had been enslaved to Pharaoh. I grew up
in Monsey, New York. My mother was Black and
my father was white; my family identified with the
Chabad-Lubavitch movement. I discovered the
Passover story through ultra-Orthodox coloring
books that depicted the liberation of the ancient
Israelites from bondage in Egypt.

One illustration depicted Moses as an 18th-century
Chasidic Jew clad in a shtreimel (fur hat) and long
kapote (robe), with abundant sidelocks flowing down
to his shoulders. I brought home my masterpiece,
fully crayoned in purple, and showed it proudly to my
mother. She gave me a puzzled look and said, “You
know, Moses didn’t look like this. He had brown skin
like mine.”
It was an enlightening idea that hit me like a
thunderbolt. Seeing Moses as a Black person
changed my whole idea of Jewish history and
religion in one fell swoop — it made me feel my Black
and Jewish roots even more profoundly, and that I
was a descendant of great Jewish and African men
and women who founded our tradition.

As time went on, though, and I went “all in” and
studied to become a rabbi, I realized that Moses’ skin
color mattered much less than his role as a liberator.

Although many Jews do see in color, Judaism does
not. The way to follow in his footsteps, I grasped, was
to become an educator, a leader and a champion
for freedom. I’ve devoted my career to empowering
Jewish communities across the continent to become
more welcoming and inclusive, to overcome racism
and prejudice, and to create a more just, equitable
and loving society.

The Biblical narrative of the Exodus is a call to
stand for freedom and against tyranny in every
generation. It says, in effect, “You are able to speak,
and to be carried away on the wings of words from
millennia ago, bound to no Pharaoh’s story, but liber-
ated by your own.”
Neither my Black nor Jewish forebears could have
imagined how far their descendants would come in
terms of participation and even leadership in our
society. As the Black visual artist Brandon Odums has
reflected, “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.”
But there is, alas, still so far to go, as last month’s
brutal killing of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the
Our commitment to
creating a better world —
making it to the
Promised Land —
must always be so much
more than merely
skin deep.

police in Memphis reminds us. Both Black History
Month and the Book of Exodus teach that we can
only fulfill our destiny if we fight for the liberation of
all peoples.

Earlier this month, we celebrated Shabbat Shira, in
which we read about the Children of Israel’s mirac-
ulous escape from Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. I
was reminded of what the late 20th-century Slonimer
Rebbe, Sholom Noach Berezovsky, said about the
ancient Hebrews wading into the water because they
had faith not just in their hearts and minds, but in their
bodies — in their very bones, he said.

What does it mean to believe with your bones?
The Prophet Jeremiah declared that the word of God
was like “fire shut up in his bones” (20:9). Dr. Martin
Luther King quoted Jeremiah in his last speech,
“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” saying, “Somehow
the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his
bones. And whenever injustice is around, he tell it.”
King gave that speech on April 3, 1968 — in Memphis
— on the night before he was assassinated.

Early in the speech, King imagined “God’s children
in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of
Egypt through, or rather across, the Red Sea, through
the wilderness on toward the Promised Land.” He
concluded with these uncannily prescient words: “I
want you to know tonight that we as a people will
get to the Promised Land. So, I’m happy tonight, I’m
not worried about anything, I’m not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of
the Lord.”
Our commitment to creating a better world —
making it to the Promised Land — must always be
so much more than merely skin deep. Only when
we believe in our bones that change is possible, and
that we can be agents of that change, will fear melt
away and we will be able to defeat the Pharaohs
who seek to deprive us of our dignity, whether in
Memphis or anywhere in our land.

We shall reach the Promised Land — someday.

We shall recognize that we are all God’s children—
someday. We shall overcome — someday.

May that day be very soon and may we all unite in
joy, peace and celebration to usher it in. ■
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein is the rabbinic scholar and
public affairs adviser for the Jewish Federations of
North America.

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