O pinion
Healing Together Despite our Differences
BY RABBI ARI DEMBITZER
AS AN ORTHODOX rabbi
in Omaha, Nebraska, people
often want to know what
it’s like to live here in the
middle of America. The most
common questions typically
go something like this: “How
many Jews are there?” “Do you
live on a farm?” And of course,
“Do you know Warren Buffet?”
(The answers: about 9,000; no;
I wish!)
After addressing these
questions, I describe Omaha
as a city where people are nice
for no reason. As someone who
grew up in Brooklyn, I have
learned a lot from the slow
pace and the positive impact
that a lack of traffic has on the
human psyche.

But my utopian bubble
was punctured as I observed
the polarization and discord
that’s happening throughout
America hit here as well.

Friends and neighbors have
stopped talking to one another
over their diverging opinions
on political issues, vaccines
and masks.

While my new home
feels divided, the unity I see
during my “summer job” gives
me hope that we can rebuild
mutual respect in spite of our
tremendous differences and the
tremendous challenges we face.

In addition to my rabbinic
duties in Omaha, during the
summers I relocate to New
York’s Catskill Mountains,
where I have served as the
co-director of Camp Simcha,
a medically
supervised overnight camp for children
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM with life-threatening illnesses
and chronic disease, for over
20 years.

In camp, our bunks are
filled with children and
staff from all religious
backgrounds and walks of life:
Zionists and Satmar Hasidim,
Orthodox and secular Jews,
and everything in between.

Though they may have
differing worldviews, they
are able to discover common
ground and find strength in
one another.

A few summers ago, I was
lucky to meet two incredible
young campers: Matthew,
a Reform Jew from Dallas,
Texas, and Chaim, a Vizhnitz
Hasid from Monsey, New
York. Matthew had never met
a Chasidic Jew, and Chaim
had not personally known any
non-Orthodox Jews. Through
their shared experiences as
leukemia survivors, the two
formed a special bond and have
remained close friends until
this day, sharing in each other’s
joyous occasions.

Matthew and Chaim are
my inspiration. While their
day-to-day lives feel very
different from the outside and
the challenges they’ve faced
are daunting, they teach us
that there is more that unites
us than keeps us apart and
that we can learn from one
another without sacrificing
who we are.

This work requires us to set
aside the safety of our own
bubbles — and to think about
what we can do for others. In
the Talmud, Rabbi Shimon
asserts that a person should
study Torah all day. Rabbi
Yishmoel disagrees and says a
person should earn a living and
engage with others to comple-
ment his Torah learning.

The Talmud concludes that
many have tried to study all
day like Rabbi Shimon’s direc-
tive and failed. In explaining
this conclusion, in his Sefer Ein
Ayah, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok
HaKohen Kook states that
when a person studies all day
and is not on the lofty level of
Rabbi Shimon, and does not
to do mitzvot and engage with
others, all he becomes is his
mind. If one is only engaged
in their mind and their own
opinions, they will lose appre-
ciation of others. They then
tend to become argumentative
and divisive.

At Camp Simcha, our
counselors and staff members
have one goal: to give each child
the most joyous, fun-filled
experience possible. When you
are compassionate and giving,
you tend to look for the best in
others. You try to understand
others. And you quickly realize
life is too short to dwell on
what divides us.

Unlike the world of online
vitriol, our camp focuses on
kindness. We get to know one
another, we sing and dance
together, we play, we talk, we
ask questions, and we build up
each other without losing sight
of our unique identities and
what makes us each so special.

Hence Rav Kook’s teaching:
The way to increase harmony
within diversity is to engage
and to give to one another. l
Rabbi Ari Dembitzer is the co-
director of Chai Lifeline’s Camp
Simcha and rabbi of Beth Israel
Synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska.

This piece was originally published
by JTA.

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KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Tribute to Smukler Deserved
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE outstanding tribute to
Connie Smukler (“Connie Smukler: A Real-life Hero for the
Soviet Jews,” Feb. 25). In 1985, when my wife, Bunny, and I were
planning our first of many trips to the Soviet Union to meet
with refuseniks, we met with her for at least 10 hours as she
briefed us on whom we would meet, how to deal with the KGB if
questioned, what needed items to bring with us, and what infor-
mation to give the refuseniks and what information to bring back
to our Soviet Jewry Committee.

Everywhere we went, we were constantly told to give our love
to Joe and Connie Smukler and Bernie and Lana Dishler.

Philadelphia was considered the most important city for
support by the refuseniks and the Smuklers, Dishlers and Bobbie
Morganstern were among the giants, not just in Philadelphia but
in the world. Connie Smukler was the most loved and was right
at the top of the list.

Frank Brodsky | Former co-chair, Soviet Jewry Council of the JCRC
Jews a Means to an End for Evangelicals
So William Wanger’s response to being told that he will not go
to heaven because he doesn’t accept Jesus as his savior is, “So
what?” (“Jews Should Embrace American Evangelical Friendship
and Support,” March 11). Let me explain why I cannot hold the
same opinion.

A long time ago, I went to a ski resort in Vermont during
holiday time. After dinner, there was a children’s choir perfor-
mance led by an evangelical choir director. After the performance,
I approached him and told him how much I appreciated the
children’s music, even though I was not Christian.

He looked me straight in the eye and with no expression in
his face said, “You know, if your people don’t accept Jesus as their
lord and savior, they will burn in hell for all eternity.” I felt like
I was punched in the gut. Not going to heaven is one thing but
burning in hell is quite another. Would Wanger have said, “So
what?” to that choir director? I felt like leaving the resort then
and there, but it was cold and dark outside, so I had a drink and
went to bed.

For evangelicals, we Jews are just a means to an end. Saying
“So what?” in this situation is accepting a demeaning and
insulting bargain.

Benjamin H. Bloom | Wynnewood
But Was It Funny?
OK, anti-Semitism isn’t funny (“What Jewish Comedians
Thought of SNL’s Israel Dig,” March 4), but neither was the SNL
Israeli vaccine joke if you read it.

To judge the joke as either anti-Semitic or funny, one would
need to hear the conversation that led up to it and see the facial
expression of the comedian. I could tell a joke to monumental
silence, while Bob Newhart or Don Rickles would have people
rolling in the aisles.

Anti-Semitism is certainly not funny, but to find it behind
every door or under every bed is not productive and, believe it or
not, humor has been known to tame the savage beast. Besides, it’s
fun to laugh at yourself once in a while. l
Ralph D. Bloch | Jenkintown
MARCH 18, 2021
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