A Birthright Israel trip. Photo: Facebook

The triumph of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 29, in the Democratic Party’s primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District this June — and her all-but-certain election to the House of Representatives on November 6 — is just one indication of a profound change fomenting in the United States, and indeed the entire world. It is the changing of the guard. 

The world has grown tired of veteran leadership, and politics increasingly belong to millennials. Austria’s chancellor was elected at 31. New Zealand’s prime minister is 38. There are more than 19 representatives under the age of 35 in Germany’s Bundestag. And, of course, there is the Bronx-based Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat modeled in the vein of Bernie Sanders. Her win provided a strong tail-wind for other young Democratic candidates, such as 27-year-old Julia Salazar from New York’s 18th District and Abby Finkenauer, the 29-year-old legislator who won the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s First Congressional District. 

Much has been discussed about the alleged growing divide between the State of Israel and American Jewry in terms of politics and religion. Yet too few leaders have seriously grappled with how woefully unprepared Israel is for the coming generational shift.

In just one example, a survey by the American Jewish Committee showed that only 40–45 percent of Jewish-American millennials expressed support for Israel’s stance on geo-political issues, in contrast to more than 60 percent of the entire Jewish-American population. American millennials are strong-minded, smart, individualistic, consume their news online and via social media, and tend to support the underdog. And mainly, at every opportunity, they ask, “What’s in it for me?” Regarding Israel, they tend to assume that the answer is “not much.”

Likewise, the American Jewish establishment is increasingly out of touch with Israeli millennials. Typical young Israelis work at big companies, earn an average wage, live in a commuter town, and politically lean right. What do they care about American Jewry? Why should it matter to them? Do American Jews help bring down the cost of living?

The problem is the same on both sides of the ocean because the people in charge of the relationship, at every level — and especially in Israel — are not millennials but their parents and grandparents, from Israel’s ministers and Knesset members to its social leaders and diplomats. Most are good and decent people who have done much to build a lasting bilateral bond. But they simply cannot grasp how a 29-year-old Democratic, liberal, intellectual New Yorker — or, for that matter, how a 29-year-old Likudnik, IT professional from Petach Tikvah — sees the world.

The solution to this growing disconnect will not come from the political leadership, but from civil society.

First and foremost, the best hope to create bilateral millennial ties is through the media.

Today, at the many conferences and panels focusing on the Israel-American relationship, the wrong people sit on the stage. Who are they? Mostly men of the establishment, who average the age of 55. That must change. In response to the now-infamous photo-op of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with an all-male group of Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs invited to meet her, hundreds of female tech innovators in Israel and beyond replicated the photo with their female teams. Israel needs more of those intrepid young women at meetings with world leaders, not on social media ridiculing their government’s terrible optics. 

Second, Israel should redirect the conversation. Reality cannot be whitewashed; there’s no point in publishing supposedly cool video clips of things Israel doesn’t do very well, such as promote marriage equality. There are enough things it excels at naturally. That is the difference between propaganda and genuine and credible content. Millennials can easily tell the difference. 

Instead, Israelis need to connect with Jewish-American young people through shared values, such as Tikkun Olam, gender equality, technology, productivity, and creativity. These are concepts that truly link the young Jewish American to the State of Israel — much more than any “establishment” attempt to persuade American Jewry that Bernie Sanders and the Democratic party are going down a dangerous, antisemitic path.

Finally, Israelis must rethink their target audience. The way to achieve understanding and rapprochement between the two communities is through the next generation — that is to say, the present one. Israel must focus on American millennials, who in the years to come will lead their respective governments and chair the relevant funds and companies. They need to know, and now, that all in all, the existence of Israel is a good thing for the values they hold and for themselves personally. This must be made clear to them even without the tales of existential threats of which their grandparents used to speak. 

Yaniv Cohen is the CEO of the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. He has 10 years’ experience in international corporate law, operations, strategy, and development, and served for nine years in Israel’s various security arms. He was previously head of development at the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL).

A general view shows thousands of Jewish worshippers attending the priestly blessing on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City September 26, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.

Every year around the time of Israel’s Independence Day, the Pew Research Center conducts a survey that reveals good news for Israel.

The annual survey asks Americans what they think about the people of Israel. As in years past, this year’s poll of 10,523 American adults had very positive results.

Sixty-four percent of Americans view the Israeli people favorably, and only 28 percent view them unfavorably. This would be a cause for celebration were it not for the survey’s follow-up question about the Israeli government.

With that question, the positive views go down from 64 percent to 41 percent, and the negative goes up from 28 percent to 51 percent. More than half of Americans have a negative opinion of the government that the people of Israel chose in the April 9 election.

These numbers have caused alarm among some Jewish organizations in America. They have turned to Israelis and warned them to stop making choices that turn off Americans in general and young, “progressive” US Jews in particular.

However well-meaning, it is time for those alarm bells to stop.

As in any democracy, the people of Israel have a right to be governed by whomever they choose. They have repeatedly elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Right, and it is not the place of people who do not live among Israelis to scold them.

Israelis have endured conventional warfare, hijackings, kidnappings, suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, rockets, mortars, terror tunnels, and now incendiary kites and balloons. After all that, no one can blame them for not expecting white doves to be the next thing they see flying through the air.

The prospects for peace with the Palestinians have never been less of a priority than when Israelis went to vote. The politicians did not even talk about the issue, and journalists did not ask them about it.

It might be a top priority among left-wing American Jews in New York and California, but they have no right to impose their interests on the people of Israel in Sderot and Kiryat Shmona.

Those same left-wing American Jews care about the Western Wall deal, the advancement of non-Orthodox streams in Israel, the Women of the Wall, and the increased power of the haredim (ultra-Orthodox).

That is not what Israelis care about, and that is not a problem.

Israelis care about their security, about housing, about making ends meet, and about the makeup of their society. They can vote for whatever party they believe will best alleviate their concerns.

The overwhelming majority of Israelis who are not Orthodox do not define themselves as secular, and very few of them align with one of the American non-Orthodox streams. They define themselves as traditional and are very respectful of their Jewish traditions, whatever their current level of religious observance.

While Israelis are moving more to the Right, non-Orthodox American Jews vote more to the Left. That is also not a problem. American Jews across the political and religious spectra have a right to their opinions, and to vote for whichever candidates they choose.

It is only natural that people living in different places with different concerns will move in different directions. This bifurcation is healthy, not problematic.

The problems begin when Jews on one side of the Atlantic try to dictate to Jews on the other side what to think, how to feel and who to cast their ballots for.

They have a right to worry about each other. After all, that is what we Jews do. As the Talmud states, Kol Yisrael arevim ze lazeh, “All Jews are responsible for one another.”

But neither side should try to take the upper hand over the other. Instead, both sides should embrace the other in their arms, despite their many differences.

Martin Oliner is co-president of the Religious Zionists of America, chairman of the Center for Righteousness and Integrity, and a committee of the Jewish Agency. He can be reached at Martinoliner@gmail.com.

View of new buildings being constructed in the coastal city of Netanya, Israel, on September 07, 2016. Netanya. Photo: Lior Mizrahi/Flash90.

JNS.org – Antisemitism is once again rearing its head across the globe; Jews in Europe are starting to be afraid to wear kippot in public. Meanwhile, US synagogues are being turned into bloodbaths. The sense of insecurity many Diaspora Jews are feeling is prompting them to invest in homes in Israel, whether as part of a plan to make aliyah or just out of a desire to have a safe haven ready.

The phenomenon is particularly prominent among French Jews, many of whom have made aliyah in the past few years.

According to David Refael, a real estate agent who founded the Refael Group, this means demand for Israeli real estate will remain high. Refael noted that the same process takes place with every wave of aliyah. The Russian aliyah of the 1990s, he said, caused home prices to triple.

“Israeli developers should take advantage of the fact that it [the Israeli real estate market] serves a lot more people than actually live in the country, and take advantage of the opportunities before them—opportunities that, unfortunately, are the result of growing antisemitism and a growing sense of insecurity many of the Jews who live abroad feel,” Refael said.

Moti Iloze of Re/max Netanya said, “This year, we are feeling an uptick in purchases of homes by Jews from abroad at a significant rate, which is having an obvious effect on the market. We sold three apartments to foreign Jews this week alone. One from Russia, one from France, and another from Britain. The Russian buyer never even came to Israel, we showed her the apartment on a live stream and she bought it on the spot.

“This uptick is unusual, because last year, apartments in Netanya weren’t selling so quickly. Now they are. It’s definitely affecting the market.”

Diaspora Jews tend to prefer the more high-end areas of the Israeli real estate landscape, along the coastline, and therefore those markets are the ones mainly affected by what Diaspora Jewry are experiencing in their home countries.

Currently, there are some 14.5 million Jews worldwide, approximately 6.5 million of whom live in Israel.

A general view shows thousands of Jewish worshipers attending the priestly blessing on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, Sept. 26, 2018. Photo: Reuter / Ammar Awad.

JNS.org – Charles Dickens had it right: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Seventy-one years following its independence, the Jewish state continues to astound with both a lengthy list of accomplishments that defy its young age, and the daunting challenges of a nation born in the world’s most unstable region.

On the one hand, good times never seemed so good. The economy is powering ahead, tourism is at record highs, and there is an ever-growing list of diplomatic achievements, including the warming of ties with our Arab neighbors and the Persian Gulf states.

At the same time, there is no question that these are also challenging times with a number of dark clouds on the horizon.

First and foremost are, of course, Israel’s uniquely ubiquitous security challenges — from Hamas in the south to Hezbollah in the north, and their primary sponsor, Iran, ever-present and ramping up its belligerence of late.

I have no doubt that Israel, including our very able military, can and will overcome the security threats. That doesn’t keep me awake at night.

What does give me a great level of concern is how we go about healing the rift and reinforcing the bond between Israel as the Jewish state, and our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, especially the United States, being the largest and most influential Jewish community outside Israel.

There can be no “beating around the bush:” The current state of relations between Israel and American Jewry is strained, in part due to the polarizing and increasingly bipartisan nature of politics (both in America and Israel), but also due to a lack of dialogue and communication between us.

As president and co-founder of the Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC), I have devoted our Israel-based organization to strengthening this special bond and serving as a bridge between the Jewish state and the Jewish people by creating opportunities for meaningful engagement and dialogue.

The better we understand one another, our concerns and our aspirations, the more we can narrow the divide and strengthen our bond.

Whether it is the insidious BDS movement or rising antisemitism, including violent attacks against Jews in their places of worship, or whether it is the Iran nuclear deal or Israeli-Palestinian conflict, these are — or ought to be — matters of concern affecting, albeit to varying degrees, both Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

At the same time, we also have some incredibly complex, multifaceted and urgent “internal issues” to grapple with, including the acceptance of different streams of Judaism and the different backgrounds of Jews, in addition to assimilation, conversions and the role of Jewish holy sites like the Western Wall.

To many American Jews, Israel can seem dismissive of their legitimate concerns, which are, without doubt, born from a love of Israel, commitment to Zionism and desire to strengthen their own Jewish identity.

At the same time, to many Israelis, Jews in the Diaspora can appear dismissive of their (very real) security concerns and democratic processes, where at the end of the day, it’s Israelis who must live with the consequences of any “risks for peace,” and make decisions first and foremost as a sovereign and independent state.

We seem to be perennially at odds these days, continuously disappointing one another. Acknowledging this reality is the first step towards breaking the cycle. There is so much that ties us together as a Jewish people across the globe and the millennia.

I do not profess to have a magic answer to all the concerns, challenges and hurdles that lie before us. I do, however, firmly believe that in order to move forward and reinforce this special bond, we must be guided by the sacrosanct Talmudic principle of “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh l’zeh” — “All Jews are responsible for one another.”

As a Jewish state — indeed, a state of all the Jewish people — we have not only a duty, but a responsibility to care about the welfare of Jews in the Diaspora, especially the next generation, to ensure that they are not only proud of their Jewish identity, but have a real connection with Israel.

At the end of the day, in order to have a strong and thriving Jewish state at its maximum potential, we need a strong and thriving Diaspora; this applies vice versa as well.

The reality is that the Jewish people and Jewish state are intertwined by an inextricable bond, grounded in a shared history and faith, and united by a common destiny. Instead of talking at or over each other, we must be talk to one another.

Instead of engaging in lectures or ultimatums, we must focus on creating dialogue, conversation, and unity.

And, above all, we must listen to each other — to our respective concerns, hopes, and aspirations.

The work before us is daunting and must be a top priority for the next Israeli government, as well as for the leadership of the American Jewish community.

As much as we are bound by a common past, we share a common future. Let us make sure that it is a bright one that we hold together.

Vladimir Sloutsker is the president and co-founder of the Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC).

A Yom Kippur painting circa 1900 by Isidor Kaufmann. Photo: Wikipedia.

JNS.org – I knew the Kol Nidre crowd at the Beverly Hills Hotel was probably expecting me to talk about big issues. Since I deal with such issues all week long, I could have spoken about the alarming rise in antisemitism, the complicated relationship with Israel, the challenge of Jewish continuity, the need to fulfill our responsibility to the world, and so on.

But instead, I spoke about a lamb chop.

More specifically, I spoke about public humiliation.

At a family wedding I attended recently, after the initial salad dish, the guests were served a single lamb chop as the next “appetizer.” Because lamb chops are usually part of the main course, there was confusion among some of the guests: Could this be the main course? Is this one of those hip, minimalist chefs who’s trying to impress us? Are we done with real food until dessert?

Meanwhile, my mother, who was sitting at another table, decided she wouldn’t take a chance. So, in full entrepreneurial mode, she convinced one of the waiters to bring her more lamb chops.

Guess what she planned to do with them?

That’s right — bring them to her son, as if I were eight years old.

By then, lamb chops were the last thing on my mind. I was up and milling around, schmoozing with old friends and relatives, and enjoying the incredible music.

Imagine, then, my discomfort when my beloved mother interrupted my schmoozing to hand me a plate with three lamb chops. In front of everyone, she proudly said, in French: Tiens, mon fils (“Here, my son”).

My initial reflex was: No way! There’s no way I’m going to embarrass myself feasting on three lamb chops in front of people who had only one. (In case you’re wondering, there was plenty more food on the way.)

But I didn’t say anything. Within a second or two, I did a million calculations in my head and came to this conclusion: There’s no way I will embarrass my mother.

I just couldn’t see myself rejecting her and forcing her to walk back sheepishly to her table with a plate of food she managed to procure for her beloved son.

So I decided I would take the embarrassment instead of her.

I accepted the plate, went back to my seat, and started eating — trying not to notice if people were watching me during this awkward moment (of course, she was keeping an eye on me from her table, evidently pleased with herself).

Why did I bring this story up at Kol Nidre?

Because I was trying to make a point about big stuff versus small stuff. All year long, I deal with big stuff. As editor of a community newspaper, I try to elevate the communal conversation, create a big tent with diverse voices, etc. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished professionally over the past year.

But as a human being, you must believe me that one of my proudest moments of the year was when I refused to embarrass my 87-year-old mother at a family wedding.

At Kol Nidre, I spoke about a class on chassidut I took years ago, when my teacher used a memorable phrase to describe the ultimate benefit of the class: the refinement of character. This refinement is the work we do every minute of our lives, when we are constantly mindful of our power to hurt or to heal.

It’s a refinement that thrives in the micro, not the macro.

It’s in not rolling our eyes to subtly embarrass someone. It’s in not looking at our smartphones when we talk to our parents or our kids. It’s in making that little phone call to check in on a lonely relative. It’s in accepting a plate of food even when we don’t feel like it.

The media doesn’t care much about our personal relationships. As far as they’re concerned, they’re quite happy if all we do is worry about Donald Trump, gun violence, climate change, the election, and so on.

Sure, all of that is important, and we should never stop trying to improve the world. But if we get too caught up with the big world, we can easily overlook our immediate world.

The great advantage of the immediate world is that we can make an instant impact on it. Reach out to a family member you rarely see, dig up amazing family stories, be mindful of little gestures that can hurt people, look for little gestures that can help others — all of those micro moments make an immediate impact.

If we do more of it during the year, we can come to Kol Nidre next year with a lighter load; with fewer requests for forgiveness; with a simple message to the Almighty: “God, this year, I’ve been really good with your children.”

That’s big stuff.

David Suissa is editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media Corp and Jewish Journal. He can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com. This article first appeared in the Jewish Journal.

A general view shows thousands of Jewish worshippers attending the priestly blessing on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City September 26, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.

JNS.org – The Israel-Diaspora relationship has always been complex and fraught with landmines, and during crises has experienced many extremes, from complete solidarity to creeping alienation. A difference in geography, perspective, and history accounts for a large part of that.

Over the past several weeks, the coronavirus crisis has hit the Jewish communities around the world hard, disproportionately killing more Jews than the general population in places like New York and London. In a recent conference call with Jewish community leaders hosted by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry, Israeli leaders basically asked their counterparts for suggestions on how Israel can best assist them.

During global crises, the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces are often at the forefront with regard to offering assistance to beleaguered populations. While Israel can rarely send the largest of delegations, it offers sophisticated and innovative answers to challenges during crises. In the current crisis, Israel could do a lot — for instance, sharing with community leaders best practices about getting ahead of the virus and “flattening the curve.”

According to its own website, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry is entrusted with fostering the connection between world Jewry and the State of Israel through joint activities and ongoing dialogue; the Israeli government sees itself as being responsible for all Jews worldwide, whether they live in Israel or the Diaspora. Unfortunately, while the words are lofty, the portfolio is still largely seen as a consolation prize for aspiring ministers, with a budget of barely NIS 12 million ($3.4 million) out of a national budget of NIS 400 billion ($113.4 billion).

In light of the lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic, Israel should set up a permanent joint Israel-Diaspora task force to deal with this and future crises, from pandemics to antisemitic attacks to social or even spiritual crises. The task force would operate along the lines of the European Jewish Congress’ Security and Crisis Centre.

The Israeli rabbinate could be utilized in conjunction with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry to help Jews around the world meet some of their spiritual needs. It could enlist Jewish communities in Israel to hold Zoom prayers, and pair and partner with Jewish communities in the Diaspora that are unable to form a minyan. Such a program could be expanded to meet other needs during non-crisis times, perhaps helping those too ill or infirm to attend synagogue or conducting joint learning projects. This could potentially bring Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora closer together, demonstrating the dictum that kol Yisrael arevim zeh l’zeh (“all Jews are responsible for one another”).

Earlier in the year, I helped form an organization called the Anglo Vision. We are a rapidly expanding group of English-speaking Israelis who seek to coalesce our community around a vision of unifying positions that can affect change, development, and progress, and above all, contribute to our beloved homeland.

Since we started, I have been contacted by hundreds of immigrants to Israel with many great ideas, especially during this crisis. We came from the Diaspora, we still have roots, family and friends in the countries of our birth, and so we have an unequaled understanding of its needs. We are a resource that should be tapped by Israeli decision-makers to understand how to fulfill the vision of being an inseparable people.

The next Israeli government should improve the standing of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry with increased budgets, resources, and capabilities. The Jewish people need this, Israel needs this, and we who came from the Diaspora and now live in Israel can serve as the most secure and robust bridge.

Rabbi David Fine is founder of the Anglo Vision and founder and dean of the Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development, an organization dedicated to building Israeli society one community at a time by successfully bringing Diaspora models of community building to Israel. Anglo Vision can be contacted at TheAngloVision@gmail.com.

A police officer is seen in the center of the Belgian capital of Brussels, June 27, 2020. Photo: Belga Photo / Hatim Kaghat.

Many, if not most Zionists, would agree that making aliyah to Israel is the most Zionist thing you can do.

I am a Zionist, so it would be wrong for me to discourage Jews from moving there. But I am concerned about the continued maintenance of Jewish Diaspora communities. In the last century, many Jewish communities outside of Israel have been destroyed, and some are barely hanging on.

I recently took on the task of writing an article about Jewish communities in Europe for another publication. While I was writing it, I almost cried, because it reminded me that so many once thriving Jewish communities have been lost. I thought, for example, of the Jewish community in Poland, which numbered more than three million before the Holocaust. Poland now hosts just 4,500 Jews, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

I also thought of other once-large Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, such as Romania, which once hosted nearly a million Jews, and the former Soviet Union, which once boasted more than 2.5 million Jews. Now, by some reports, Romania has just 9,000 Jews, and the countries of the former Soviet Union less than 240,000.

We must also not forget the large communities Jews once had in North Africa and the Middle East. According to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 850,000 Jews once lived in the Arab states across the Middle East and North Africa. Now, however, there are only thousands. In fact, some Arab states now have no Jews at all. The Jewish communities in the Arab states were all but wiped out when the Arabs took out their anger at the creation of the State of Israel on their Jewish neighbors. Many Jews were murdered, and many more were expelled or had no choice but to leave to save their lives. In fact, the Jewish refugees who fled the Arab states outnumber the Palestinians who left what became Israel. This is a fact that the international community likes to ignore.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a Jewish state if Jews from around the world hadn’t returned to their ancestral homeland. Indeed, if you ask some Zionists, they would like to see every Jew in the world living in Israel. But inasmuch as Jewish immigration to Israel should be encouraged, so should maintaining the remaining Diaspora communities, because there are negative consequences if these communities do not survive.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that every Jew in the world did make aliyah to Israel. If this happened, the Jewish people could no longer contribute to the growth and development of many countries, as they have done over the centuries. We should also consider how much history and culture would be lost in many of the countries that still boast large communities of Jews. In addition, without the Jewish Diaspora, who would advocate for the State of Israel in the international community? Throughout its history, the Jewish State has relied on both financial and moral support from Jews living abroad. But, of course, Israel can’t count on support from the Jewish Diaspora if that Diaspora no longer exists.

Jewry’s remaining Diaspora communities must be maintained. The Jewish people didn’t build our communities just to have them destroyed. It’s time we stood our ground and fought the antisemitism that is growing around us before it approaches a level in which we have no choice but to leave our communities and seek safety in Israel.

Jason Shvili is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.

Bob Dylan performs at Massey Hall, in Toronto, Canada, April 18, 1980. Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin via Wikimedia Commons.

“I’m just like Anne Frank,” Bob Dylan sings on his latest album, “like Indiana Jones, and them British bad boys the Rolling Stones.”

The strange confluence of these images ‐‐ an icon of the tragedy of the Holocaust, a blockbuster movie character and a British rock band ‐‐ seems to sum up the extraordinary and extraordinarily enduring enigma that is Bob Dylan.

Easily one of America’s most legendary musicians, Dylan has been recording for six decades; touring for just as long; been called the voice of his generation, a washed-up has-been and one of the great comebacks in music history; and picked up an Oscar and a Nobel Prize along the way. Yet he never enjoyed a number one hit until a few months ago, when “Murder Most Foul,” with its desperate, daunting and disconcertingly serene portrayal of the killing of JFK and the sweep of recent American history somehow caught the anxiety of our present moment.

Despite those decades of success and adulation, and sometimes dismissal and contempt, Dylan has remained a carefully‐cultivated mystery. In an age of absolute social media nakedness, Dylan is that strangest thing ‐‐ a pop culture icon who has managed to remain all but unknowable, a strange series of labyrinths and masks, a Russian doll whose layers peeled back one by one reveal nothing.

However, with the release of his new album “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” which has swiftly become, of all things, the hit of the pandemic, it seems worth reflecting on a possible solution to the mystery of who Dylan really is — he is a quintessentially Jewish artist, and perhaps the greatest Jewish artist of the past century.

To say the least, this is a daring assertion. When we have a century that has produced Jewish artists from Philip Roth to Stanley Kubrick, putting Dylan at the top is a hard sell, even with a Nobel Prize thrown into the equation. Even more daunting, perhaps, is to attempt to figure out what kind of Jewish artist the ex-Robert Zimmerman might be.

One comparison might prove revealing ‐‐  if there is any clearly Jewish artist who is closest to Dylan, it would be Leonard Cohen. They are both folk-based singer-songwriters whose poetic lyrics captured the mood of a generation; restless artists whose integrity and uncompromising work seemed to defy trends and the relentless commerciality of the music business.

Cohen, however, is a much easier sell as a Jewish artist. Indeed, he was Jewish to the point of exhibitionism, never ‐‐ unlike so many artists, including Dylan ‐‐ changing his obviously Jewish name, and he littered his work with Jewish resonances and echoes, while remaining publicly close to Israel and Jewish tradition.

Dylan is a very different kind of Jewish artist. Steeped in the Americana (that is, mostly non-Jewish) music tradition, he has played folk, blues, rock n’ roll, gospel, country, indeed almost everything, but except for one brief moment on a Chabad telethon, nothing resembling Jewish music. At the same time, his lyrics, with a few exceptions, such as “Forever Young” with its “may God bless and keep you always” and the pro-Israel anthem “Neighborhood Bully,” seem bereft of Jewish references. He even briefly abandoned his ancestry to convert to fundamentalist Christianity, though ‐‐ at least according to Chabad ‐‐ he later came back into the fold.

Yet there are strong, if quiet, indications that Judaism remains important to Dylan. He has been photographed wearing tefillin at the Western Wall, is rumored to have studied Talmud and Kabbalah, briefly flirted with the JDL, considered joining a kibbutz, and has obviously been highly influenced by biblical literature.

Indeed, while his songs generally lack direct quotes, the prophetic literature in particular may be the strongest of all Dylan’s myriad influences, from the apocalyptic imagery of songs like “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” to declarations in “Rough and Rowdy Ways” of “I aint no false prophet” and “thump on the Bible, proclaim the creed.”

The questions then remains: what kind of Jewish artist is Bob Dylan? The answer probably lies in the simple fact that Bob Dylan is a Diaspora Jew. In the Diaspora, Jews who do not completely cloister themselves ‐‐ such as Haredi Jews ‐‐ must engage with the larger society, which is overwhelmingly non-Jewish. This creates an interesting paradox ‐‐ in being different from the larger society, a Jew must always be, to some extent, an outsider. But in being an outsider, he also stands at a strange remove from that larger society, and this gives him a unique perspective, so that he often understands that society better than its mainstream members. Put simply, the Diaspora Jew understands non-Jews and their culture better than they understand themselves.

And in this, there is also a certain freedom. In having to adapt themselves to a vast and sometimes cruel non-Jewish culture, Jews always have a choice in how to do so. One choice is, like Leonard Cohen, to proclaim oneself, to embrace difference, and live, one might say, out of the closet. Another is to make the usually futile attempt to assimilate completely, which in its extreme becomes self-hatred.

But there is another choice: To embrace the freedom born of difference. To play with the paradox of simultaneously belonging and not belonging. To make of one’s difference a source of fertility and creativity rather than neurosis. And this, more than anything else, is what Dylan has done.

Indeed, Dylan has never assimilated into the United States, he has assimilated the United States into himself. He has become the great myths and forms of America, and then remade them in his own image, swirling them together into something new and strange, but also exciting and original.

His work encompasses the entirety of American culture: its writers and poets, its singers and musicians, its movie stars and cultural icons, its presidents and slaves, its revolutionary bards and reactionary rebels, its tragedies from the murder of Medgar Evers to the sinking of the Titanic to the Kennedy assassination ‐‐ again, almost everything. And if he were not Jewish, there is no way that he could stand outside, take it all in, and turn it into something as different and creative as he himself is. As he once wrote, “I’m gazing out the window of the St. James Hotel, and I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell.”

And this, in turn, gives him what the Diaspora has always given Jews: the ability to become what you want to be, to forge an identity independent of the strictures of being part of a consensus society. Living as one among a very different many, the Diaspora Jew must wear masks, he must play with identity, he must become one of them and not one of them, and above all, he must be quick on his feet, able to navigate that society better than its own members, and always retain that sense of play and humor that has kept the Jews alive across so many centuries of being strangers to everyone but themselves, and is so evident in all of Dylan’s work.

Dylan plays with that series of masks, becoming and becoming again; often, one imagines, watching gleefully as the world yet again tries to figure him out.

And there is one other quintessentially Jewish quality that drives this fertile playfulness with which Dylan has always been one of and the other to American society. He himself points to it in the first song of his new album: “I go right to the edge. I go right to the end. I go right where all things lost are made good again.”

If there is any quality that defines the Jews, it is that we do things right to the edge and right to the end. We are not a people of half-measures. When we do something, we do it all the way, without compromise or equivocation, for good or for ill.

This has sometimes been our Achilles’ Heel, but it is also our greatest strength, and in many ways, Dylan personifies it more than any Jewish artist of the past century, and as such, ought to be placed at the head of his peers, “where all things lost are made good again.”

Benjamin Kerstein is an Algemeiner columnist.

Seth Rogen speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – When everybody goes one way, it’s cool to go the other way. These days, many young American Jews feel that it’s cool to go against Israel and take the side of the Palestinians.

In fact, it may be more conformist than cool.

On college campuses especially, where opposing Israel has become the norm, piling on the attacks on the Jewish state is the safe choice. To show real courage, one must stand up for the country that is singled out for animosity beyond all reason — and that country is Israel.

But for young Jews who think they’re being rebellious by taking on Israel, it’s about more than reason or information. It’s also about a feeling: How do I feel about myself when I choose which cause to support?

Until the pro-Israel community recognizes this reality — that confronting Israel has tremendous emotional resonance for young Jews trying to stand out — no amount of clever hasbara will suffice.

I remember once seeing a group of IfNotNow protestors sitting in the lobby of the ADL offices in New York. They were holding signs to “end the occupation,” waiting for the police to come arrest them. They were Jews taking the side of the Palestinians. How much cooler can you get than that?

The head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, invited them to his office to discuss the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They refused. It’s much cooler, not to mention easier, to throw PR stunts and demand that Israel “end the occupation.”

What these wannabe rebels failed to realize, however, is that there’s nothing rebellious about following the herd. They have become obedient if unwitting foot soldiers in a ubiquitous global movement to undermine and demonize the Jewish state.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has zero interest in a peace agreement. The “occupation” that really bothers them is the Israeli “occupation” of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Fueled by a rise in antisemitism, the key achievement of these relentless BDS activists is that they’ve made their movement mainstream. More and more professors on college campuses, to one degree or another, harbor negative feelings toward Israel. The level of animus against Israel is certainly not justified, but it is the reality.

You can never get in trouble today for bashing Israel. No country has received more condemnations at the United Nations. In the mainstream media, the bias against the Jewish state is palpable. Because Israel is no longer seen as David versus Goliath, it’s an easy target. Israel is strong and successful — it can handle all the bashing.

The net effect is that anger at Israel has become the world’s default position.

Of course, it’s ok to fight back the way Israel defenders usually do: Argue that the attacks on Israel are totally out of proportion; expose the destructive, antisemitic nature of the BDS movement; show Israel’s many contributions to the world and its vibrant, multicultural side; remind people of Israel’s multiple peace offers that were rejected; and nurture pride in the Zionist identity, among other things.

But this kind of traditional activism is not enough — it’s missing a compelling emotion. An emotion is like a key that allows people to enter a house of information. Before that information can resonate, it must be seen through an emotional lens.

I’d like to suggest an emotional lens that says: Fighting for Palestinians may be the popular choice, but fighting for Israel is the courageous choice. You can follow the herd or you can take the road less traveled. You can play it safe or you can be bold. You can stick to trendy platitudes or you can go deep.

In the world of causes, Israel is your ancient road less traveled.

To be sure, none of this means that Jews should not care about the Palestinian cause. They should. It’s a question of proportion: Since most of the world is already taking the side of the Palestinians, shouldn’t Jews feel obligated by fairness to somehow balance that out?

Fighting for Israel also does not mean abandoning dialogue and the search for peace. It means you search for peace and constructive engagement from your own side that needs you; from the side that much of the world opposes.

The college students who choose to support Israel these days are not just activists — they are courageous rebels fighting the good fight against an often hostile world.

How good must that feel?

David Suissa is editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media Corp and Jewish Journal. He can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com.

This article was first published by the Jewish Journal.

IDF forces exit the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Last Dawn, the final stage of the Gaza Disengagement, which occurred in the summer of 2005. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

An article by Peter Beaumont in The Guardian last month, titled “Dehumanising: Israeli groups’ verdict on military invasions of Palestinian homes,” includes several anecdotes depicting IDF raids on Palestinian homes as being conducted only to intimidate, as well as sections dedicated to the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-inducing effects of these operations.

The piece is based on a “damning report” by controversial far-left organization Breaking the Silence, demonstrates extreme bias, and serves as an unreasonable representation of the Israeli military. The inaccuracies are manifold: there is not a single hard piece of evidence, but rather only unverified claims from Palestinians and political activists with a well-documented anti-Israel agenda; the situation is presented without relevant historical or political context; and the Israeli side of the story is almost completely excluded.

The title of the article is sensationalist, factually incorrect, and accusatory. It depicts search and arrest missions as “dehumanizing” to conjure graphic and traumatic imagery. Similarly, the phrase “military invasions” is grossly misapplied: military invasions typically refer to the aggressive conquering of territory. A more accurate description of the activity described in the article would be “arrests.” Units in the West Bank are sent to enter homes in order to arrest either known or suspected perpetrators of terror and violence.

As a combat soldier currently serving in the Israeli military told HonestReporting, “It’s how conflict works everywhere in the world. The West Bank, for all the political nuances there are, it’s no different. We have to go in and do our job, and it’s going to cause some discomfort for whoever is in the house, whoever isn’t the suspect.”

When Israeli soldiers enter Palestinian homes to carry out an arrest, there is no systemic intent to make the citizens of those communities feel patronized or “dehumanized.” Rather, the IDF is fulfilling its obligation to keep Israeli citizens safe.

As stated, the entire article is based on a report by Breaking the Silence — an organization with a history of spreading lies and anti-Israel smears. Making things worse, the Israeli side is only placed at the very end of the article, creating an unjust asymmetry in the reporting.

The Guardian also cites a local Imam, who claims that the IDF’s arrest and search raids are really “to scare everyone. To show who is in charge.”

That description avoids acknowledging the reality in which Israeli soldiers operate. Beaumont is happy to let this unverified claim stand unopposed, but in reality, things are far more complex — and testimonies that support the idea that the IDF invades homes solely as an intimidation tactic do not align with reality. As soldiers who have served in the IDF can testify, troops are always given a specific name and pictures before entering any home. Soldiers are also told who else might be in the house, and never get orders just to go in and look for trouble.

The Guardian’s same source claimed that, “On one occasion, I remember I had gone to the mosque for the first early morning prayers. When I came back the soldiers were in my house. They had put all of my family in the kitchen. When I went into my bedroom I found three soldiers resting on the bed.”

While there’s no doubt that finding strangers in your home is an unpleasant experience, it’s important to understand the context: Israeli troops are sent into hostile territory to capture terrorists and terrorist sympathizers. The vast majority of combat soldiers are aged between 18-20, and in the course of duty, some behave in ways that are irresponsible and inconsiderate. That said, soldiers are regularly instructed not to take anything unnecessary from homes they may enter, and to leave things in good condition. Soldiers who are found breaking these rules are typically sentenced to time in military jail. Framing the exceptions to the rule as evidence that Israeli search and arrest raids are “dehumanizing” is deceptive; the cited instance is an isolated event that cannot serve as proof for a systemic issue within the Israeli military.

As one currently serving soldier told HonestReporting, “If I were to do any of that, or I knew anyone who were to just lay on someone’s bed in the middle of an arrest, I don’t believe that person would be going on any arrests for the rest of their service. My personal officer said that if you commit any unnecessary violence, you’ll never see a mission again for the rest of your service. So while I can’t say whether that happened or not, I don’t believe that’s normal.”

The Guardian article goes on to include an anecdote about a soldier who was unable to understand a family frantically “begging” for something, only for the soldiers to realize that it was for seizure medication for a family member. The soldier’s conclusion from this sad incident, however, takes a giant leap with no substantial evidence brought: “It was clear from the commanders that we should use the search to take advantage to squeeze the maximum out of each house we entered for anything suspicious.”

In reality, in every combat unit in the army, there is at least one soldier who goes to an Arabic training course. These soldiers learn rudimentary Arabic, but cannot be expected to learn the language to a high enough level to know specific words such as  “seizure” when preparing for arrests in the West Bank. 

But sadly, when Breaking the Silence is involved, readers should by now expect only half the story to be told.

The cause for these midnight raids is rooted in the Intifada that took place in the early 2000s. In response to the failure of the Camp David Summit peace process, Palestinians launched wave after wave of suicide bombings, rock throwing attacks, and shootings against Israeli civilians.

In order to protect Israeli citizens from the very real threat that exists in these areas, the IDF unfortunately has to keep a close eye on the West Bank. Soldiers entering homes regularly find troves of weapons and stolen military equipment.

While it is fair for the media to detail inconveniences and indignities suffered by regular, law-abiding civilians, the reality is far more complex and also deserves proper coverage: Palestinian terrorists, hiding in plain clothes and based out of civilian areas, carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and armed forces.

Totally omitting this vital context, as the Guardian does with alarming frequency, leaves readers misinformed as to the reality facing the Israeli army. In many cases, there is simply no alternative to entering civilian homes. Characterizing these incidents as occurring purely for the purposes of intimidation is a baseless smear.

Galia Palmer writes for HonestReporting, where this article first appeared.

The entrance to Israeli President’s official residence is decorated with a huge monster to mark the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim, which is a celebration of the Jews’ salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, in Jerusalem February 24, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

While every Jewish holiday involves an element of communal unity, the holiday of Purim is particularly one that celebrates togetherness.

Giving to the poor, delivering food baskets, celebrating a joyous meal with family and friends — the mitzvot of the day are all designed in the spirit of caring for others, and extending ourselves on behalf of those around us.

This makes the division of observance built-in to the holiday so ironic. Why would a holiday focused on togetherness separate us based on something as seemingly irrelevant as geographic location?

A small number of cities — most notably, Jerusalem– observe Purim the day after the rest of the world. This division has specific halachic ramifications, whereby a resident of Jerusalem is not able to perform the mitzvot of the day on “Purim proper” — and conversely, non-Jerusalem residents are not able to do so on Shushan Purim, the following day.

This is a situation that is entirely unique in Jewish tradition. While there are, of course, those outside of Israel who observe two days of certain holidays while those in Israel observe just one, the first day of the holiday is always the same calendar date, wherever we find ourselves on the map.

This leaves us with a fascinating and somewhat troubling question: are we not taking a day that is meant to be ultimately about unity and community, and conveying a sense of divisiveness within the greater Jewish nation? The Gemara even acknowledges this question, and is troubled by the suggestion that we would allow for individual “camps” to exist. Is this not a disturbing precedent to be setting?

The answer lies in an all-important reality, one critical to our understanding of how we relate to challenges facing Jewish society as a whole.

Real unity thrives best when we admit that diversity is a natural, and wholly positive, part of our national existence.

A Jew must be respected as a Jew. They must be embraced as our sisters and brothers, wherever they are in the world. That is the majesty of Jewish identity. The Torah that we all embrace is the very same Torah wherever we are, and whatever language we might speak.

This seeming paradox of Jewish unity that is revealed through Purim is certainly more important this year than in years past. Jews living in, or fleeing from, the war-ravaged regions of Ukraine are likely people that we had thought little about before these tragic events were thrust into our lives. For purposes of the Purim metaphor, they lived behind walls that we might have never crossed, and we likely might have never come across them were it not for this war.

But Judaism attempts to teach us that even when we look different, dress differently, live in different places, and even observe our faith differently, we are the same people. Purim reminds us that the notion that there is no room for diversity within Judaism is a flawed one — and that while we are all united by that one Torah and the halacha which guides us, we should never lose sight of the fact that we must respect those who live and act differently. Because that is the only way that we will be able to create a more united Jewish world.

Our deepest prayer on this Purim is that we should welcome this holiday as a way to look beyond our city borders, and embrace those all around the world who need our help. In the merit of a meaningful and united holiday, we should all be blessed with happiness, health, and peace.

Rabbi David Stav is the Chair and Founder of Tzohar Rabbinical Organization in Israel.

Some 550 new immigrants from the Bnei Menashe community visited the Western Wall for the first time on March 9, 2022. Photo: Yehoshua Halevi/Courtesy of Shavei Israel.

It is predicted that by the year 2048, the 100th anniversary of the State of Israel, two thirds of the world’s Jewish population, about 12 million, will live in Israel.

Meirav Arlosoroff points out that the natural growth of the Jewish population of Israel is two percent per year, or four times greater than the average in other developed countries.

What is also extraordinary is that in comparison to North American Jews, this natural growth is not restricted to the Orthodox sector of the population. So while the non-Orthodox  population in North America may decrease, the Israeli population can be expected to continue to increase.

For the first 50 years of its existence, Israel’s Jewish population growth was dependent on immigration (aliyah). Now, however, natural growth is the biggest factor.

Population surges based on high fertility numbers and better living conditions are frequent in history. I was born and raised in Quebec, Canada. Demographers point out that the population of French Canada increased 13-fold from 1761 (shortly after the British takeover of the territory) to 1851.

Another example occurred during the 19th century, when the Ashkenazi population of Central and Eastern Europe soared, due to high fertility numbers and improved living conditions. By the 1880s there were close to eight million Jews in the world, and 80 to 90 percent of them lived in Eastern Europe, primarily Russia.

In a 2018 article in Mosaic magazine, Ofir Haivry attributed the increase in fertility in Israel to an emphasis on family welfare and continuity, writing that Israeli society has balanced rising levels of affluence and education with continued adherence to a family-oriented culture. Israeli medical advances in areas such as prenatal care and fertility treatments have also contributed to the increased birth rate.

What does this shift in balance between the Diaspora and Israel signify for those of us who live outside of Israel? Broadly speaking, the long sweep of Jewish history can be described as a series of migrations from one center of Jewish life to another. Besides the Land of Israel, such centers have included (in rough historical sequence); Babylonia, North Africa, Iberia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, and now, back to the Land of Israel. This does not mean that a Jewish diaspora will cease to exist, but in numbers and in relevance to Jewish continuity, it will be much diminished. The challenge for Israelis will be to find a way to accommodate a larger population in a small and densely populated state.

Jacob Sivak, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor, School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo

Israel’s Netanya beachfront. Photo: Flickr.

i24 News – While 277,700 visitors arrived in Israel in September 2022, this figure fell 39 percent compared to the record number of 436,500 visitors in 2019, before the Covid pandemic, according to the Jewish state’s Bureau of Statistics.

The September figures were especially disappointing for a holiday month when many Diaspora Jews traditionally travel to the country for vacation. A recovery of tourism in Israel is lagging behind the global average, which already exceeded 60 percent of pre-pandemic figures in July.

Restrictions on the entry of foreign tourists to Israel were only fully lifted last March and the Tourism Ministry expected the number of visitors to Israel in 2022 to be between 2.2 and 2.5 million, well below the 2019 record of 4.55 million.

Between January and September 2022, only 1.8 million visitors came to Israel, compared to 3.5 million in January-September 2019.

Earlier in September, the Israel Airports Authority released a forecast suggesting that more than four million Israelis would fly abroad for the Jewish holidays which began in late September and will end on Tuesday. The most popular destinations for Israelis were Turkey, Greece, the United States, Italy, and England.

An Israeli flag waves as Israeli Air Force planes fly in formation over the Mediterranean Sea during an aerial show on Israel’s 74th Independence Day on May 5, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism announced Monday the formation of a new committee that will focus on how Israel can honor the memory of non-Israeli Jews worldwide who have been murdered in antisemitic attacks abroad.

The launch of the committee is a result of the Israeli government’s adoption of “The Ruderman Roadmap,” which are guidelines provided by the Ruderman Family Foundation that center on Israel-Diaspora relations and the Jewish state’s approach toward commemorating non-Israeli Jews who were victims of antisemitism around the world.

Israel will formally recognize those who were killed in antisemitic attacks in the Diaspora and the new committee will submit its conclusions and recommendations to the Minister of Diaspora Affairs before Sept. 1, 2023. The Israeli government also expressed its desire to strengthen the connection between the State of Israel and its citizens with Diaspora Jews.

“This is a historic day for the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” said Shira Ruderman, executive director of the Ruderman Family Foundation on Monday. “With this decision, the State of Israel has proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that it is the state of the Jewish people, and that only through our unity as a people and through the mutual guarantee between us can we guarantee our security and prosperity.”

Israel’s annual observance of Yom Hazikaron commemorates “the heroic deeds of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who gave their lives to ensure the existence of the State of Israel, and for the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces who fell in the struggle for the rebirth of Israel.” The government expanded Yom Hazikaron in 1998 to also commemorate Israeli victims of terrorism but the Foundation’s roadmap explains that the State of Israel “should have a defined policy for marking, observing, or conducting any state-sponsored act of solidarity with the memory of those who fell victim to antisemitic acts in the Diaspora for belonging to the Jewish people.”

“We appreciate the commitment of Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli to promote this initiative,” Ruderman said. “The Ruderman Family Foundation will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen the State of Israel’s relationship with American Jewry and with the entire Diaspora.”

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