Photo Credit: Jewish Press
I always love speaking in different communities around the world. We are part of an incredible people. We have built neighborhoods, shuls and schools that speak of our resilience despite the galus we have suffered for thousands of years.
The greatest pulse of our nation is found when I have the privilege to speak to our children. What are they thinking? What do they have to say? They reflect the promise of tomorrow, and that which we are feeling today.
On a recent speaking tour I had the pleasure of speaking at a girl’s high school. The student body was a broad mix of backgrounds, a colorful tapestry of the beauty of Am Yisrael.
As I searched the faces in front of me, I asked a question. I told the girls that there was no right or wrong, just the emes, the truth that lies within.
“How many of you feel proud or prouder to be a Jew since October 7?”
The room was silent. I peered at the audience. Slowly, a few hands went up. Meekly. Like half a hand, barely seen by the other students sitting in the audience.
I had to catch my breath. This was not what I expected. I felt a sadness within that is difficult to describe. And I am raising my voice to you as I fear for the future of our people.
Think about it. These girls will soon be facing the world. Perhaps they will be going off to college campuses, work places, or daily interactions with peers. They will be facing venomous hatred and hear lies about Israel. What will their response be? How will they feel about their Judaism, their nation, their land? What will their connection be to their brothers and sisters who are sacrificing their lives and limbs so that we may hold onto our sacred Eretz Yisrael? The Kotel stands tall despite our years of suffering while our children bow in shame?
My friends, we have much work to do.
Ten years ago I sounded the alarm about antisemitism on college campuses. I spoke to whomever would listen. The couples that I teach gathered their college-aged kids for an eye opening evening to hear about what is happening in colleges across the USA. Not enough people took my message seriously.
And now I am sounding a new alarm. We are allowing others to define us, blood libel us and tell our story. We must give our children Jewish pride, identity and roots. Our children are living their Yiddishkeit, their Shabbos, yomim tovim, and their davening by rote. It’s the ‘same old same old’. The passion has gone missing. Not enough of our children are aware of their great legacy, the magic of our nation, and the beauty the heritage that has been bequeathed to us. Our connection to Hashem must feel alive. Our children need to feel the fire, the koach, the energy and love of being a ‘Yid’.
I shared with the girls how each morning at roll call in Bergen Belsen, my mother had only one thought. Despite her hunger, the sores and lice covering her body, she looked with disdain at the Nazis, yemach shemo, who stood before her. “Baruch Hashem!” she would say to herself each day. “Baruch Hashem that I am the daughter of prophets and kings, my Tatty and Mommy, the daughter of my people. Baruch Hashem that I am not one of you!”
To give passion and pride to our children we must begin with ourselves. We cannot afford to sleep through one of the greatest challenges Am Yisrael has ever faced. It is not simply about the slaughter and massacre of October 7. It is not about the continued rockets, drones, missiles and battles we are facing daily as a nation. It is not about the entire world standing against us and marching for those who want to murder and snuff the life out of us. It is not about the evil and venomous antisemitism that is choking the atmosphere on college campuses and universities across the world.
It is about the heart and soul of our kinderlach. The future of our people is resting upon our shoulders. We have the responsibility to ignite the pintelah Yid that lies within our children. We must restore the feeling of “Mi Kiamcha Yisrael!…Banim Atem laMakom! – Who is like Your nation, Israel!…You are the children of Hashem in this world!”
Ask yourself – how can I bring this feeling of Jewish pride and love to the children in my life? The future of Am Yisrael is counting on you.