United We Stand

For the last 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been accused of many things:

We killed Jesus
We poisoned the wells of Europe and caused the Black Plague
We plotted the bombing of the World Trade Center
We arranged for the Arab nations to rebel against their leaders
We control the media
We control the banks
We control the world

There is one thing we’ve never been accused of and that is - being stupid.

Everyone can see that, with all of our accomplishments in technology, medicine and business (at least) we are (at least) smarter than average.

Maybe they’re wrong.
Maybe we are stupid.

There is a growing anti-Jewish sentiment permeating the world. It might be masked as anti-Zionism but it is anti-Semitism all the same. Jews around the world are once again becoming the focal point of hatred. Hate crimes against Jews are becoming all too common in France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Russia and of course throughout the Arab world.

The exact reasons are unclear. Adolf Hitler is quoted as saying:

“Even if there had never been a synagogue, or a Jewish school, the Jewish spirit would still exist and exert its influence. It has been there from the beginning and there is no Jew, not a single one, who does not personify it.”

It matters not if you are Orthodox or non-affiliated, liberal or conservative, Ashkenazic or Sephardic, American or Israeli, practicing or agnostic. In the eyes of the world, all Jews are Jews.

Yet we each see ourselves as separate. There are some of us who seriously question the policies of the State of Israel. Some of us don’t like the ways of the ultra-Orthodox. Some of us don’t accept the policies of the liberal-Jewish platform. Some of us won’t associate with Jews who are more or less observant than we are.

As we continue to fight and divide ourselves, it gives the world the opportunity to drive a wedge between us.

Without even considering the metaphysical benefits of a united Jewish people (as promised by the Prophets and our Sages), when all eyes are upon us, doesn’t it make sense for all Jews to unite and accept each other?

To allow the world to incite us against our own people would be foolish indeed. To take it upon ourselves to alienate our own brothers and sisters is sheer madness.

Let’s not give the world one more thing to accuse us of.

Let’s not be stupid.