✨ Coming Soon!

Join us on January 24 for a memorable evening celebrating Shabbat with the Hebrew School community!

🕯️ 4:40 PM: Candle-lighting & kid-friendly prayers
🍽️ Followed by a delicious dinner & fun games for all ages

Bring your family for an inspiring and joyful Shabbat experience. We can’t wait to see you there! ... See MoreSee Less

Another week, another headline about antisemitism. This time, I came across a news piece from the Wall Street Journal:

"Nearly Half of Adults Worldwide Hold Antisemitic Views, Survey Finds."

How do you feel about this study?

Some (pessimists?) might say: Half of the world's population? That is horrible! So many people hate us!

Some (realists? Optimists?) might say: Wait a second, half of the people in the world do not hate us? That is huge. Incredible news!

And I would say: Okay, thanks for the info. Now, what are we going to do about it?

There is so much that can and should be done to fight antisemitism. But first and foremost, we should never let it define us.

By Divine providence, this week's Torah reading provides the first documented case of antisemitism. Pharaoh "said to his people, 'The Israelites are becoming more numerous and stronger than us. ... Lest they increase, and in the event of war, join our enemies, fight us, and go up out of the land.'"

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The typical antisemitic "dual loyalty" accusation. It did not matter that a Hebrew man named Joseph had just saved the Egyptian economy from disaster. It did not matter that the Hebrews had been law-abiding Egyptian citizens for many years. They were still outsiders. They were still hated.

In Egypt, the rate of antisemitism was 100%.

But instead of becoming obsessed with the topic of antisemitism, the Hebrews chose a different path: celebrating and maintaining their unique identities.

Here is a powerful letter the Rebbe wrote in 1957 (translated from Yiddish):

"In this first exile narrative, we are told how a small group of Jews, seventy souls, found themselves in a foreign land, among a great and powerful nation in Egypt, and yet did not lose their identity or become intimidated.

The first Jews in this initial exile understood that the secret of their uniqueness, identity, and independence, which they preserved strictly and without compromise, was key to their survival.

As our Sages of blessed memory explain, in the merit of not changing their names or their customs ("they did not alter their names, etc."), they were redeemed from exile.

Not only did this Jewish awareness protect them from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but it also led to "the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread." They grew in number and spiritual strength until they merited redemption and the giving of the Torah, which illuminated the entire world and fulfilled the purpose of creation.

In our Parsha from our holy Torah, the Torah of Life, lies a fundamental lesson for all Jews in all times and throughout all generations of exile, particularly for our own generation.

In our era, exile has taken on its harshest forms of suffering and destruction, G-d forbid, both physical and spiritual. Everywhere, Jews are a small minority surrounded by a foreign and hostile world, a world where the most basic human rights and morality have been completely undermined, where light is replaced with darkness and darkness with light, a world that lives in fear of atomic self-destruction, Heaven forbid.

In these times of dark exile, we Jews must remember the guidance of the Divine Torah, the Torah of Life.

Only through maintaining our distinctiveness and spiritual independence, rooted in the Torah and its commandments, and through uncompromising Torah-true education, can we ensure the survival of our people, both spiritually and physically."

This letter was written over 60 years ago yet it is as relevant as ever. Yes, we need to fight antisemitism, but above all, we need to embrace our Judaism and be proud of it.

Wishing you a good Shabbos, sending love, praying for the hostages!!! the safety of our brothers and sisters in the holy land, and for world peace with the coming of Moshiach!

Light candles at 4:31 pm
Shabbat ends at 5:36 pm ... See MoreSee Less