The High Holy Days closed out the past year 5783 of the Jewish calendar and ushered in the New Year, 5874, on Rosh Hashanah; followed by the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. I am so thankful to have been able to pray with my fellow Jews in Miami Beach at Temple Emanu-El. Over this past week, we prayed, we rejoiced, we remembered, we reflected, we repented, and we atoned to God for our sins.
As I was walking out of the morning service this past Monday during Yom Kippur, I turned around to look up at the beautiful shul on Washington Avenue in Miami Beach and while I was overcome with so much love in looking at this historic Jewish house of worship, I was also smacked in the face with the reality that I and millions of Jews have been living with for decades in America. As I looked up, I saw one of the armed guards standing outside the main entrance door, firearm on his hip. Inside, there were two more armed security guards and two Miami Beach police cars on either side of the corner.
Praying inside our houses of worship under the conscript of armed guards stationed outside and being scanned with a hand-held metal detector upon entrance is par for the course for us Jews in America these days. This is our not-so-new normal. I’m 38 years old and for the last 30-plus years of my life I can remember going to synagogue for Shabbat services, bar/bat mitzvahs, Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, or other Yom Kippur services, I can always remember having police and/or armed guards as part of the process of observing my faith with my fellow Jews. If I’m being honest, it’s a pretty sad and pathetic state of affairs for us as a Jewish community.
Leading with strong Jewish pride
The president of Temple Emanu-el gave an amazing speech to the congregation about how we, Jews, must start leading with strong Jewish pride at every turn – something I’ve been saying and working to achieve for years. I haven’t heard this type of straight talk from many in the over-60 lay leadership of Jewish organizations in a long time so I must say, it was amazing to hear this during Yom Kippur.
As we begin 5784, we need to be honest with ourselves in understanding that we can’t erase antisemitism overnight. However, I believe that it will go a long way if we, Jews, start leading with more pride at every single turn in our lives. We must project pride and love for our faith in all facets of our lives.
So my wish for this coming year is yes, of course, for you and your family to have many blessings for good health, happiness, and success, but, above all else, I wish for all of us a renewed sense of strong Jewish pride.
Let us be proud of who we are today, of who our ancestors were before us, and of who we will continue to be for the centuries to come.
The writer is executive director of CASEPAC, the only US political action committee dedicated to combating antisemitism. He is founder of Henry Public Relations and a former GOP congressional candidate.
bleib@casepac.org