In the Talmud’s tractate Megilla, Abayei says the reason we read about the Jewish people’s curses before Rosh Hashanah is so that the curses will be contained in the year that we are leaving behind.
The wisdom of the Talmudic sage is evident as we depart from 2023, the worst calendar year for Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
It was a year in which both Israelis and Diaspora Jews fought too much internally until our enemies reminded us – as they have throughout history – that we have no choice but to remain united.
It was a year in which both Israeli and American Jewish leaders were surprised by devastating dangers bubbling beneath the surface that they had been ignoring for too long, with disastrous results.
It was a year in which both Hamas and antisemites in the United States (and all over the world) stopped hiding their genocidal intentions and revealed them with pride and no shame.
Now that year is finally over, we are entering a year that, while we pray will be much better for Israel and the Jewish people, could still turn out to be even worse if wrong decisions are made.
Here are 10 lessons that must be learned to ensure a better 2024.
1. Our enemies mean what they say: When the leaders of Hamas tell the sympathetic international media that they want to initiate more October 7s until Israel is destroyed, they are very serious. Three Israeli prime ministers over the past few years acted under the assumption that Hamas wanted to cooperate with Israel in helping Gaza economically, so they facilitated Qatar’s billions going to Hamas and increased the number of Gazan workers entering Israel. From now on, we will act upon what our enemies do and say, not our own wishful thinking.
2. Defeat Hezbollah to prevent October 7 on steroids: The firepower of Hezbollah dwarfs that of Hamas, which not only got away with massacres inside Israel but has also managed to keep Israel at war for three months. If they can do that without precision missiles targeting Israel, imagine what Hezbollah can do with 150,000 missiles and rockets, including guided missiles ready to strike the most sensitive military and civilian targets in Israel.
Hezbollah must be eliminated or its missiles destroyed to end an existential threat to Israel when it is already weakened from war. The best way to prevent Hezbollah and Hamas from attacking Israel again is to sanction Iran effectively. Jewish organizations must pressure the world for necessary economic sanctions against Iran, the adversary that funds attacks on the US by the Houthis and others.
3. Condition reconstruction on “educational reconstruction”: The entire world will want to see Gaza rebuilt in the year ahead. But Israel holds the key to facilitate the reconstruction and must not permit it without parallel educational reconstruction. Israel must use its leverage to insist that the people of Gaza are taught a curriculum with a culture of peace and tolerance, which was part of the basis of the Abraham Accords.
The failures of UNRWA, which taught Gazan children to hate Jews and worship martyrs, cannot be allowed to be repeated by the international community when Gazan kids go back to school after the war.
4. Insist on ending antisemitic policies on campuses: Following the shameful antisemitism displayed by the presidents of three top American universities, there is finally momentum toward ending discriminatory policies that have harmed Jewish students for decades.
The time has come for the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on campus that have encouraged antisemitism and have gotten out of control: While other bigotry is not tolerated, antisemitism has been permitted. The top US Jewish organizations must make restoring a meritocracy in American higher education the cornerstone of their strategy for the year ahead, a lesson learned from their past failures which have been revealed by the unfortunate surprises following October 7.
5. Stop Qatar from dictating policies and selecting professors in the US: While antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling universities with money are false, that accusation is actually true of Qatar, which annually gives Hamas hundreds of millions and allocates billions to America’s top universities. Cornell University, where my grandson courageously stands up for Israel, received $1.8 billion to open a medical school in Qatar. Qatar uses its money to dictate university policies and who teaches students their narratives about the Middle East. Tenure for faculty must be eliminated while the federal government takes action to revamp the system before it is too late.
6. Zero tolerance for holding our cities hostage: The pro-Hamas protests in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have been treated with kid gloves, as if antisemitism is a justified reason to paralyze America’s largest cities. They began after theft in stores in inner cities became tolerated. The masked hoodlums who have closed highways near our airports must be arrested and significantly punished before they become role models for uninformed college kids who attend pro-Hamas protests on campus without knowing where the river and the sea are located. The antisemitic protests will spread across America and spiral out of control if a heavier hand is not dealt immediately.
7. Don’t accept Israel as an excuse for hating Jews: There has always been open hatred of Jews in America from both fringes, but traditional Judeo-Christian values have always been the American way. What is happening now is that unabashed antisemitism has entered the mainstream, with Israel being used as an excuse. Israel is not a reason for antisemitism, it is merely a symptom. In the 75 years after the Holocaust it was held at bay but no longer. The IHRA definition of antisemitism includes holding the average Jew in America accountable for Israel’s policies. This can no longer be allowed to be socially acceptable. We are at a crossroads that could result in Jews no longer feeling welcome in the US unless action is taken immediately.
8. Teach America about the danger of antisemitism
Antisemitism has been around since the first Jew, Abraham, was thrown in a fiery furnace by Nimrod; and Esau hated his brother Jacob. Google searches for “kill Jews” are up 1,800%; “Hitler was right” up 120%; and “why are Jews bad” up 450%. American children must be taught the dangers of the oldest form of discrimination, which is also the most prevalent in America. Antisemitism cannot be eradicated but it can be dealt with constantly and effectively to practically learn lessons from the Holocaust. This could increase deterrence against hatred of Jews before kids arrive on campus.
9. Make Israel education the basis for a bar-mitzvah: Jewish students arrive on college campuses nowhere near ready to defend Israel and confront antisemitism. Just like we don’t send our kids into a dangerous neighborhood in an inner city, we need to recognize the dangers of campuses. Israel education must begin way before Birthright Israel. It must be compulsory for bar and bat-mitzvah students in synagogues of every religious stream in the US, from Reform to Haredi, from Los Angeles to Lawrence, to Lakewood. In most Reform and Conservative synagogues, leverage over the kids to learn who they are ends with their party at 13, so inspiring Israel education must become a prerequisite for the party.
10. Improve Jewish education in Israel, too: While it is true that more Torah is being learned in the Land of Israel than at any time in history, there are also more uninformed Jews than ever.
The atrocities of October 7 that did not differentiate between the most religiously observant and secular Israeli Jews should inspire a Jewish reawakening. If being Jewish is a reason to be murdered, Israelis uneducated about Torah Judaism must seek out why it is also a reason to live. Non-coercive and inspiring education must be offered in the secular education stream and entertaining adult education programs should spread in secular communities across Israel.
If all of these lessons are learned and implemented, perhaps 2024 will be remembered as the year when blessings began and the curses finally ended.
The writer is chairman of the Religious Zionists of America, chairman of the Center for Righteousness and Integrity, president of the Culture for Peace Institute, and a committee member of the Jewish Agency. He was appointed by former US president Donald Trump as a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. The views expressed here are his own. Martinoliner@gmail.com