How can the Jewish people learn to sit with each other again - opinion
Unfortunately, recent statements within Israeli political discourse have undermined our ability to have an honest and genuine discourse with world Jewry.
By OMER YANKELEVITCHMEN PRAY last year at the Western Wall. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
One of the first lessons my parents taught me, that I would then pass down to my own children is love for a fellow Jew. It is this ahavat Yisrael that serves as the basis of the Jewish experience. As we continue to discover, this basic Torah principal seems to be far more challenging in practice.Unfortunately, recent statements within Israeli political discourse have undermined our ability to have an honest and genuine discourse with world Jewry. While it is perfectly legitimate, and in fact, healthy, to hold different opinions, Jews living in Israel must remember their brothers and sisters across the Jewish world.Rather than wasting our breath to delegitimize the other, the Jewish people are tasked with putting our time and energy toward building a new conversation around what brings us together. Only through this process will we manage to tackle the challenges that sit between and in front of us as a people – in Israel and around the world.As a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) member of government sitting in a secular party, and tasked with building bridges across the Jewish world, I uniquely sit at the tension point of this conversation. My message is, let’s start a new one.Rather than narrowing the conversation to the most divisive of voices, it is important to seek partners within the Israeli society, including within the haredi communities dedicated to bringing about unity within the greater Jewish people.As one people, one family, we must learn how to put our own personal beliefs or opinions aside and learn how to respect and elevate one another. My office aims to model this message in our work. As Diaspora Affairs Minister, I continue to meet with religious and thought leaders from across the Jewish world. While we do not always see eye-to-eye, I have come to appreciate the vibrancy and beauty of the diversity of our people.As the nation-state of the Jewish people, the State of Israel has an additional responsibility to uphold this frame. It is important that all Jews feel connected and at home in the State of Israel. Simultaneously, Israelis must be engaged to see themselves within the context of a larger Jewish people in order to develop a level of understanding and appreciation for diverse Jewish identities. This mindset is slowly starting to take hold in Israel as a new conversation develops – particularly, on a grassroots level – regarding what it means to be a part of Israel society, and by extension, a greater Jewish people.Education and dialogue will continue to bring about this change.This notion reminds me of a recent virtual tour I took of the Jewish community in Kansas City, Kansas, where I met with students and teachers from Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. The local Jewish day school offers two tracks to bring together Jewish students of different backgrounds, but who every day come together to sit around the same lunch table.Hyman Brand is an example for us to learn from and model. Parents, leaders and teachers can commit to prioritizing love for a fellow Jew as the basis of a shared Jewish experienceThis requires a level of Jewish confidence and faith in the Jewish people. When all of us feel less concerned about being delegitimized by the other, it nurtures more space and patience to take in and uplift the other to ultimately bring about our common destiny as one family, one nation.
