The Jewish People or the Leftist People?
The Jewish People or the Leftist People?iStock

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, the rabbi of the Tree of Life synagogue where the terrible massacre took place on Saturday, said Monday that the President, Donald Trump, is a welcome guest in his city and synagogue.

"The President of the United States is always a welcome guest," he said, "I am a citizen, he is my President. Obviously he's a welcome guest."

The need for Meyers' statement arose when a far-left Jewish organization issued a petition demanding that Trump not come to Pittsburgh until he retracts his statements and policies on immigrants and minorities, and until he condemns "white nationalism".

We're now faced with a situation where unprecedented security will probably be needed to protect President Trump from the wrath of Jewish leftist organizations when he comes to offer condolences to the families of the victims of the attack - perpetrated by a man who claimed that Trump is controlled by Jews and allows them to "pollute" the US.

We've reached a kind of national and political watershed. We've already been in this place, but the recent events, the awesome and wonderful Trump Era, and the rise of the Right in Europe (and now in Brazil) sharpen the choice in a very clear way.

Are we nationalists or anti-nationalists?

What are we? The Jewish People or the Leftist People? Are we nationalists or anti-nationalists? We have to decide. History forces us to make this decision.

It's no secret that the vast majority of Jews are identified with left-wing views, and it's no secret that the contributions of wealthy Jews like George Soros fuel the propaganda of the Left. And that forces us to recognize it and talk about it. What are we? The Jewish People or the Leftist People?

If we're the Jewish People then nationalism - even nationalism - is part of our identity, and there's nothing to be done about it. Just as we have a right and duty to be a nation, so too must other nations be connected to their own identity. And as we are allowed and entitled to defend our identity, other nations must also be able to do so. And then what remains is the Biblical logic that says: There are different nations in the world, some of them can be our friends and some are our enemies, and that's how it works.

"Identity" ideologies

If, on the other hand, we are the Left-wing People, then there really is sense in the statement by those Jews who asked that Trump not to come to Pittsburgh. Because Trump declares himself a "nationalist" - and at the same time, as someone who believes in an alliance between his people and our people. This covenant was cut in the flesh of his family! But in the opinion of the Left, the real alliance is between "weakened" minorities throughout the world against nationalism.

Can we get out of the Diaspora thinking - that nationalism is always bad, because we're always a minority, and that it's better for us that the ruling people not be too sure of themselves - because then they'll hate us? Or is it this the eternal world Jewish strategy, and so the clash between American Jewry and Jewish Judaism is something that will never end?

Of course, once you talk about leftist ideologies, you also come to dismantle the components of human sexuality and family. Every leftist who makes a statement against Trump and the Republicans will quickly make it clear that, apart from being nationalist and racist, they're also anti-gay, anti-sexually disoriented people, and anti-women. It goes together, and it's already known and recognized.

All this is called "identity ideology", but the truth is that the Jewish Right also has a very clear identity ideology. Jewish and rightist identity is built around family, around relations between a man and a woman based on all sorts of things that are not necessarily "equality", and on rules of marriage and conversion that are supposed to preserve some basic Jewish identity, despite openness to the Other.

Here, too, we must make difficult decisions. This is the point of great rupture and crisis we're in. Only the strongest will survive it.

The writer is the father of two and the head of the Family Movement.

Translated by Mordechai Sones