After Israel’s preemptive strike on military targets in Iran, giant ballistic missiles began raining angrily down on the Jewish State. Throughout that first week of the war I expected that the Jews of America would also rise up like a lion demanding that America join in our justified fight against Teheran’s evil regime. But their silence was as loud as the missiles falling upon the cities of Israel.
Excepting a very few Orthodox ones, where were all the heads of major American Jewish organizations? Where were all the Rabbis? Where were all the shul presidents and American Jewish activists? Their silence was as deafening as the sirens sounding throughout the Jewish Homeland. Why weren’t they demonstrating in Washington? Why wasn’t their voice sounded all over American TV?
Perhaps it is fear of antisemitic backlash. Perhaps American Jewry wants President Trump to be seen as acting in America's interests, not Israel's. Perhaps those Jewish organizations are so anti-Trump that they cannot bring themselves to turn to him. But perhaps it is something far deeper and more distressing:
During the days before the start of the war, my wife and I were enjoying a short vacation. One afternoon, buses drove into the hotel parking lot loaded with young American Jews visiting Israel on a Taglit program.
My wife and I were eating in the dining room when the young Americans flocked noisily inside with smiles on their faces and friendly joking. They were all personable college-age students, what seemed to be a mix of secular and Modern Orthodox young adults from communities in NY and Florida. Some of the guys sported kippahs. Others wore baseball caps. The majority didn’t cover their heads. Some of the girls were modestly dressed while the majority wore shorts and short-sleeved tops.
After they had attacked the buffet counters and settled down to eat, I decided, with my wife’s permission, to join one of the tables to ask a few questions. I chose a table with only boys, all of whom had muscular frames and health club biceps. It was the first trip to Israel for all of them. None had personally experienced anti-Semitism in the US. They had seen reports of anti-Semitism on their phones, but not on their college campuses and not in their home communities. They reported no significant change in themselves or in their families since the October 7th attack on Israel and its aftermath. (However it being their first visit to Israel suggests an awakening of sorts.)
They said that they cared about Israel but I couldn't discern any real heartfelt connection. They expressed no yearning to live in Israel at all. The Birthright trip, they reported, was 100% touring with no ideological discussions and no talk about aliyah. But they all thought that Hamas should be destroyed. Three felt there should be some sort of 2-State solution to deal with the Arab problem. Two said they didn't know what should be done. Three felt that Trump was crazy. One said he was good for the Jews. Another said that he had won the election fairly and deserved a chance. When I asked the boys about serving in the IDF, they all laughed nervously and said "No way."
A few days later Israel attacked Iran. Then a few days ago I noticed an Internet report which stated that the Taglit organization announced that they had evacuated to Cyprus on a cruise ship some 2000 college-age Taglit participants who were touring Israel. Instead of remaining here to volunteer on Israel’s beleaguered home front, to help in hospitals or on moshavim, or helping mother’s with young children whose fathers were once again on reserve duty, these strong young Jewish Americans - our brothers and sisters - were whisked out of the country to be speeded back to their worried fathers and mothers.
“Friends,” I felt like saying. “We have a manpower shortage in Israel. You can help out. Stay with us. And in the process discover who you really are as Jews!”
Maybe they themselves would have preferred to stay. Maybe it was their distraught parents who pressured Taglit to make the decision. It is painful to say that, yes, the “grasshopper syndrome” of the Spies of the Wilderness is still with us today. But it is difficult to blame them. In this respect, they are like the proverbial Talmudic "children captured and raised out of the fold." Maybe they believe that the war is our problem, not theirs. They have no one to teach them any differently. Not the Taglit tours and their contribution to strengthening Jewish identity, not their parents, nor their Rabbis in America and certainly not American Jewish organizations.
We, the Jews of the Jewish Homeland, will continue to stand in the breach like Joshua and Caleb in defending our Land and the honor of Hashem. Whether or not the Jews of America arise to the challenge, we will conquer our enemies with the help of Hashem so that all the world may know that there is a King in Israel - the Holy One Blessed Be He.
In the meantime, at least their President stood at our side.
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His many other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land", available on Amazon. He directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."
