I’ll admit it. I am still a pampered oleh. Even after living in Israel for years, there are still small luxuries that I simply cannot do without. I travel the extra distance to the American supermarket because I need the good brand of refried beans. I order from Amazon because I insist on the door fixtures they sell there.
And I very much enjoy protection from blood-crazed genocidal terrorists.
For that last comfort, I owe everything to the brave men and women of the IDF. Their selfless dedication and sacrifice allow me to keep doing what I love, not being shot alongside my family.
It used to be you could expect a small nicety like that anywhere. But as recent events have shown, that’s no longer even remotely true. The Bondi terror attack was the most horrific example, but in the end, just one example of far too many that shows that Jews around the world no longer have the luxury of thinking themselves safe. The intifada has indeed been globalized.
I’ve heard many people argue, with varying degrees of seriousness, that in response, we should globalize the IDF. To some degree, this has been done. The Mossad has foiled a significant number of planned terror attacks around the world. These were attacks for which the intelligence of the countries themselves seemed completely unprepared .
Unfortunately, the IDF can’t be everywhere. And world Jewry needs to understand this and to understand something fundamental and basic to their survival going forward. Nobody is coming to save them. They need to learn to protect themselves.
There is a story told about the late Rabbi Meir Kahane z"l. A group of Jewish college students once appealed to him for advice. They told him they were becoming increasingly unsafe on their campus. Every time they tried to hold a Jewish event in the room designated for them, antisemitic students would burst in and intimidate them. The ongoing attacks made them too scared to continue to be openly Jewish.
Surprisingly, it was the Jewish students that Rabbi Kanane became angry at. He pointed out that there were about four or five gentile agitators causing all the trouble. Meanwhile, the typical Jewish event drew an average of fifty students. There was absolutely no reason for the Jewish students to feel in any way intimidated. The problem was, the Rabbi argued, not that the Jewish students were being attacked, but that they were too meek do anything about it. A clear sign to the antisemites that they attack Jews at their own peril would stop the problem. As long as the Jews let themselves be seen as targets, they would continue to be targets.
And today’s world is full of targets. Jews in Australia beg the police to do more. They lobby the government, the same government that allowed the attack to happen in the first place and expect that this is where their protection will come from.
But it’s been made clear to anyone who has even remotely been paying attention that the government of Australia is not only incapable of helping its Jewish citizens, but that it actively chooses not to. This same fact has been played out globally. Jews keep appealing to the proper chains of command in the hopes that they will finally take notice. And while they wait, more Jews die.
It’s time to accept that there is no cavalry coming to save us. Jews are, as we have always been, on our own. We can’t look to anyone else to counter the rise of terror attacks against us. If Jews really want to survive, then it’s Jews and only the Jews who must do what needs to be done.
The fight has been brought to us, and it’s time we fought back.
This isn’t a call for violence. With the exception of Batman, I’m not a fan of vigilantes. Instead, it’s a warning. Violence is coming to us whether we like it or not. It’s up to us to choose how we respond to it.
But respond to it we must. In a world where attempts to abduct Jewish girls off the street go unpunished, our own answer must be swift and clear. We must make it unmistakable that Jews will not allow themselves to be terrorized.
We romanticize movies like “Inglourious Basterds" where brave Jews fight back against Nazis. But how many Jews today are willing to stand up to the modern-day Nazis that proudly parade down American streets and infect college campuses with their poison? There are plenty of opportunities for real stories to be written about real Jews who stood up to the evil facing them in the modern world.
Jews need to organize. They need to prepare. They need to train. It would seem impossible except that the template already exists. Just look at Hatzalah. There is not a major Jewish community that does not have a Hatzalah branch. Faster and more efficient than normal EMS services, Hatzalah is the first call of any Jew facing a medical emergency.
But Hatzalah's success isn’t magical. It’s the result of years of hard work. An infostructure had to be built from the ground up. Countless people had to be trained. Money for supplies had to be raised. It was a vast undertaking, yet it was done and something like it can be done again.
Jews in each community and campus must create their own organizations to protect themselves. Each community or campus has a duty to make sure it has a system in place to protect their own. If it sounds extreme, remember that most synagogues already do this to some degree. You would be hard pressed to find a shul in America without compressive security personnel and surveillance. This is seen as unfortunate but necessary.
Expanding means only two things. It means putting the responsibilities on the Jews themselves instead of a paid outside firm and moving beyond the synagogue building to ensure the safety of Jewish communities at large.
Jewish groups must be proactive. They must respond to any potential threat before it has a chance to happen. And should they fail to stop a threat, they must make sure the issue is dealt with and the perpetrator or perpetrators caught. Most importantly, they must present a firm, unambiguous message to the outside world saying that Jews are no longer a people to be trifled with.
Within the legal, acceptable framework, a system already exists for a proper structure for our defenses. We simply must begin to utilize it.
And we must begin soon. Every day, the news seems to bring reports of another Jew attacked around the world. How many more have to be hit before we realize that what we’ve been doing isn’t working? Before we realize that we are on our own? If we want to survive what is to come, the responsibility is on us and nobody else.
We must act now. Our communities need us.
I’ll end with a story. The holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of the hassidic movement, was once teaching his disciples. He explained to them that Hashem created everything in this world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.
The clever student asked, "What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did Hashem create them?"
The Baal Shem Tov responded, " Hashem created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all -- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone who is in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that Hashem commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in Hashem at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. and look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right."
"This means," the Rebbe continued, "that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that Hashem will help you.' Instead, for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say 'I will help you.'"
I certainly don’t mean to imply that we should not pray to Hashem for help. We need to remember that everything is ultimately in His Hands and that real help comes only from Him.
Instead, I suggest that we should take this story and adapt it to the nations of the world. When dealing with foreign powers, we must become, as it were, atheists. We must belive in nothing in regards to them and must never believe that they have any power to help us.
Instead, we should remember that if we want to be saved, then it’s up to us to save ourselves.
Ilan Goodman is a museum collections professional and exhibition curator. He also serves as a rabbi and educator. He made Aliyah to Israel in 2011 and lives with his wife and children in Beit Shemesh.