Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu called on American Jews to strengthen their connection to Jewish heritage, the Bible, and the State of Israel during an address at the Arutz Sheva NYC Summit, held in Queens in cooperation with Chazaq.
Speaking in Hebrew before an audience of community leaders and supporters of Israel, Eliyahu argued that Israel's strength and moral clarity stem from its connection to Jewish history and tradition, while warning against what he described as decades of misguided thinking that weakened the country's resolve against its enemies.
Reflecting on his military service nearly two decades ago, Eliyahu recounted fighting in southern Lebanon in a village that, he noted, "no longer exists" following recent military operations.
"When I was a young man in the reserves almost 20 years ago, we fought in Lebanon in a place called Rabat al-Tin. Why do I say 'was called'? Because today that place no longer exists, thanks to the IDF."
"Terrorists started shooting at us from the rooftops, from every direction. I was a young machine gunner and a young father, and for some reason we were ordered not to return fire to the terrorists who were shooting at us. Even though we could see the terrorists very close to us, and even though we could see where the shooting was coming from, the commander, instead of destroying the house on the terrorists, goes and knocks on the door as if he is now on a visit to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or Hebron or New York. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?"
According to Eliyahu, the problem was not with individual commanders but with a broader military and cultural mindset. "This morality is not the fault of the commander. It is not the fault of the commander at all. This morality was a concept that was practiced in the IDF for three decades. The thought that we need to pity our enemies, the thought that it is more moral, is perverted. This thought stems from the disconnection from the Bible, from the disconnection from the heritage, from the disconnection from the roots."
Turning to the audience of American Jews, Eliyahu stressed that while he would prefer to see them immigrate to Israel, they have an important mission wherever they currently live. "You are here, and for us it would be better if you came to the Land of Israel. But you have a mission until you come to the Land of Israel - to connect the younger generation to the Bible."
Eliyahu argued that Jewish identity and moral character are strengthened through familiarity with biblical figures and Jewish history. "When a boy is connected to King David, he is a better boy. When a girl is connected to Chana, when a girl is connected to Miriam, she is a better girl - stronger, healthier."
He warned that societies that lose touch with their past become unmoored. "When a person thinks that the whole world is only about him, without the previous generations, he is like a leaf blown by the wind. When a generation has no respect for previous generations, for the legacy of previous generations, it is like a leaf blown by the wind."
"If a generation understands and has respect for its parents, and has respect for the generations before its parents, and has respect for King David and the Baal Shem Tov, even respect for Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky, then it is a tree 3,700 years old."
"We ask you here to be ambassadors of this goodness," he concluded. "To be ambassadors of victory, to be ambassadors of heritage, to be ambassadors of roots, because that is the true way to repair the world. When we are in the State of Israel, the Nation of Israel is truly alive."