Why Diaspora Jews Are Counting on Us

Sometimes it takes a trip to the other side of the world to teach us an important lesson about what we have right here at home. My husband Jamie and I had the good fortune to travel to Australia in March. Our son Jack is spending a semester abroad in Sydney. We had never been “Down Under” and took the opportunity to explore Australia. We spent two weeks traveling around the country from the outback to its rugged coastlines. Wherever we went, no matter how remote our destination, we befriended fellow Jews and Israelis. A yellow ribbon pin or orange kippah served as icebreakers and turned strangers into family.

We spent our final Shabbat in Sydney, where we enjoyed meals with families who welcomed Jack and provided him with a Jewish home away from home. We’d heard about the antisemitism in Australia and worried whether we were safe walking to our Friday night dinner. One driver, noticing Jamie’s kippah, honked his horn at us, rolled down his window and shouted, “Good Shabbos!” We relaxed as we walked our destination with the beautiful city lights of Sydney’s harbor behind us. 

Sydney was experiencing a heat wave at the end of its summer season and the next day was a sweltering one. Walking to Shabbat lunch was not quite as magical as the previous night. We arrived to meet the family hosting us for the first time drenched in sweat. Nevertheless, they opened their home and shared their beautiful Shabbat table and meal with us and their 25 closest friends and family for the next five hours. Shabbat ended late and none of us were in a hurry. We discussed the antisemitism in Australia and how it affected them personally and their communities. They all seemed to have family in Israel, kids who have served in the IDF (one guest had just returned from fighting in Gaza). Many of them expressed concerns for their futures in Australia, saying they have their “bags packed” and are ready to make aliyah if the situation deteriorates further. 

They were fascinated by our involvement with pro-Israel politics and lamented that even if the 100,000 Jews in Australia could organize to promote a strong Australia/Israel relationship, they are too few and Australia isn’t a strong force on the world stage. They felt vulnerable and powerless. As they saw it, the only Jews who have agency today are American and Israeli Jews. Israel has the IDF and America has a representative democracy in which American Jews can advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel alliance. For all other diaspora Jews, Israel is their only place of refuge but if she is not strong, they could be just as vulnerable. Because of this, they follow U.S. politics very closely. They know about all the contentious races in which pro-Israel candidates take on detractors. They listen to Dan Senor’s podcast, “Call Me Back,” and refresh their pages on The Times of Israel website as often as we do. 

When the sun started to set and we prepared to depart, thanking them for their Shabbat hospitality, they were the ones expressing gratitude, for our hard work with AIPAC. They said how grateful they are that Israel is not alone as she faces threats on seven fronts following the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. They were as horrified as we were by the surge in antisemitic, pro-Hamas rallies that spread across the globe on Oct. 8, but equally comforted by the U.S. aircraft carriers that pulled into the Mediterranean Sea shortly thereafter. Their gratitude came from a place of deep understanding that Israel cannot face the myriad threats alone and America, only America, has the power to protect the one Jewish state.

Jamie and I have been involved with pro-Israel political activism for over two decades. When people ask me why I devote so much time to strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship I say it’s simple. Israel was a refuge for my mother and her family after the Jews were kicked out of their home in Baghdad. She served in the IDF, as did every member of her family. I am proud to be American, but I have never lost my sense of responsibility that comes with that privilege. I went to college at 18, not to the military. I didn’t have to enlist my three sons into the army. I don’t stay up all night when I cannot reach them on their cell phones. The way we are blessed to contribute to the survival of our people as American Jews is by fighting on the front lines on Capitol Hill. 

On that long flight home from Sydney, despite my years of experience as a pro-Israel activist, I felt a tremendous weight that I had never felt before. Spending Shabbat with my fellow Jews in Sydney made me realize that I wasn’t just fighting for Israel, or for the security of Jews here in America. Jews around the world who have felt powerless since Oct. 7 are counting on us, too. There are so few of us and so much work to be done. Anti-Israel voices are growing louder across every corner of society. From college campuses to music festivals, sports arenas and even the homes of Jewish leaders, efforts to intimidate and silence Jews are relentless and deeply alarming. Our representatives in Congress are feeling it too. Our enemies will never tire of finding new ways to try to destroy us, as they have relentlessly sought to do throughout our history. We may be cursed by our enemies but we are also so very blessed to be a part of such a remarkable and resilient people. Feeling the true sense of belonging to the larger Jewish family, I pledged to work even harder when I got home.

Spending Shabbat with my fellow Jews in Sydney made me realize that I wasn’t just fighting for Israel, or for the security of Jews here in America. Jews around the world who have felt powerless since Oct. 7 are counting on us, too.

As I write this, Jamie just landed in Krakow to participate in the March of the Living. Before Oct. 7, I truly believed that the horrors of Auschwitz were relegated to the black-and-white pages of history. Not because the world learned the lessons of the Holocaust — but because the Jews of that generation fought, sacrificed, and secured their right to self-determination in the land of Israel. On Oct. 7, Israel’s sense of security was shattered. On Oct. 8, the rest of world Jewry felt it, too. It is our turn to stand up, speak up and fight. Every American Jew should recognize the profound privilege — and responsibility — of using our voices to ensure that America continues to stand strongly and proudly with Israel, because only America has the power to guarantee that the world’s one Jewish state has the support it needs to defend itself and prevail.

Talia Resin is a leader in pro-Israel advocacy and a Wexner Heritage fellow. She and her husband Jamie live in Los Angeles and are dedicated to ensuring a strong U.S.-Israel alliance.