September 28, 2021

Winston Churchill famously said that “nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” In the last several days, those of us who are part of the Jewish and pro-Israel communities have been repeatedly reminded of Churchill’s maxim. While the bullets flying in our direction are metaphorical rather than ballistic, we’ve spent a lot of time recently dodging incoming political missives with the potential to do great damage to the Jewish people and homeland.

Most visible in the latest fusillade was last week’s congressional fight over whether the United States should provide financial assistance to help the Israeli military rebuild its Iron Dome defense system after their war with Hamas earlier this year. A small group of progressive Democratic House members forced their leadership to eliminate a $1 billion earmark from a must-pass government funding bill, and although the spending was later approved in a separate measure, it provided an opportunity for a vocal and growing faction of Israel’s congressional foes to air their grievances with the Jewish state’s efforts to defend its people against thousands of missiles fired at civilian targets.

In California’s state capitol, meanwhile, legislation creating a mandatory ethnic studies course for the state’s public schools was awaiting Governor Gavin Newson’s signature. The bill is a vast improvement over the original version, which included a curriculum that neglected to mention anti-Semitism as a type of racial or ethnic hatred and uncritically held up the anti-Zionist Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) crusade as a worthwhile social movement. But it still allows for that objectionable earlier draft to be taught in local schools, and there is a well-organized advocacy effort to persuade school districts to use it.

And here in Los Angeles, a faction of United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) union members had introduced a motion to be considered by the organization that would have put them on record in support of the BDS movement, following similar successful efforts by the Seattle and San Francisco teacher unions. The Jewish Federation LA effectively marshalled a broad-based opposition campaign and was able to convince union leadership to indefinitely table the proposal, but the fact that such a fight was necessary provided an uncomfortable reminder of the pervasiveness of anti-Zionist and and-Semitic sentiment in political circles.

Along with the excitement that often accompanies such near-misses, narrowly averted disaster can also provide a false sense of security and safety. But these missives show no sign of abating in the future. A recent poll from the Louis Brandeis Center found that a majority of the Jewish college students surveyed had experienced anti-Semitism on their campuses and more than sixty percent had felt unsafe as Jews during their college experience.  Half of respondents have felt the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus or in virtual campus settings. More than half said they “are somewhat or very reluctant to share their views on Israel”.

The Brandeis poll also showed that  about a third of Jewish students said they’re worried about online harassment or being “marginalized or penalized” by a professor. Which means that many of this country’s future leaders are actually being taught that demonizing Israel and denigrating Jews is acceptable behavior.

It is clear that there aren’t many others willing to stand with us.

While most of these attacks are not hitting their targets, it is increasingly clear that our community is perpetually playing defense. It is also clear that there aren’t many others willing to stand with us, even those who face similar challenges to our own.

Some of this is our own doing. Compared to previous generations of Jewish-Americans, our outreach to other minority and underrepresented communities is insignificant. We have never found a cohesive way to establish ties with evangelicals and other religious groups that share our commitment to Israel. And as Muslims face abhorrent persecution in Northwest China and elsewhere, Jewish efforts to stand with them against such oppression is sporadic at best.

Jews represent approximately two percent of this country’s population. If we want to escape our ongoing exposure to Churchill’s definition of exhilaration, then perhaps American Jews should renew our commitment to building alliances with others who are subject to such threats. There are times when even the chosen people need a few more friends.

Dan Schnur is a Professor at the University of California – Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. Join Dan for his weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” (www/lawac.org) on Tuesdays at 5 PM.

We are in a month of holy-days, aware of the brokenness in us and our world. The sound of the shofar shakes us to the core. We bear many losses and recognize better values. We went to the ocean and allowed the wind to sweep away what no longer serves us: worries, blame, coldness of the heart.  

We are getting better at facing the unknown. We feel the fatigue of mundane disputes that are not for the sake of heaven. We want to honor ourselves in a new way. We are ready to go deeper to heal ourselves, to connect with an inner guide who will show us signs that we can trust, understand and follow.  

I go about this process with the twenty-two Hebrew letters, understood as signs and wonders by some of the sages. Since early times, these letters have fascinated many with their transformative power and universal vision. And they are here again.

How do they work? It’s simple. First, contemplate a wish or question, and then randomly draw a letter from the cards I have included with my book, “Meditations on the Hebrew Letters – A Guide for the Modern Seeker.” Read what is written under the letter. For instance: “What letter will help me start a new relationship with my sister?” When we draw a letter—whether we know it or not—there is an immediate synchronicity between our question and the power of the letter. The result is magical: we receive a meaningful answer. These letters are blessing, healing, repairing and inspiring. Their insights bring change.

When you draw an alef, or your name has an alef, it’s a call to realize who you are: one who is gifted with the ability to reconcile.

For Rosh Hashana, letter “alef” is very clear, simple and deep with her message: take responsibility to create balance in your life. How? By not identifying with one side or the other—allowing opposing forces to dance and complete each other. Just as day needs night, opposite forces cannot exist without each other. Look at alef’s sacred geometry. Can you see four triangles going in four different directions? They are the contradictory forces of life, pulling us in different directions—the way life is designed to be. When you draw an alef, or your name has an alef, it’s a call to realize who you are: one who is gifted with the ability to reconcile.

In the Sukkah, when we place our cards on the table, face down, let’s say we ask a question and draw the letter “samech.” We gaze at her colorful circular portrait. She is sod—secret. She whispers “go forward” without looking back. Once we make one small change, all 360 degrees of the circle are affected.  

In the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, the map of consciousness showing how the Divine Abundance descends to our world, the letters connect the emanations/sefirot to each other. They are sound vibrations that keep the world in existence. The Jewish people were called to witness the Divine on earth by the power of speech: We bless everything in our life and in Creation. Kabbalists say that the twenty-two letters were created before the creation of heaven and earth. We understand this from the first verse of Genesis: B’resheet bara Elohim et (In the beginning, God created et). The word “et,” spelled “alef tav,” indicates all the twenty-two letters. Etto appear everywhere in Torah; it’s a word with no particular meaning or grammatical usage. This word is spread here and there in the text like seeds of light. It’s a sign of blessings present throughout the text.

These twenty-two tools of creation are what the Creator uses to create and maintain the world—hour by hour, year by year. The letters invite us to emulate this divine mode. The work with them is deep and transformative, yet light and playful. Drawing a letter, you enter the realm of sacred play.

Gilla Nissan is a teacher and author. To purchase her new box set, “Meditations with the Hebrew Letters—A Guide for the Modern Seeker,” visit TheHebrewLetter.com or write to: Gilla@TheHebrewLetter.com