Two weeks ago I had an animated discussion with Zev Brenner on his radio show. It was January 1st, and I had just returned home from a vigil outside the Mamdani inauguration.
Rabbi Avi Weiss and I had stood outside the inauguration in the freezing cold, along with a small group of diehard activists, waving American and Israeli flags and singing inspirational songs. We came to demonstrate that our community will stand with Israel no matter what.
Zev started the interview by asking about Mamdani’s election; he probably expected a fiery response.
But I went in the other direction. I explained that it’s time to pivot. We should not turn the Jewish community into a full-time resistance to Mamdani.
Zev, who is a dear friend, did what any good interviewer should: he pushed back. What followed was a spirited dialogue.
I explained that, of course, we must stand up and protest when the circumstances call for it. I pointed out that I had just spent an entire year working tirelessly to prevent Mamdani from being elected, and had spent much of that day demonstrating outside his inauguration. But Mamdani was elected; we can’t change that now. We now need to focus on building our community.
In the last decade, a significant number of Democrats, and now Republicans, have moved away from supporting Israel. It is a disturbing turn of events for our community, which has always seen itself as part of the mainstream of American politics.
In response, many people have chosen to engage in political primal scream therapy. Each day is a day of angry reactions, posting on social media and sending furious emails to friends.
This is a tragic mistake. An identity of reaction is an empty one. As the Kotzer Rebbe famously said:
If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you.
This saying is quite profound, even if it is a bit convoluted. You have to be you based on your own inner understanding; your identity should reflect your unique spirit. The moment you base your identity on what someone else thinks is the moment you have lost a bit of your soul.
This is certainly true if you slavishly imitate the other person. But it is also true if all you do is oppose the other person. To fixate constantly on your enemies is to lose a bit of your soul; you are in danger of becoming the sort of person who believes, “I am I because you are you.”
We must not let our circumstances narrow our spirits.
At the beginning of Parashat Vaera, Moses brings to the Jews a powerful vision of redemption. But their reaction is apathetic, and, “They did not heed Moses, because of shortness of spirit and cruel bondage.”
There are many interpretations of the Hebrew words kotzer ruach. It literally means shortness of breath; but the word ruach can also refer to one’s spirit.
Many commentaries offer a straightforward interpretation; the Jews in Egypt were so overwhelmed they could not accept Moses’ message of hope. The arduous labor they performed left them literally short of breath.
This makes sense. The slaves ignored Moses because they didn’t have the patience for optimistic speeches.
But others take a more critical view. Seforno writes that “the Jews did not prepare their hearts and spirits for this knowledge and for this belief.” The Ohr HaChaim takes this idea further and says that “perhaps because they were not people of Torah, they did not listen; and this is what is called shortness of spirit, for the Torah broadens a person’s heart.”
The Jewish slaves ignored Moses because they were spiritually flawed, lacking in faith and wisdom.
I used to dislike these interpretations; it feels like these commentaries are blaming the slaves. What type of spirituality can one expect from a person mired in misery?
But in their harsh judgement, the Seforno and the Ohr HaChaim demand more from us. They say that there are no excuses; yes, we must open our hearts, even in the most difficult of times. Actually, that is when we need spirituality the most.
And that is what I was trying to convey in my interview; we are in danger of becoming a community that is short of spirit, so absorbed in fighting we forget what we are fighting for.
Right now we need to take stock of our spirit. We need to go back to the basics, and embrace the foundational values that have allowed our community to survive and thrive for three millennia.
I write the following in the spirit of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. In the introduction to his classic work Mesilat Yesharim, he writes that:
I have written this work not to teach men what they do not know, but to remind them of what they already know and is very evident to them, .. But to the extent that they are well known and their truths revealed to all, so is forgetfulness in relation to them extremely prevalent.
We know all the obvious lessons. But sometimes they’re so obvious we overlook them. So they need to be repeated. And as we enter the era of Mamdani, we need to repeat the lessons of 3,000 years of Jewish history:
STAND WITH PRIDE. All too often, it feels like being a visible Jew is a liability. But it would be devastating for our community to be driven underground, afraid to take its rightful place in the public square. So, don’t hide being Jewish. Do more Jewish activities, from synagogue to studying Talmud to taking JCC yoga classes. Become an activist.
STAND TOGETHER. It has been an awful two years. Unfortunately, in their frustration, Jews all too often attack other Jews they think are too “soft.” Social media posts feature harangues against Jewish leaders for “not doing enough.” That only weakens our community. Stop fighting other Jews. More importantly, reach out to Jews who are different than you and make them your friends.
STAY STRATEGIC. This is not a time for people to sit around on the couch and vent their anger. We need to get things done by organizing for the next election, building an activist network, and recruiting members of our community to run for office. We need to register to vote, and get our friends to register. We need to focus on winning, not complain about losing.
PUT HOPE FIRST. The Jewish people have been around for over 3,000 years. We have overcome tremendous challenges again and again. We will certainly overcome this.
Even if the slaves didn’t listen to Moses’ vision of redemption, we remember it at the Passover Seder. It has inspired the Jewish spirit in good times and bad.
And we need to remember Moses’ vision now. Mayors come and go, but the Jewish people will continue onward.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York.
