The New Jew (Vayakhel – 03/14/26)

The New Jew

As I spoke on Shabbat morning there was a fascinating convergence of twos.

Two days from the horrors of the attack on Temple Israel in Detroit.

Two weeks from living in upheaval from Israel and America’s attacks on Iran.

Two plus years from the Gaza war.

What do they have in common?

Before the 20th century, European Jews were itinerant. They lived in one place until the Gentiles would eventually grow tired of them and force them out. They were mostly poor and downtrodden, waiting for the day when the Messiah would come and relieve them of their suffering.

Our status was epitomized in the Supplication section of our daily prayers:

“Look from heaven and behold that we have become an object of scorn and derision among the nations; we are considered as the sheep led to the slaughter, to be slain and destroyed, tortured and humiliated. And yet despite all this, we have not forgotten Your Name; please, do not forget us.”

But at the beginning of the 20th century, with the new zeal for the return to Zion, a desire for a new Jew arose.

Asher Zev Jabotinsky founded the Betar movement to craft a new dynamic Jewish future. He used to say, “During two thousand years of exile, the Jewish nation lost the habit of concentrating its willpower, lost the habit of acting in unison as a people, lost the ability to defend itself, armed only in case of emergency. Jews became accustomed to shouts rather than deeds, to disorder and disorganization, to negligence, both in social and personal life.” He wanted to create a Jew who would be proud, capable, and strong.

I think the commonality of these contentious two’s we encountered last week is the strong and unapologetic Jew.

While a vengeful hater tried to murder Jewish children in Detroit, he was unsuccessful because the synagogue had hired armed guards. Jews will no long be sitting ducks and soft targets, we won’t go down meekly anymore.

Likewise, Israel attacking Iran is David attacking Goliath. Even with America’s support, Israel is still putting itself in severe risk. But Iran is an existential threat. They threaten us with nuclear weapons and regularly attack us through proxies. Israel is standing up to the bully. If there’s no IRC, then there’s no threat from Hezbollah, Hamas or the Houthis either.

The same idea extends to the last two years of war with Hamas. Israel has said enough is enough. No more shelling from Gaza. They fought until a deal could be brokered that would remove them from power.

In the 21st Century, the paradigm of the Jew has changed. We are no longer are sheep to slaughter. And while there have been abuses of our new found power, we don’t have to apologize for standing up for ourselves. The Tucker Carlsons and Ilhan Omars of the world decry our strength. They hate this new Jew. In earlier generations they claimed that we controlled all the banks and media, but they knew it was a lie. But now they can’t deny that Jews are organized and capable, and that Israel is an internation power.

Let our haters rant. Let them get used to the new Jew.

Unapologetically,

R’ Neil