Column One: A prayer for 5767 for the Jewish People, and All People

Thanks to Phyllis and Bud for bringing this op-ed piece by Caroline Glick to my attention. For almost all Jews who still identify themselves as Jews, these days before Yom Kippur are the Days of Awe and self examination (more on this from me in a posting to come later this morning). One take away from this moment in history, whether you are a Jew, a Christian and/or an American (all of these being endangered or threatened species, following the bloodfest of hatred at the UN last week and the global Islamic protests against the Pope), is the importance of defining ourselves by who we are and what we stand for, and not letting our enemies define us in accordance with their agendas. As Ms. Glick states,

"...in recent years, rather than recognize the prejudice of our detractors, we have devoted ourselves to attempting to understand and so justify the hatred they heap upon us.

We tell ourselves we are hated because we are too strong — or because we are too weak. We are hated because we are too religious — or we are hated because we are not religious enough. We are hated because we insist on defending Israel — or we are hated because we are willing to compromise on Israel.

...we are not hated because of what we do, we are hated because we are Jews. In light of this, the best way to defend ourselves, the best way to safeguard our freedom and our heritage is to embrace and celebrate our identity as Jews. As Elie Wiesel once explained to me, the key to defending ourselves is to never allow our haters to tell us who we are. "Hatred only defines only the haters," he said."

The foregoing words might apply well to any minority or detested people. As an American, I can easily see these words applying to me, in a world awash with anti-Americanism. However, the Jewish nation is smaller and weaker and needs a strong self-identity even more. Jewish people will always be too fractious a people to be united in anything except perhaps when our survival is clearly threatened. However, if this year we all, in our own way, seek a way to closer identify with our people, our heritage and our place in history, we will be better positioned to resist the corrosive effect of anti-Semitism and to make this a better world, in year 5767.

Happy New Year.

Column One: A prayer for 5767 | Jerusalem Post