The state of Israel today has a thriving democracy, a resilient society, and a powerful military, yet, Michael Steinhardt observes, there is a “billion-dollar nonprofit industry telling us we need to ‘save’ Israel.” To the contrary, argues Steinhardt, it is American Jewry that needs saving, and should be looking to the Jewish state for help:
The fundamental issues plaguing non-Orthodox Jews, especially in North America—assimilation, disengagement from Jewish life, poor Jewish education—have not gone away. Synagogue attendance, already in long decline, took a beating during the pandemic and has not come close to recovering. And then there’s the increasing pressure of anti-Semitism on campuses, city streets, and in public institutions. Taken together, these constitute a well-documented existential threat to Diaspora Jewry that is far more immediate and profound than anything Israel faces today.
The most obvious thing we need can be summed up in two words: Jewish pride. . . . What I’ve learned from my many trips to Israel and my encounters with Israelis over more than half a century is this: . . . if Jewish pride is what we need, they’ve got it in spades.
Can we imagine an American Jewish community, say, twenty years from now, that has redirected that billion dollars a year to projects that build Jewish pride in the Diaspora through bilateral engagement with Israel, rather than trying to “support” Israel with our money?
In a world where just “being Jewish” feels increasingly precarious, knowing that you are part of a people with a thriving homeland steeped in Hebrew culture and language, confident and proud, that cares about your fate is an invaluable path to courage, engagement, and character.
Read more on Sapir: https://sapirjournal.org/israel-at-75/2023/04/israel-is-doing-fine-were-the-ones-who-need-help/