Jews in a Changing World #837
07/12/2024 05:00:33 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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Parashat: Chukat
Jews in a Changing World
We—as Jews—live in a different world today.
No matter where we live, a more visible, more bold and aggressive Muslim community has sprung up around us.
This past weekend, I returned to Montreal—where I was born.
It began as a road trip to the United States-Canada border 35 miles away, so that Patte could complete her Nexus/Global Entry application.
It turned into a family trip, which included one of our daughters, our son-in-law and granddaughter.
Montreal is a beautiful city. The scenery is inspiring. The food choices—including “real” bagels, smoked meat, orange julep, poutine and more—are unique.
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel once noted, "If I lived in Montreal, I would never stop eating.”
The city has evolved over the years as a warm inviting city with less tension between French and English.
When you arrive at the border, you are likely to be greeted with “Bonjour, Hi.” You’ll often hear “Salut, Bye” when you depart.
But there was one thing I was not expecting. Montreal has become a more pronounced Muslim city. Muslim residents make up about 9 percent of the population—about four times the number of Jews living in the city.
It makes navigating the city as a visible Jew a bit more challenging.
During our walk through Old Montreal, we noted a large percentage of women wearing a hijab. Driving past Mount Royal—the city’s namesake mountain—we saw that someone had painted the side of a building in Palestinian colors with the words “Palestine Libre” below.
Unsettling. Do I take off my kippah? Do I wear a ball cap? Am I safe? Is my family safe?
I wish I didn’t have to consider these issues, especially within the city that helped define me—the city that gave us Leonard Cohen, William Shatner, Celine Dion, Geneviève Bujold, Kevin O’Leary, Mordechai Richler, Jay Baruchel, Maurice Richard, Oscar Peterson, and so many others.
But things are different today. In many European cities, Jews are encouraged to remove their kippot and other identifiable signs—”for their own safety.” Do we defy or do we respect these warnings?
These are the new realities of Jewish life twisted by experts in propaganda, who manipulate social and conventional media.
To be clear, there was never a time in Montreal when I felt unsafe. But in view of the recent, largely unchecked, attacks on Jewish institutions there, I left Montreal more pensive than when I arrived.
As we boarded our flight back to New York, I turned to my wife, and posed a uniquely Montreal question.
“Will Montreal’s spirit of joy and respect overcome the climate of antisemitism engulfing the world—or vice versa?
The trip to Montreal was not the only time this week that I was required to adapt to this new world. It was during the fifth inning of last Wednesday’s ballgame between the Mets and the Washington Nationals.
We were there among a cluster of CTI members and friends to cheer on our own Adam Levine as he, once again, led thousands of fans in singing the Star Spangled Banner.
At first, I really didn’t notice a rather tall man squeeze in front of us on the way to the refreshment stand.
But when he returned and passed in front of me, I noticed his t-shirt. The logo on the shirt was in watermelon colors, but in a different and somewhat familiar shape.
I turned to a member of our group and asked, “Am I wrong, but is he wearing the colors of Palestine in the outline of Israel?”
After a bit of googling, he held this up to me.
When the fellow left his seat with family for an early departure, there was an unsettling moment—I was standing in my ball cap with word “Mets” in Hebrew, and he was wearing his melon t-shirt.
For a very brief moment, we stood eye to eye, face to face. I considered that this was not place to bring propaganda into a public sporting event, but concluded this was not the most constructive time for confrontation.
But it affected me—a sign of a new world.
And so, as we approach Shabbat, I remain somewhat perplexed that the world surrounding us has dramatically changed.
Yet, we have been here before, and, as the Torah predicts, we will prevail, provided we occupy the “higher ground.”
I remain confident that at the end of the Israel/Hamas war, the full extent of the atrocities committed on October 7 will be revealed. There will be a cost to those who perpetrated then, and propagate now.
The atrocities committed on that day defy description. And those responsible will be brought to both earthly and heavenly justice.
Yet, amid repeated vows by Hamas to commit similar acts “again and again,” we must calmly and assertively articulate the truth and stand with Israel.
Five weeks ago, I witnessed, firsthand, the aftermath of those barbaric attacks. While not everyone can travel to Israel to do the same, we must—with confidence—hold our ground.
First, we must accept the fact that the world around us has changed.
But rather than bemoaning the perpetual existence of antisemitism, we must know the facts and not be afraid to articulate them.
We did not ask for this war, committed by barbarians who pledge to repeat the acts of October 7. What would any other country do?
I continue to publicly wear a kippah. So does the Cantor. It tends to open doors to constructive and—in some cases --”corrective” discussion. Often, these conversations end with comments such as, “Oh, I didn’t know what happened October 7 in Israel.”
Prior to that horrific day, we were on the precipice of peace with Saudi Arabia and other moderate countries. Will radical Islam—or peace and moderation—prevail?
We are at a crossroads. Even though we are not Israeli citizens we must do our part.
We must continue to speak truth about the origins and aftermath of the current war. For I believe that most people not directly affected are confused. They just want to understand and support what is right. We must therefore be upstanders rather than bystanders.
Despite what we have experienced in recent months, I remain hopeful in an ultimate victory both on the ground and in the war of public opinion. We have been here before, and in time—as always—truth and justice will rebalance.
In some way, in any way, we need to support Israel not as bystanders but as upstanders.
If we fail to do so, we run the risk of handing Hamas a victory on the world stage—one in which an increasing number of Muslim propagandists are eager to promote.
I was thinking the other day about how the word “good” is part of the very genesis of the name “God.”
For I believe in the ultimate triumph of good. I also believe in God and justice. And I believe in angels.
And although it may not feel like it right now, history and the angels are ultimately on our side.
Tue, February 18 2025
20 Shevat 5785
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