moreso when it comes to those whose intentions are not noble , who seek to harm others ? When it comes to the Hamans of any era , whose dehumanization tactics can be as sophisticated as their times ’ technology allows ?
In other words , how do we keep our community safe ?
As we ’ ve seen throughout Jewish history , this question has yet to be resolved . Be it the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE , the Spanish Inquisition of 1478 , the Kishinev pogrom of 1903 , the Iraqi ( Baghdadi ) Farhud in 1941 , the Shoah , the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue Massacre of 2018 , and now , tragically , October 7 , 2023 in Israel , Jewish vulnerability is an ongoing reality , and , until the founding of the State of Israel , we rarely even had “ the doors ” to close in moments of threat .
The powerless of exile made clear the need for a safe haven for Am Yisrael , which birthed political Zionism , the movement to build a home in our ancestral homeland , a home with doors , doors that would be guarded . The breach of those doors in October 2023 ’ s massive terror attack blasphemed the promise Israel was meant to have established , with ramifications for Jews around the world whose sense of safety was punctured in the very same violent act . The breach of Medinat Israel is the breach of Am Yisrael . Today ’ s growing antisemitism , in the United States and around the world , must be taken seriously , and cannot be separated from the work of Israeli statecraft and policy . Even if one were to make the argument that Israel ’ s foreign policy is not the same as American Jewish domestic concerns , consider the armed security now found at the entrances of every diasporic Jewish house of worship and communal gathering . Mezuzot , placed on the thresholds of Jewish spaces , feature the Divine Name “ Shadai ,” an acronym for “ Shomer Delatot Yisrael / Protector of Jewish Doors .” Our doors have always required protecting .
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