Nevertheless, what disturbed me the most were the images of those of Jewish birth who turned their backs on their brethren and supported, marched, and aligned themselves with those calling for the destruction of their own people. It is simply unfathomable to me to be able to turn one’s back on one’s own family. I have written previously, several times, that I believe that the horrors of October 7th were a direct result of the alarming disunity of the Jewish people over the last several years. The fact that there were some Jewish people who even funded some of these protesters is, in my mind, both incomprehensible and unforgivable. Jews who participated alongside the enemies of the Jewish people are what I consider a human equivalent of a typo – they are embarrassing, take away from the perfection of the body of work, and need to be deleted. This is the best way I can describe the feeling of nausea induced by seeing Jews dressed in traditional Jewish attire supporting the Jew-haters in Iran and the protesters in New York. The betrayal of those Jews who side with the enemies of their own people reminds me of something that we can all learn from the mafia. There is little positive to say when it comes to the mafia. These criminal organizations built on the most heinous of illegal activities and immoral practices, are wholly reprehensible. But they did get one thing right. They organized themselves as “families” – whether by familial blood or just criminal association – they see themselves as connected and bound to one another, and absolutely unified against the world. Their concept of “family” has many worthy connotations. They unreservedly support one another (even when they don’t necessarily agree), and they settle their disputes within their respective families. This is perhaps best exemplified by a line from the award-winning movie The Godfather Part II when a character angrily tells his older brother; “YOU NEVER TAKE SIDES AGAINST THE FAMILY!” As Jews, we have strong and often differing opinions – and we frequently make our displeasure known. A joke is told of a Jewish sailor who was shipwrecked on an island for ten years. Upon being discovered, he gave his rescuers a tour of the island. He showed them how he built a cozy home and how he farmed the land. He then showed them the two synagogues that he’d built. They looked at him and asked, “You’re here alone, why did you need TWO synagogues?” He replied, “That’s the synagogue where I pray and the other one I wouldn’t dare step inside!” The joke is supposed to reflect the disputatious nature of Jews – you often cannot put two in the same room without expecting an argument, and sometimes you can’t even put one alone without resulting in the same argument. Jews may argue with each other but, in the end, there is a love for one another. This pastyom ha’atzmaut – Israel’s celebration of Independence Day – I read a remarkable piece entitled A Chareidi Jew Says Thank You to the State of Israel written by a friend of mine, Rabbi Avrohom Edelstein a self-described Chareidi or “ultra-Orthodox” Jew. I have included parts of it because I found them heartwarming, hopeful, and entirely relevant to this conversation. “Once upon a time there were raging debates amongst the sages as to the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Three major schools of thought emerged. On the one side was Rav Avraham Isaac Kook and on the other side was the Satmer Rebbe. All the other great rabbis were in the middle. Rav Kook held that the State was the beginning of the ‘final redemption.’ The Satmer Rebbe held that the State was the work of Satan. The rest of the Sages, while holding back on specific ideological positions, stated that, as a practical matter, if the State will support the growth and development of Torah and Torah-keeping communities, they would be in favor of the State. That’s it, in simple terms. “But all of that is history. There is a State. The sole Chareidi representative at the time, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levine of the Agudath Yisroel, was a part of the founding of that State, signing the Declaration of Independence. We are after the fact. We cannot drive on a road, flip a light switch, or open a faucet without benefiting from that State. When we leave to visit relatives in America or England, we do so on Israeli passports through an airport that was a government project. “It may be controversial to say this right now, but the State remains the largest supporter of Torah of any body or individual in the world and probably the largest ever. The Torah community in Israel has thrived. We Chareidim live as a part of a larger community – the entire State and all of its citizens. This community has benefited from thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miracles. The miracles reign down on our heads far more prominently than the missiles do. The collective holiness of the Jewish people is apparently worthy of God’s repeated and continual intervention to protect those living here. “You don’t have to fly the Israeli flag on your car to be grateful. You don’t have to sing the HaTikva anthem to deeply appreciate the sacrifices our soldiers made and continue to make risking their lives for all of us. You don’t have to qualify your gratitude with all the multiple critiques you could make on every aspect of the government, on every sector, on the annoying aspects of Israeli culture. “And so, I thank you Hashem Almighty, for this wonderful gift. Thank you to all of you, dead and alive, who sacrificed for the sake of building up this land; thank you to all of you who serve all of us faithfully, every day – in government offices, hospitals, and everywhere else. Thank you, all you wonderful people – every single one of you – for agreeing to take me in and to contribute to this most privileged and amazing experience. Thank you without qualifications, with no hesitations, and with no reservations.” | 
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