Do Not Underestimate Your Impact In This War

It is inevitable, in the situation that we find ourselves, to be shocked at the instantaneous 180 of the civilized world. So much has been made clear of the Jewish plight in this century that we truly believed “Never again.” With great sadness, we are now witnessing the truth. No amount of false civility can protect us. This is not to discount the true difference in this moment as opposed to all other horrors that have befallen the Jewish people, that now much of the civilized world stands with Israel. It is still not enough. There are many questions to be dealt with, but two which I feel are of utmost importance are; what do we do about this reality and what does the false sense of security mean for us in the long run?

A temptation of ours in this new reality that I have seen come to fruition is the plethora of statistics being thrown around. How many Palestinians died as opposed to Israelis? Which side is more trustworthy in regard to statistics? Where is the humanitarian aid going? What is the ratio of “innocent” Palestinian prisoners exchanged for innocent Israeli hostages? How many inventions does Israel have as opposed to Gaza? So on and so forth. While I believe it is important to be aware of the numbers and the situations, ultimately statistics cannot be an effective means of swaying the opinion of the opposition. Many on the opposite side ask for video evidence of the atrocities, and when provided with video evidence, claim it has been doctored. It is difficult to believe that numbers will succeed where unspeakable evidence has failed. So what can be done about this reality? To answer this I believe we must look at the reasons for the shattering of our false sense of security.

Are we destined to be a “nation that dwells alone,” a nation persecuted needlessly simply by virtue of our covenant? Well, in a sense yes. There is something ineffable and unique about the hatred that seeps from anti-Semites. But, if one takes a step back, it is easy to realize why the terrorists have the support. Keep in mind I do believe it is appropriate to feel true sorrow at the plight of innocents caught in the crossfire, war is never to be taken lightly. But the reason the terrorists have the support is not simply because they propagandize well, but it is because of the weak moral fabric that inevitably accompanies a society devoid of principles and running solely on moral relativism. In our society, a true adherence to objective morality and the consequences of courage are overlooked. Nietzsche called this type of society (the ones that kill the Divine), a society whose morality is only a shield for their cowardice (Beyond Good and Evil). People in a society devoid of G-d are blissfully unaware of the dangerous impact that poor religious ideologies can have on someone. Douglas Murray has mentioned in a roundtable discussion about Islam that a journalist once asked him what motivated the 9/11 attacks. He explained the doctrine of Jihad to her. She replied, “But what do they want?” He reiterated what Jihad calls for. She repeated her question. Clearly it could not simply be poor ideology, no one can be that evil and misguided according to her. Douglas commented that this was a direct consequence of the secular upbringing much of the Western world has been exposed to.

In the mind of someone for whom G-d is of no consequence, the only reason people may ever be tempted to act so barbarically or irrationally must be because they are abused in proportion to their barbarity. Therefore to the ill-equipped morality of a secular society, the barbarity is justified and transformed into resistance. A mentality such as this seldom allows for true discourse to be had on the issues. It takes an understanding of the human psyche and the impact of ideology on it, as well as even the tiniest exposure to the history of the human species to understand the impact ideology can have on world events. Leaders of a fanatical ideology and large swaths of willing followers equals terrible consequences. A fairly simple equation, but one that does little in retrospect. A secular society which does not value education or religion cannot be expected to have this understanding under their belt, and as such, cannot be relied upon for calling out poor religious ideological interpretation. As Rabbi David Wolpe once said, “Good religion is the only antidote to bad religion.” To have this discussion now would be equally as futile as throwing out statistics, it will be an educational exercise done with patience over at least a decade. It is important however, to realize this fact in order to direct our efforts. People must be re-exposed to the realities of poor religious interpretation in order to realize the beauty of noble religion. Noble religion is one whose ideas have influenced the advancement of civilizations. In Christianity, this progress has begun. In Islam it has not. Progress will be made when, to paraphrase Sam Harris, “When Muslims by the millions protest the actions of the fanatics of their religion.” A sentiment in lockstep with Rabbi David Wolpe’s earlier statement.

This leaves us still with the question of what we do at this point in history. How can we get people to listen? Do we call more people anti-Semites and hope that enough people will be ostracized that only those on our side will remain? Do those of us outside of Israel continue fighting a political, and algorithmic war, hoping for the best despite the seeming hopelessness that accompanies it? Do we keep reflecting in prayer of how we can make ourselves and our community better and stronger despite not seeing a direct effect from our efforts in the war? The answer is YES, but with due caution. We must use the tools at our disposal with reasonable judgement. Not everyone is an anti-Semite. Anti-Semitism should however be called out as loudly as one can. We must continue fighting the algorithmic and political war, but with caution. We must not be quick to tweet or post every single moment we have a thought. We must carefully curate a thoughtful response which just might make someone pause. We will not see this pause from our end of the screen, but it is surely there among the millions using social media. We must use proper spiritually moral tools available to us as well. We must fight this war as nobly as possible. The consequences will not be everything we hoped for. That does not excuse us from the Judaic and deontological pursuit of what is right regardless of how it will turn out, to do what is in our power, however insignificant we deem it to be. At this moment, we are part of something almost impossible, to bring reason back to this crazy world. But this will not stop us. After all, Jews have never believed anything worthwhile to be truly impossible. It is in the narrow gap between “almost” and “impossible” where the Divine push activates. We must have faith that we can reach the point of almost so that Hashem pushes us past impossible into possible. Am Yisrael chai!

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Dovidchai Abramchayev graduated with a BS in accounting from Lander College for Men. He is pursuing a CPA and works in the NFP audit industry. In his spare time, Abramchayev learns Torah, philosophy, and theology.