The Perils of Politeness
New ideas to achieve Jewish outreach?
For once, I agreed with a member of J Street, who claimed there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While not wishing to demoralize our valiant soldiers, who are sacrificing their lives to keep us safe, I do not believe that our current leadership coupled with America’s shackles and the world’s spite, will permit a decisive Israeli military victory, at present.
Therefore, I believe we must address the root of the problem between Arabs and Jews. I am naïve enough to believe that Arabs would follow the Jews, were the Jews to follow God. I was moved by an Op-Ed written by Yehezkel Laing describing Muslim ambassadors rushing to shake Danny Danon’s hand following his first speech as Israel’s UN ambassador, after he donned a kippah and read from the Book of Psalms.
Danon said “…because I had read from Jewish holy books, they wanted to meet with me.”
Muslims respect Jews who fear God
That same piece highlighted numerous quotes from Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah, and Muslim Brotherhood leaders complaining that Israel is irreligious—that secular Israel isn’t the biblically covenanted nation it is meant to be. It seems that’s what most bothers the Arabs who hate us!
Since some of us here in Israel are doing our part and then some to uphold our biblical legacy, what else can we do? How can we reach our Israeli brothers and sisters, who are tinokot shenishbu, individuals who never learned what it truly means to be a Jew? I count among them all Israelis who have been rendered deaf and blind by the reigning false dogma of Darwinism—blind to the extraordinary miracles sustaining our Holy Land and deaf to the cries of our singular persecution for being Jewish, which can only, after all, be explained supernaturally (i.e. biblically).
With the unending war and existential dangers we face, we cannot leave kiruv (Jewish outreach) to the kiruv professionals, anymore. Saving lives (pikuah nefesh) as well as redeeming our precious captives (pidyon shevuyim) require that we exit our comfort zones to reach our fellow Israelis. We are collectively responsible for our fellow Jews (kol Yisrael areivim, zeh bazeh).
Overcoming too much politeness
What stops us may be the fear of offending others (hence the title of this piece). Religious people are raised to be courteous and to avoid onoas devarim, painful words. I am certainly not suggesting that we castigate anyone, God forbid.
But what about brainstorming some new outreach ideas? Here are some:
How about a “Keep-Us” Kippah campaign?
Analogous to the campaign providing tzitzit for Israeli soldiers, let’s have a “Keep-Us” campaign, where teams of two or three young men sit at tables for a couple hours in Jaffa Square and hand out free kippahs to anyone wishing to don one, while cheerfully answering all questions posed about Judaism. (Ditto for women, smilingly handing out stylish headscarves to interested married women). Surely religious donors would fund this effort.
What about producing a laminated business card with a yellow ribbon emblazoned on it, containing a few of the inspiring verses from Ethics of the Fathers or relevant verses from our Bible that speak of the rewards and consequences for keeping versus abandoning our Torah, along with a phone number to call to be matched with a free Judaism study partner or an invitation to a Shabbat meal with a Torah-observant family?
When handing out these cards, we can answer questions with the genuine love we bear in our hearts toward our fellow Jews. If each of us hands out those cards with a smile, what’s the worst that can happen? We may find them littering the sidewalk, in which case, we can reuse them. If the infrastructure were in place for providing study partners and Shabbat meals, I am sure our phones would ring.
The spiritual method for rescuing our captives
For about ten years, until the program was discontinued, our family hosted Birthright students from America who had never enjoyed a Shabbat meal before. Occasionally, a secular Israeli soldier would accompany the students. After chatting with the company for a couple of hours and plying them with our best food, we would often overhear the students say to one another on the way out, “That was awesome!” An Israeli soldier once spontaneously exclaimed, “I never knew Shabbat was like this,” with his belly full of cholent and his spirit touched by the special Shabbat ambiance.
Shouldn’t each Israeli city start a local initiative for hosting our secular brethren for a Shabbat meal with observant families? How else will we break down the invisible walls keeping us in parallel Jewish lives that never touch?
Why don’t teams of people man tables on or near the university lawns to answer questions about Judaism?
What about an online beginner mitzvah-observance course with Orthodox celebrities like Ruchama King Feuerman, Mayim Bialik, Abigail Shrier, and Ben Shapiro in short videos explaining why we do what we do?
I’m sure cleverer people than I could come up with even better ideas.
Regretfully, I cannot help execute these ideas right now; I’m working to find a literary agent for my memoir of teshuvah (Jewish spiritual return), which is my contribution to this effort. Suggestions, anyone?
However, I’m hoping to spark someone’s imagination and initiative. And I’ll be happy to take and distribute some cards.
Let’s not leave Jewish outreach to the professionals, anymore!
I believe we Torah-observant Jews need to up our game in reaching out to our fellow Jews. And the best part is, nobody in the US, the EU, or the UN can object.
