An open letter to progressive Jews

The future for Jews in America looks bleak, but you can change that

Fellow Jews, I know that you want a just, peaceful world where all people can live in harmony, safety and equality. I want that too.

I know that your heart feels deep inside that every human being deserves to feel loved, happy and included.

I know that what you do, you do for this purpose.

You criticize Israel because you want justice for Palestinians. You feel negatively about Zionism, because how can we build a country for Jews alone? How can we support this kind of inequality?

You strive to create a world that is different from the one created by colonialists who felt superior to indigenous peoples and took their lands by force. So you promote action against Israel, against the homeland of the Jews, to force it to change.

I understand. Yet I feel there is something you must know at this time if we are to avoid our terrible history repeating itself once more.

If you truly want a world of peace and justice, there is a piece of the puzzle you must now put into its place:

You probably know that Jewish values are those you speak of. Yet deep in our heritage is also the METHOD to achieve those lofty ideals.

There is a path, an ancient wisdom that teaches how to correct one’s heart from egoism, racism and evil, to love of others, unity and giving.

We must transition from words to action, to make our vision a reality. THIS is our true calling, and never have we been more in need to remember.

To do this, we need to realize that we are not a regular nation. We are but a collective of very different people, representatives of all 70 nations who came from the tribes of ancient Babylon to study from Abraham this method of unity.

It was then that we promised to unite among each other, and live by the law of “Love thy friend as thyself”.

It was then that we became a group, and later, a nation. Our nation has no real connective force to it without this higher ideal to live by.

Indeed, this is why we Jews are so divided. It is why the only thing keeping us together is antisemitism itself and the dangers we face from other nations.

We are not a regular nation, and Israel was never meant to be a regular country. It was not meant to create just a physical place for Jews to be, but a spiritual center where Jews could practice their method of unity and share it with their Arab cousins and the world at large.

This did not happen.

That is why you and so many others feel that it does not have a right to exist as it does.

If you truly want a world of peace, inclusivity, love and justice; if you want a better future for Palestinians, for anyone who suffers in our egoistic world, this is what you must remember.

THE METHOD to achieve peace is within you. It is within

Israel. This is the light unto the nations and the tikkun olam, the repairing of the world that we are not providing. Our technological inventions won’t do, nor will material aid or lofty words. Our contribution is in the true unity between our hearts.

That is what the world truly expects of us when it points a finger at us in blame or lashes out at us in anger and violence.

It expects us to provide the higher solution to all conflict and suffering, by rising above our own divisions and showing the world the way.

Until we do this, antisemitism will continue to grow. Don’t make the mistake that our ancestors made, thinking that distancing yourself from your Jewish identity is the answer. It is not. Being more German or French did not help Jews escape their fate. Antisemitism, a force of nature, will never let Jews do that. It will push and attack until we discover that our identity itself holds the key to achieving the most cosmopolitan, global and universal values we sought in leaving it.

Don’t fight Zionism, as Jews did in Nazi Germany’s early days. It didn’t save them. Zionism has been a vehicle to create the physical state for Jews, but only so they would then serve and care for the rest of the world. We must revisit its goals.

Don’t be tempted to join those who call for the destruction of Israel, for that is the place where peace must come from. Call for our awakening to Israel’s higher purpose instead. Join your fellow Jews with this message of unity and awakening.

Remember who you are.

Your identity as Jews is calling you to remember our ancient pact, to be as one, and to love one another as ourselves. Not for our sake, but so we could be in alignment with nature, with God, and share this method with all other nations.

Dear progressive Jews, don’t be surprised that antisemitism is not denounced by your progressive friends. Don’t be surprised that it is inflamed by these circles.

You were never truly part of them. They never truly accepted you.

You have always been somewhat different, you have always been an outsider. Because the true solution to hate, divisions and the negative reality of the human ego is within YOU.

You carry the key in your DNA, and in your heritage. If you connect your hearts with other Jews, above your differences, and all who will join, you will bring love, connection and peace to our world.

I beg of you, hear me out. History is now repeating.

Let us see the writing on the wall.

Let’s not make the mistakes of the past.

We can’t run from being Jews, but we can finally unlock the mystery of who we are. We can discover that what we hold inside is what we have always sought outside of us.

“Never again” shall only be true if you remember who you are.

Tal Mandelbaum, MSc, is a social-organizational psychologist and founder of Choosingtoconnect.com, where she teaches how to create positive, healing connections in your personal relationships and in our societies at large.