Antisemitism

May you find the strength to combat Anti-semitism and help provide the teaching of love to those who hate.

May you have the courage to stand up for your own beliefs.

Grant us the strength and resilience to support our loved ones.

May we acknowledge our own strength and resilience in persevering through hate.

May you remain safe in the face of those who wish you harm.

May you find others who share their experiences so they know they are not alone.

May we create communities that accept, uplift, and celebrate those among us.

The Blue Dove Foundation with Association of Reform Jewish Educators

"I have concluded that one way to pay tribute to those we loved who struggled,

resisted and died is to hold on to their vision and their fierce outrage at the

destruction of the ordinary life of their people. It is this outrage we need to keep

alive in our daily life and apply to all situations, whether they involve Jews or non-

Jews. It Is this outrage we must use to fuel our actions and vision whenever we see

any signs of the disruptions of common life: the hysteria of a mother grieving for

the teenager who has been shot, a family stunned in front of a vandalized or

demolished home; a tamily separated, displaced; arbitrary and unjust laws that

demand the closing or opening of shops and schools; humiliation of a people

whose culture is alien and deemed inferior; a people left homeless without

citizenship; a people living under military rule. Because of our experience, we

recognize these evils as obstacles to peace. At those moments of recognition, we

remember the past, feel the outrage that inspired Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto and

allow it to guide us in present struggles.

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלִּפְנֵי אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם

אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיא אֶת עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרַיִם

הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וְיִנְצֹר אֶת אַחֵינוּ וְאַחְיוֹתֵינוּ

הַחֲטוּפִים הָאֲסוּרִים בְּכַבְלֵי בַּרְזֶל,

יְחַזֵּק נַפְשָׁם וֶאֱמוּנָתָם,

יִשְׁמְרֵם מִכָּל נֶגַע וּמַחֲלָה,

יַחְמֹל עַל בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו הַמְּצַפִּים לִישׁוּעָתוֹ,

יְבַטֵּל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם כָּל גְּזֵרוֹת אַכְזָרִיּוֹת.

May it be the will of our FATHER IN HEAVEN

Who brought His people Israel out from the suffering of Egypt

that He bless and save our abducted brothers and sisters,

bound with iron chains.

May He strengthen their souls and faith,

Protect them from all harm and disease,

Have mercy on His sons and daughters awaiting His salvation,

Nullify all cruel decrees from upon them.

בְּחַסְדּוֹ הַגָּדוֹל

יָחִישׁ פְּדוּתָם

וְיֵצְאוּ מְהֵרָה מֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹרָה

וּמִבּוֹר הַשְּׁבִי לְחֵרוּת עוֹלָם

וְיָשׁוּבוּ לְשָׁלוֹם אֶל מִשְׁפְּחוֹתֵיהֶם וְאֶל בָּתֵּיהֶם.

In His great kindness,

may He hasten their redemption

and may they quickly emerge from darkness to light,

and from the pit of captivity to the freedom of the world,

and return in peace to their families and to their homes.

אָנָּא, נֶטַע אַחֲוָה שָׁלוֹם וְרֵעוּת בְּלֵב כֻּלָּם,

הָסֵר קִנְאָה וְשִׂנְאַת חִנָּם

וּפְרֹס עָלֵינוּ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ

וְנִזְכֶּה בְּקָרוֹב לוֹמַר לְפָנֶיךָ שִׁירָה חֲדָשָׁה.

Please, plant brotherhood, peace and friendship in the hearts of all,

Remove envy and baseless hatred

and spread over us the Sukkah of Your peace,

And may we merit to soon sing before You a ‘New Song.’[1]

This prayer for the well-being of the captives taken hostage by ḤAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023 was written by the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the State of Israel, David Lau, and shared by his office in the month preceding Pesaḥ 2024. The text of the prayer transcribed is that as posted at Arutz Sheva on 7 April 2024. The translation in English was made by Rabbi Shimshon Nadel as disseminated over Facebook on 8 April 2024. Many thanks to Abraham Katz for bringing the prayer to our attention. He notes the prayer is intended to be read at the Passover seder in the Maggid section before והיא שעמדה (v’hi she’amda).

Rabbi Erica Asch

Temple Beth El, Augusta, Maine

President, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Sovereign of All the World— Shield Israel beneath Your protective presence.

May all the inhabitants of Israel know physical safety.

May they find the comfort of community as they grieve together.

May they experience a renewed love for their country and its people.

Guide Israel’s leaders as they balance the necessity of safety and security with the suffering of the innocent.

May they act wisely, with determination and deliberation.

Implant within Israel’s citizens compassion, strength, and resolve.

May they be nourished by our love and support.

Our prayers are linked with the prayers of countless others as we remember Your ancient promise from the book of Second Samuel, “I will establish a home for my people Israel and will plant them firm so that they shall dwell secure and shall tremble no more … I will give you safety from your enemies.” (II Samuel 7:10–11)

At this time of danger and grief, may we have the audacity to pray for peace, just as our ancestors have done each time they were threatened and terror zed.

We pray that the people of Israel find wholeness and know tranquilly. We pray for shalom in the land we love.

Now, why are we so concerned with this simple love story [The Book of Ruth] and why has it been included in the canon? It contains a kind of sensuality but no transcendental element. It is a story about human beings and what they do to one another, with one another. God, as we said, plays almost no role in it. 

Why, then, is it sacred? What makes it sacred? We shall analyze the major characters in the cast, but first a few words about the problem they all share, the problem of strangeness. One of the major themes of the book is how to overcome strangeness. In general, Jewish tradition insists on every person’s right to be different. As a Jew, I must believe that having been a stranger in Pharaoh’s Egypt, I am therefore compelled to respect all strangers for what they are. I must not seek to change their ways or views. I must not try to make them resemble me. Every human being reflects the image of God, who has no image. Mine is neither purer nor holier than yours or theirs. Truth is one for all of us, but the paths leading to it are many. In the eyes of the father, all his children are worthy of his love. The other is in my eyes, the center of the universe, just as I ought to be in his or her eyes. Only in dictatorships do all citizens look alike, speak alike, and behave alike. In their servitude or civility, they reject the other, for the other eludes them. They denounce and hate the stranger, for the stranger is freer than they. 

The story of Ruth may sound as an apology of proselytism. It is not. The Jewish religion has consistently, with very rare exceptions, discouraged conversion. Before a person is accepted into the fold, he or she must be forewarned of what he or she may have to endure. The candidate must be aware of the persecutions, the sufferings, the torments, the massacres that fill and crowd Jewish memory. Are you ready for all this, the candidate is asked. Won’t you prefer a quieter life? Maybe less interesting. Even on the individual level, efforts are being made to discourage the candidate. To convert, he or she is told, means to leave not only your present faith but also your family. You will be like a newborn child, with Abraham and Sarah as parents. According to halakha, which is not really interpreted very often, in this case, a convert actually has to celebrate bar mitzvah 13 years later, or bat mitzvah 12 years later. To frighten the candidate, the candidate is told something which may sound strange and disturbing. The candidate is told that the convert may theoretically -- I insist, theoretically -- because of his status of newborn child with no family, that the candidate therefore may marry his sister or even his mother. And I wonder what Sigmund Freud would say to all this. If this wouldn’t frighten the prospective convert, what will?

But why discourage conversions? Because we were too often victims of forced conversion? The reason may be a deeper one. In Jewish tradition, it is the freedom of the stranger, his or her right to self-definition, that must be respected. It is because the “Other” is other, because he or she is not I, that I am to consider him or her both sovereign, and instrument used by God to act upon history and justify his faith in his entire creation. 

When are we suspicious of the stranger? When he or she comes from our midst. There is a difference between ger, nokri, and zar. Scripture is kind to the first two, to the ger and the nokri, and harsh to the third, the zar, for only the zar is Jewish, and a Jew who chooses to estrange themself from their people, a Jew who makes use of his Jewishness only to attack and denigrate Jewish life and Jewish history, as embodied by the Jewish people, of whom it may be said shehotzi et atzmo min hak’lal, who removed himself from the community, who shares neither its sorrow nor its joy, that Jew is not our brother, nor is he our equal; that Jew is a stranger. As for real strangers, objective strangers, strangers who really are from other traditions, other milieus, other disciplines, other people, other nations, other cultures, they must be treated with dignity. Of course, one finds here and there in the vast Talmudic literature statements and references that could be interpreted as excessive praise of the Jewish person and faith, but then, one finds everything in the Talmud. One could find as many statements and opinions emphasizing human equality. All men and women who believe in God are equally heard by God, who understands all languages -- though He hears and understands Yiddish a little bit better. But He receives prayers everywhere. 

But then why the love for Ruth? Because while Jewish religion discourages conversion, it loves converts. 

Ruth is not the only one. Other celebrated cases have been recorded, not without a certain measure of understandable pride. The emperor’s nephew Aquila or Onkelos -- what a marvelous story. When he came to tell the emperor, telling him he wants to convert, the emperor said, “Are you crazy? Don’t you know that the Jewish people is destined for persecution? Why do you want to join the Jewish people?” And he said, “Because Jewish children alone are studying and learning the mystery of creation,” and for this, he was drawn to the Jewish people and converted. Then there is a story of the king of Himyar in the fifth century; the Khazars of the eighth century; the learned proselyte of Obadiah, Obadiah of Normandy; some princes; a few bishops; a British aristocrat, Lord George Gordon, who one day decided to convert to Judaism and live as a Jew, dress as a Jew, pray as a Jew, observe Jewish law and tradition and custom even in prison till his death. 

In Talmudic literature, a bizarre phenomenon emerged: some of our cruelest enemies are said to be among the converts. Take, for instance, the general Nebuzaradan, the murderer of hundreds of scholars and thousands of children. What did he do when there was no one left to kill? Halakh venitgayyer-- converted. The same has been said of Nero -- after fiddling, he converted. A descendant of Haman -- do you know what he did? Not only did he convert; he established a yeshiva in Bnei Brak. The meaning of these legends? To teach us that history is never finished, good may emerge from bad, evil’s triumph is and must be temporary, repentance is granted even to killers. There may be one day, high priests and learned individuals among their descendants. Or the other way around. These legends teach us modesty. Not all our ancestors have been prophets and poets. Not all have with their scholarship contributed to the glory of God and God’s law. Some may have committed sinful and criminal acts that brought dishonor to humanity. In other words, there is no collective, eternal guilt; there is only individual responsibility. 

In other words, in Jewish history, everything could be possible, and so everything is possible. 

The Partisan Song (or Partizaner Lid) is the name of a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Shoah survivors. The lyrics of the song were written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick, a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto. The title means "Never Say", and derives from the first line of the song, "Never say that you have reached the final road." During World War II, "Zog Nit Keynmol" was adopted by a number of Jewish partisan groups operating in Eastern Europe. It became a symbol of resistance against the Nazis. Hirsch was inspired to write the song by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Zog nit keyn mol, az du geyst dem letstn veg, himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho, s'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do! fun grinem palmenland biz vaysn land fun shney, mir kumen on mit undzer payn, mit undzer vey, un vu gefaln s'iz a shprits fun undzer blut, shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure, undzer mut! s'vet di morgnzun bagildn undz dem haynt, un der nekhtn vet farshvindn mit dem faynt, nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in der kayor – vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor. dos lid geshribn iz mit blut, un nit mit blay, s'iz nit keyn lidl fun a faygl oyf der fray, dos hot a folk tsvishn falndike vent dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent. to zog nit keyn mol, az du geyst dem letstn veg, himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho – s'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do!

Never say this is the final road for you, Though leaden skies may cover over days of blue. As the hour that we longed for is so near, Our step beats out the message: we are here! From lands so green with palms to lands all white with snow. We shall be coming with our anguish and our woe, And where a spurt of our blood fell on the earth, There our courage and our spirit have rebirth! The early morning sun will brighten our day, And yesterday with our foe will fade away, But if the sun delays and in the east remains – This song as motto generations must remain. This song was written with our blood and not with lead, It's not a little tune that birds sing overhead, This song a people sang amid collapsing walls, With pistols in hand[1] they heeded to the call. Therefore never say the road now ends for you, Though leaden skies may cover over days of blue. As the hour that we longed for is so near, Our step beats out the message: we are here!