You moved me to tears, and helped me understand better the puzzle of antisemitism. Keep writing, keep shedding light, and keep being the blessing to the world that Jews have always been. Am Yisrael Chai!
Laine, this moved me in return. Thank you. One of my greatest hopes in writing this was that it might help people—Jewish and non-Jewish alike—understand better why Jewish continuity matters. Your response means a great deal to me. Am Yisrael Chai! ❤️
As you know, I am not a Jew but have great admiration for the faith. I sometimes wonder if the fate - nay, the privilege - of Jews is to struggle for a better world.
Glenn, I love the way you put this—particularly your correction from “fate” to “privilege.” It brings me right back to Rabbi Sacks’s idea that our covenant is not about privilege but responsibility. Perhaps the privilege is the responsibility: to wrestle with how to make the world better, while remembering that we have to remain a people in order to keep doing it. And if we can do both, we’ll have made our lives a blessing to the world. Thank you for reading this so thoughtfully!
Nessel’s misappropriation of Esther’s conduct as an endorsement of the globalists’ notion of “effective altruism” — whereby we save humanity, nay, the very planet itself, by transcending our inherent tribalism — is so typical of contemporary anti-Israel and anti-America sentiment. It is the kind of liberalism that “liberated” Eve from her very nature and sent her East of Eden.
Chad, your reference to effective altruism sent me down a rabbit hole, and I think you’re on to something.
Nessel’s interpretation of Jewish values prioritizes the obligations of the Jewish people to humanity over even “the very future of our own people.” That does resemble effective altruism as I understand it.
I think Rabbi Hillel had it right -- “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone, what am I?” We have obligations to humanity and particular obligations to family, community and people.
So that’s my answer to the effective altruism you’re describing. Thanks for reading my piece, and for making me think more deeply about what is emerging as an important philosophy, which I thought had vanished with Sam Bankman Fried! 😉
I hadn’t thought of “the Bernie Madoff of crypto” as having a “philosophy.” Gad.
But back to your subject. Your reference to Esther put me in mind of the martyrdom of the seven Maccabees and, most of all, of their mother — all of whom refused assimilation into the soulless, more “universal” culture of the Greeks, so analogous, in my mind, to woke secular globalism.
When push comes to shove, how will we acquit ourselves?
Chad, I think the Maccabees comparison is apt. It too asks what we are willing to preserve when the surrounding culture asks us to surrender what makes us distinct.
Also, though I’d heard of Effective Altruism before, after Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, your reference to it prompted me to learn more. For now, I’ll just say that I’m planning to reference it in my Yom Kippur remarks, which I’m currently writing.
So thank you for sending me down that rabbit hole. Stay tuned!
And your last question—“When push comes to shove, how will we acquit ourselves?”—is the question underneath Am Yisrael Chai. Thank you for asking it, because survival isn’t merely staying alive. For Jews, it’s remaining sufficiently committed to what makes Jewish life worth preserving in the first place.
I’ve received a lot of private comments about this piece, many focused on why so many Jews seem not to appreciate what is at stake. It’s a question I’ve been wrestling with. So I’m especially grateful for non-Jews like you who understand why Jewish continuity matters—not only to Jews, but to the larger world. 🙏
You moved me to tears, and helped me understand better the puzzle of antisemitism. Keep writing, keep shedding light, and keep being the blessing to the world that Jews have always been. Am Yisrael Chai!
Laine, this moved me in return. Thank you. One of my greatest hopes in writing this was that it might help people—Jewish and non-Jewish alike—understand better why Jewish continuity matters. Your response means a great deal to me. Am Yisrael Chai! ❤️
Great piece, Melanie.
As you know, I am not a Jew but have great admiration for the faith. I sometimes wonder if the fate - nay, the privilege - of Jews is to struggle for a better world.
Glenn, I love the way you put this—particularly your correction from “fate” to “privilege.” It brings me right back to Rabbi Sacks’s idea that our covenant is not about privilege but responsibility. Perhaps the privilege is the responsibility: to wrestle with how to make the world better, while remembering that we have to remain a people in order to keep doing it. And if we can do both, we’ll have made our lives a blessing to the world. Thank you for reading this so thoughtfully!
Nessel’s misappropriation of Esther’s conduct as an endorsement of the globalists’ notion of “effective altruism” — whereby we save humanity, nay, the very planet itself, by transcending our inherent tribalism — is so typical of contemporary anti-Israel and anti-America sentiment. It is the kind of liberalism that “liberated” Eve from her very nature and sent her East of Eden.
Chad, your reference to effective altruism sent me down a rabbit hole, and I think you’re on to something.
Nessel’s interpretation of Jewish values prioritizes the obligations of the Jewish people to humanity over even “the very future of our own people.” That does resemble effective altruism as I understand it.
I think Rabbi Hillel had it right -- “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone, what am I?” We have obligations to humanity and particular obligations to family, community and people.
So that’s my answer to the effective altruism you’re describing. Thanks for reading my piece, and for making me think more deeply about what is emerging as an important philosophy, which I thought had vanished with Sam Bankman Fried! 😉
I hadn’t thought of “the Bernie Madoff of crypto” as having a “philosophy.” Gad.
But back to your subject. Your reference to Esther put me in mind of the martyrdom of the seven Maccabees and, most of all, of their mother — all of whom refused assimilation into the soulless, more “universal” culture of the Greeks, so analogous, in my mind, to woke secular globalism.
When push comes to shove, how will we acquit ourselves?
Chad, I think the Maccabees comparison is apt. It too asks what we are willing to preserve when the surrounding culture asks us to surrender what makes us distinct.
Also, though I’d heard of Effective Altruism before, after Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, your reference to it prompted me to learn more. For now, I’ll just say that I’m planning to reference it in my Yom Kippur remarks, which I’m currently writing.
So thank you for sending me down that rabbit hole. Stay tuned!
And your last question—“When push comes to shove, how will we acquit ourselves?”—is the question underneath Am Yisrael Chai. Thank you for asking it, because survival isn’t merely staying alive. For Jews, it’s remaining sufficiently committed to what makes Jewish life worth preserving in the first place.
I’ve received a lot of private comments about this piece, many focused on why so many Jews seem not to appreciate what is at stake. It’s a question I’ve been wrestling with. So I’m especially grateful for non-Jews like you who understand why Jewish continuity matters—not only to Jews, but to the larger world. 🙏