Confronting anti-semitism and a call for true peace in the New Year

Since celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year a year ago, the Jewish world has been turned upside down by the October 7 massacre. This slaughter, which was carried out on the Jewish festival of Shimmini Etzet, was the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. October 7 also marked the end of American Jewish vacation from history. We Jews now find ourselves confronting levels of anti-semitism at home that are reminiscent of the painful diaspora experiences that our brethren have experienced in far off lands. While some of our leaders have shown unequivocal support for the Jewish state it has been deeply disappointing to see that other leaders have felt the need to make specious moral equivalencies between Israel and Hamas, the murderous terrorist organization, which enjoys a tremendous amount of support from Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Whether these moral equivalencies are being advanced due to political cowardice or a broken moral compass is a mute point. The net result is the same; the reality is that it   legitimizes terrorism as an effective political tool. The fact that many responded to the October 7 massacre by calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state sends the message to all would be terrorists that - terrorism pays.

The Jewish new year gives us the opportunity to access our past actions and make the necessary adjustments. All peace loving people must stand up and demand that our leaders stop making the same mistakes over and over again by rewarding the violence of Palestinians and their supporters. Rewarding this violence (and violent rhetoric) such as calls for genocide against Jews) whether directed at Israel or American Jewish students on campus, makes as much sense as rewarding a child for throwing a violent tantrum. The inevitable result will be another tantrum. A precondition to a successful peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is that the latter accept the former's right to exist. This will only occur when the Palestinians come to see that their use of violence in their attempt to destroy the Jewish state will no longer be rewarded.

Israel's struggle is the struggle of all peace loving people. May this new year, God willing, be a year in which the peoples of the world demand that the Palestinians put down their weapons and engage in a constructive dialogue with Israel culminating in true peace.

Rabbi Steven Saks is the leader at Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere.