ב"ה

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Let’s Learn from the Jew-Haters

Thursday, May 27, 2021 - 11:26 AM

This week I received another hateful call on our Chabad line, which had been forwarded to my cell phone. This time it was 2:50 pm on Wednesday afternoon, and I was in downtown Manhattan. I picked up and the caller said, “I have a delivery for you of 1,000 German ovens.”

At first I didn’t understand. “I think you have the wrong number,” I said.

“No, I definitely have the right number,” he said confidently. “This is the Chabad Israel Center, correct? I have 1,000 German ovens for you.”

“What do you want me to do with 1,000 German ovens?” I asked.
“You know exactly what to do,” he said, and then hung up like a coward.

If we look for it, we can uncover a lesson in everything that we experience, including Jew-hatred and anti-Semitism.

This caller actively Googled local Jewish centers. He picked up the phone and made a phone call - a rarity in 2021 - to deliver a message of hatred and animosity.

We need to do the same thing. Go and Google your local Jewish or Chabad center and give them a call. But instead of delivering hatred, deliver a message of love. Instead of delivering 1,000 German ovens, give a $1,000 donation. Go visit the synagogue, attend services, show up and show your love and support.

And it’s not just phone calls. This week I uploaded a Torah class to YouTube with the title “Anti-Semitism: Why do they hate us so much?” You can watch it here. It got maybe three views from people in my community, and the next thing I know there were close to 500 views and 60 hateful comments. Some Jew-haters must have actively been searching and sharing the video with their friends. From their comments, it’s clear they even watched the entire thing, disputing sources, claiming I made things up.

What can we learn from that?

When was the last time you searched your local Chabad rabbi’s YouTube channel and spent time listening to his classes? And if you did listen, did you leave a comment? I, for the most part, never receive comments. Why not leave a message of love, support, and appreciation, and then share the inspiration with a friend?

The anti-Semites are literally searching for Jews everywhere—New York, LA, London, Paris, Israel, Toronto … wherever there are Jews to be found. They are researching the local kosher restaurants, Jewish centers, rallies, schools, shuls and then they bring their Jew hatred right to us. They throw fireworks at us, beat us up, spit at us, curse us…

We need to do the same thing, minus the violence and hatred. We need to hunt down Jews wherever they are, and bring them love, joy, inspiration, and Torah.

And the haters don’t differentiate. They don’t care if it’s a reform Jew, or conservative, or orthodox, or chareidi, or chiloni. They don’t care if it’s an Israeli Jew or an American one. Australian, French or South African. Make no mistake, they hate us all equally - even the Jews who mistakenly embrace these anti-Semites.

When it comes to loving our fellow Jews, we must do the same. These divisions and labels do nothing but create wedges between us. We must see each other for what we truly are - Jewish brothers and sisters - and love one another unconditionally because of it.

Think of someone you know, perhaps someone you may not otherwise speak to regularly, and instead of offering ovens, offer a challah for Shabbat.

Moreover, when you watch the anti-Semites, it’s noticeable that they wear their garments with pride and joy. Whether it’s the flags or the kafia, they are proud to declare their allegiance.

We need to do the same thing and display our Judaism proudly. Wear your kippah with pride. Wear your tzitzit openly. Look Jewish. Don’t be afraid. We don’t cower in fear or shame, even in scary times like these. We walk proudly.

As passionate as the haters are about their hatred, is how passionate we must be with our love. Our love for Yiddishkeit, our love for Torah, our love for Hashem, and our love for our fellow Jews.

A song we used to sing in camp is deeply ingrained in my consciousness, and regularly plays in my head: “I’m a Jew and I’m proud and I’ll sing it aloud…” Yes, yes I am.

Rabbi Uriel Vigler
A Proud Jew

Dear World,

Thursday, May 20, 2021 - 7:40 PM

Listen closely: You will never break us!

When my grandfather was deported to Auschwitz, and his wife and children were murdered by the Germans in the gas chambers, he was traumatized and deeply and permanently scarred, but not broken.

When my other grandfather grew up an orphan in Israel in the 1940s, after seeing the Turkish police beat his father to death and watching his mother die from starvation a few weeks later, he suffered tremendously, but he wasn’t broken.

When our nation fought for its very survival in 1948, ‘56, ‘67 and ‘73 it was rough. We lost tens of thousands of our soldiers, with many more severely wounded and deeply traumatized, but we didn’t break.

It’s 2021 and we see Jews being viciously assaulted in a restaurant in Los Angeles.

It’s 2021 and a rabbi is attacked on a London street simply for being a Jew!

It’s 2021 and two Jews are beaten and pursued by an angry mob of 40 Arabs in the streets of Manhattan.

We are horrified and outraged, but we are not broken.

In London, Paris, Toronto and virtually every other major city, Jews are feeling unsafe. When I walk on the Upper East side, I am constantly alert and assessing for any imminent threat. Nevertheless, we stand strong and unbroken.

How do we do it?

You see, as Jews we have a secret weapon that we received along with the Torah, 3,333 years ago: Faith—a firm belief in G-d’s protection.

A Jew never breaks, and a Jew never gives up. As Jews, we will continue fighting and protecting ourselves, just like the two Golani soldiers who fought off a crowd of 40 Arabs in Manhattan this week.

And that is our response to the world who condemns Israel for defending herself. No country in the world would tolerate 3000 rockets falling in its cities and civilian areas, yet the entire world is outraged when Israel protects itself.

We will not be broken by your lies!

In fact, the threats and hatred only further unite us and cement our commitment to one another and to G-d.

So let's do more mitzvot! Our response has to be to stand taller and prouder. We will display our Judaism with pride and joy. We need to walk with our Kippot on our heads. We need to pray more, to study more Torah. We need to walk with our tsitisit on us proudly! We refuse to cower and hide or try to blend in.

So hear this and hear it well: No matter how bad things get, you will never break us!

Rabbi Uriel Vigler
An Unbroken Jew

I received an anti-Semitic call this week!

Thursday, May 13, 2021 - 10:49 AM

It doesn’t matter what the non-Jews say; it matters what the Jews do.”

At 6:51 on Tuesday morning my cell phone rang. It was a restricted number.

“Hi, I have a question for you. I want to know about ethnic cleansing.”

“How did you get my number?” I asked.

He explained that he had Googled Jewish centers in NYC and found our number. He’d called the office and since it was out of hours, the call was forwarded to my cell phone.

“Why do you want to know about ethnic cleansing?” I asked.

“I’m doing a journalistic piece on it,” he explained, “and I’m calling Islamic and Jewish centers in the city for information.”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Kevin.”

Then he asked, “Why are Israelis murdering innocent Palestinians?”

“Israel has a right to defend itself and it is not killing innocent Palestinians,” I told him.

Well that set him off. He became angry and combative, and cursed me out: “F*** all the Jews! All Jews should die!” and then he hung up.

Of course I filed a police report and contacted the ADL so they have a record. The police actually came by and took it seriously and were able to track down his phone.

Israel is currently in a state of war. Thousands of missiles and rockets have fallen across cities throughout the country, indiscriminately hitting houses, buildings, roads, and buses.

My cousins, my brother, and my friends in Israel are spending sleepless nights running to bomb shelters. Millions are living in fear, day and night, often with just 45 seconds to find shelter. No other country would tolerate this.

And it’s not just missiles. There are literally pogroms happening in Lod, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Jerusalem … Arabs are rioting, lynching Jews, destroying synagogues. The scenes coming out of Israel are horrifying.

But make no mistake. This is not Israel’s war alone. This is a war against every single Jew across the globe. This war has nothing to do with Sheikh Jarrah or Israel occupying land. Hamas hates and would like to annihilate every Jew in existence.

In fact, just today Hamas proudly announced, “The decision to bomb Tel Aviv, Dimona and Jerusalem is easier for us than drinking water.” And yet so many people, ordinary Americans like Kevin, blindly side with the “innocent Palestinians” and call upon Israel to show restraint. It’s outrageous and based in pure hatred!

David Ben Gurion said, “It doesn’t matter what the non-Jews say; it matters what the Jews do.”

So what will we do? How will we respond?

We must do everything in our power to protect ourselves. We need to support our military. And we need to actively counter the evil lies spreading like wildfire across the internet. Anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism and should not be tolerated, no matter who the perpetrator is.

But what else can we do? How can we help?

As counterintuitive as it might seem, by being louder and prouder Jews!

They hate us? They hate Judaism? Well, let’s examine our own love for it. Do we feel it with a fiery passion on a daily basis? No? Ok, so how can we reignite that, instill it in our children, awaken it in our friends, and show it off proudly?

By increasing our Jewish engagement.

Commit to putting on tefillin daily, and when you say Shema, remind yourself of your eternal and everlasting link to your ancestors, all the way back to Abraham. Picture the unbroken chain connecting you; it’s powerful!

Commit to lighting Shabbat candles every single week, and when you do, picture the light dispelling evil and hatred from the world. A small amount of light dispels great darkness. You may not see the significance of your two candles, but they are powerful!

Log on to Chabad.org and study Torah. Educate yourself and your children, reignite that passion and love for G-d and His Torah.

We have to be a light unto the nations. We have to inspire each other to be strong in our Jewish observance and proud of our identity. We cannot cower and hide away in fear. We must stand strong, proud, and united; it is the only way to fight the current upsurge in anti-Semitism.

We are all Meron!

Thursday, May 6, 2021 - 11:15 AM

I live in New York, but my heart is in Meron.

What a difficult week it’s been for the Jewish people—45 of our brothers killed in a horrific accident on one of the most joyous days of the year.

Lag BaOmer is a day of miracles, and the holiest place to be on that day is at the gravesite of the holy Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai—renowned miracle worker and author of the Zohar. All year people wait to pray there, and each year miraculous outcomes abound.

So for 45 of our holy brothers to die there, on Lag BaOmer, in the worst peacetime tragedy in modern Israeli history, is simply unfathomable.

With social media and our world of instant connectivity, I found myself reading about and crying with each of the families.

I paid a shiva call with Avigdor Chayut, who took his son and his son’s friend to Meron. Both children died. I watched as Avigdor struggled to speak through his grief, as he tried to comfort the father of the other child, Dovid Levi.

I watched Meir Nachman Elchadad share his fear, waiting to hear from his two sons, but tragically both died. A shiva visitor begged for forgiveness, with tears in his eyes, because during the crush he found himself standing on one of the boys, and although he tried to pick him up, he was already dead.

I cried with the hatzalah volunteers who returned to the site of the tragedy six days later to support one another. I watched them sit in a circle and relive the trauma, discussing the terror of valiantly fighting to save one life and another and another. I cried with them about the lives they couldn’t save and the spur-of-the-moment decisions they had to make, the things they saw that will no doubt haunt them for the rest of their lives.

No father should ever have to eulogize his son. No mother should ever have to cry for her children. And yet here we are.

The 45 families are our families. This is a collective loss. It's our family that was hit so badly! And we feel their pain. Their pain is our pain, their struggle is our struggle. We are all one nation, united in joy and in sorrow.

I have been privileged to be in Meron five times on Lag BaOmer, and the experience has been exhilarating each time. Thousands of Jews, from all walks of life, coming together in a display of unfettered unity. Jews of every denomination, every political affiliation … in Meron it makes no difference. As we dance by the fire, all of that melts away.

In fact, walk into our Chabad center at any time and you will see that we welcome and love Jews from all walks of life. Yes, sometimes we argue, but when it comes down to it we are one deeply connected family.

So what do we do now? How can we take our sorrow, our deep ache, and turn it into purposeful action?

Please choose a mitzvah - any mitzvah - to commit to in their memory.

Some suggestions:

Give any denomination of 45 to charity in the merit of our 45 holy brothers. Depending on your means, that may be $45, $450 or $4500.

Women, please spend at least 45 seconds this Friday evening lighting Shabbat candles. Take the time to have in mind the 45 souls we lost.

Most of all, we have to do everything in our power to bring about the final redemption. When I watched the hatzalah volunteers put their hands around each other's shoulders and sing about their perfect faith in the coming of Moshiach, I was deeply moved. For only when Moshiach comes, will we be truly comforted by G-d. May it happen immediately.

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