Living in a time of fear

Living in a time of fear

Rabbi Nancy Rita Myers | Beth David

The Hamas assault on Israel that began on October 7, 2023, on Shabbat and Simchat Torah, was horrific. They launched thousands of rockets, even reaching Tel Aviv.

With this ‘distraction’, the terrorists broke through the barrier between Gaza and Israel and committed terrible crimes against humanity.

As I write this article, Israel is defending herself with the goal of it never happening again.

In the meantime, we are unnerved, anxious, and fearful of anti-Semitic attacks on us and our institutions. What augments our fear is the unfiltered and even purposely altered reports blasting through social media sites. Since the time of Covid, we have been conditioned to hunker down, cancel events, and shelter at home. Fear and anxiety can seem like normative responses given the information on phones, social media sites, and conversing with others.

I would like to offer some perspective and Jewish ways of dealing with the angst and panic seizing so many people. The first one is to remember that we live in America. While a number of us have relatives and friends in Israel and we pray for their welfare, we are not on the front lines. I am not afraid that rockets are going to be launched from Santa Monica. I am not worried that people from Los Alamitos are going to break down the door of my home. Yes, there is anti-Semitism in our country, however, we are at far greater risk just driving our car to the supermarket. We are at far greater risk of diabetes and heart issues. We are at far greater risk of psychological stress impacting our immune system and quality of life.

How do Jews live in times of fear? Well, first of all, we need to recognize that Jews have lived through so much worse. Let’s not even talk about the Holocaust. How about the pogroms our people faced living in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia in the twentieth century? The blood libels in Europe were devastating to our communities. The Crusaders pillaged and murdered their way through our towns in the Middle Ages. Our people were expelled from many countries over hundreds, if not thousands, of years. We suffered under Roman oppression and were exiled by the Babylonians.

We have it good living in America. This is our country. We can vote, donate, volunteer, and work to affect the direction of our government. We are Americans and we are Jews. And we must act as Jews have always done. We must practice and live fully in the keeping of our traditions and heritage. We will not give the terrorists, whether they be Hamas, Hezbollah, white supremacists, or anti-Semites, victory over us. We will not allow them to dictate what we do or how we live.

Emil Fackenheim, Holocaust survivor and philosopher, posits in his book, To the Mend the World, that there’s a 614th commandment. Yes, from a Jewish legal perspective, we speak about 613 and so what is the additional commandment? For Fackenheim, it is not to give Hitler a posthumous victory by abandoning Judaism. In our case, I would say it is not to give those would sow terror such power or control over our lives. We live in far great security than your nerves suggest. What does it mean to defy terrorism? It means to live our lives fully as Jews. Go to your synagogues, Jewish community center, and Federation events. Wear your kippah. Don’t hide your Jewish star. Celebrate Shabbat, holidays, and study the ancient teachings of our Torah. This is our heritage. It is our religion. And this is our country.

In the meantime, we applaud our political leaders for their support of Israel, we will donate generously to Israel, and continue to pray for peace and wellbeing in the Promised Land. In the meantime, be courageous, live your life fully and may the wisdom of our Torah and tradition guide us.