Unity between Jews

Rabbi Adam F. Miller

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur carry many names, including Aseret Yamei Teshuvah (the Ten Days of Repentance/ Return) and Yamim No’raim (the Days of Awe/Fear). Apt descriptions for the experience of this time, when we are seeking to return back to the right path and hold in our hearts a fear for the unknown of the year that is about to unfold.

This year, we feel an additional weight as the 10 days coincide with the end of our first year mourning the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023. It is at this juxtaposition of these moments that we find ourselves at a crossroads. How does one let go of the last year when it still feels like time has frozen? What does it mean to return, and what are we returning to?

Like the Holocaust, the Yom Kippur War, and other tragic milestones in Jewish history, Oct. 7, 2023 marked a moment that forever altered our people. We can clearly point to the time before Oct. 7, 2023, and the time after.

Before Oct. 7, major threats to the Jewish community came from internal sources. We were a people divided. In Israel, months of protest created massive rifts across the society over proposed changes to the Israeli Supreme Court. Religious divisions over control of religious life in Israel furthered the divisions. In America, things were not much better. The Jewish community was fragmenting over disagreements amongst ourselves on politics, support for Israel and religious differences.

“God has set before us a choice between life and death,blessing and curse.”

Then came Oct. 7, 2023, and the world for us stopped. Faced with an existential external threat, we stopped fighting with one another, and instead put our arms around each other’s shoulders in solidarity. We became am echad im lev echad, one people with one heart.

Groups in Israel that were previously organizing rallies and protests shifted to become social service agencies, providing aid for those who lost their homes and their loved ones on that tragic day. Across the world, Jewish communities united, with Jews from all denominations standing together as Am Yisrael. Our unity gave us strength, comfort and hope during those dark hours.

One year removed, we struggle to figure out our path going forward. At this season of return, do we want to go back to where we were? Before Oct. 7, we were heading down a terrible, yet familiar path of animosity between Jews. Too many times, we have witnessed divisions within the Jewish community. The Sages teach that sinat chinam, senseless hatred, between Jews was the reason the city of Jerusalem was destroyed 2,000 years ago. We don’t want to return to that!

Sadly, in recent months, we have seen signs of a return to the divisiveness from before. Arguments in Israel over the responsibility of ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the IDF, as well as disagreements over who will lead and participate in the national observance for Oct. 7. In America, divisions over denominational streams emerged stronger than before with some in Orthodox communities refusing to recognize other Jews as Jews.

The choice is ours. Do we want to go back? Let us choose to end this cycle. If nothing else, Oct. 7 should have been a stark reminder that we have enemies who want to see us destroyed, and they revel in our fighting with one another. We must reject words and actions that cause alienation between Jews.

This year, when you hear those words on Yom Kippur — that God has set before us a choice between life and death, blessing and curse — choose the path of life. Choose the path of unity between Jews. Enable us to return to a time of kavod, respect, between all Jews. Speak out when you hear Jews denigrating other Jews. We don’t have to agree, but we cannot be disrespectful. The future is up to us; the choice is ours.

Shanah Tovah U’Mtukah.

Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom.