On October 7, Simchat Torah, 2023/5784, the Jewish people and the land of Israel were savagely attacked in a manner unparalleled in the civilized world. To date, more than 1,400 dead, over 3,500 injured, more than 200 hostages including men, women, elderly, children and infants. Now is the time for military, spiritual and financial action and not the time for investigation and blame; it is the time for self-introspection. The past year’s tumultuous events in Israel, centering on the topic of judicial reform and its interplay with Judaism and democracy, led the country to a level of hatred, histrionics, name calling (each side labeled the other Nazis) and overall meaningless distraction. Reservists wrote letters saying that they would no longer serve, roads were blocked and Jewish brothers and sisters could find no value and appreciation for one another. The culmination may have taken place several days before on the most sacred of days, Yom Kippur, when Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and daughters were slaughtered by terrorists just several months earlier, and his congregation were attacked for holding a traditional prayer service in a Tel Aviv square. And so, while we were busy on a path of civil implosion, our enemies were focused on our destruction. We cried for naught and God allowed us to cry for something real, forever. It’s not the first time.

Our sentiments changed overnight as we mourn the dead, heal the injured and prepare for the difficult days ahead. The country and Jewish world stands as one and has put down its legitimate and illegitimate differences. We have bonded together with one heart. We have become a unified people, today. But as Yair Lapid pointed out in a recent Zoom cast, the support will be needed tomorrow. Will we finally learn that we have no one but God, each other and the land of Israel? When Hamas is defeated, with God’s help, will the horrific memories fade and our old tendencies return? The lesson must be learned, as Harper Lee said in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Golda Meir said in a 1973 conversation with then-Senator Joseph Biden, “You can’t choose family, and we have one secret weapon—we have no place to go.” We have no choice but to get along. God has shown us repeatedly that, as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together or surely we will hang separately.”

What can we implement in the upcoming days, months and years to help ensure that we hang together?

Jonathan David Lewin, MD
Director, Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders, Englewood
Teaneck