It is not easy to convince people to agree with one another. People have different ways of relating to situations and events and tend to come at things from their own unique perspective. In truth, the fact that everyone has their own worldview is legitimate and helps make the world a more interesting place. Yet once in a while along comes that rare situation or movement – which finds common ground amongst people everywhere, uniting them with the simple justness of its cause.

The idea of achieving unity within the Jewish nation is something that we all agree is important – vital even.

Easier however said than done. In the world of 2016, finding unity across the spectrum seems to have become a virtual impossibility. Or is it?

I am of course referring to a day which has come to be known as “Yom Limud and Tefillah,” or as it is also known – the “Day of Jewish Unity.”

Spearheaded by Acheinu – the outreach/kiruv arm of the Dirshu organization, a simple concept was introduced to the world (and I do mean world.) In general the “simple approach” is usually most effective and here as well, the “simple” idea of designating one day to unite Jews all over the world, caught on and spread like fire through a dry field. There is a reason for this.

The Jewish nation loves one another and given the opportunity to gather together, join hands and show that love, they will choose to do so overwhelmingly. And although we tend to think of the Jewish world in terms of Eretz Yisrael, Brooklyn, Lakewood and the Five Towns – in reality, the Jewish world extends much, much farther. And all those millions of people are also waiting for an invitation to unite and become part of something that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Enter “Yom Limud and Tefillah.”

Although Jewish people participated in this auspicious day in multiple locations from France to Argentina and all around the United States, the jewel in the crown was the Dirshu Chizuk mission – to the Chofetz Chaim’s kever in Radin, Belarus. On the 24th of Elul, the day of the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrtzeit, numerous gedolim – litvish, chassidish and Sephardic – traveled from Eretz Yisrael to mark the occasion, reciting Tehillim with tears and sincerity while making a point of mentioning the names of thousands of Yidden in a special tefillah at the Chofetz Chaim’s kever. There is nothing like entering the village of Radin and driving towards the Chofetz Chaim’s world famous yeshiva. There is nothing like experiencing a selichos davening in the Rebbe’s Beis Medresh. And there is absolutely nothing that compares to the feeling of standing beside the legendary kever, surrounded by a group of prominent gedolim from Eretz Yisrael who have come to Radin to storm the very heavens in supplication for Klal Yisrael.

In truth, whatever I will tell you about the Radin mission is not sufficient, because the actual situation defies description. It is a magnificent moment of togetherness and it resonates and resounds from the tiny village of Radin in Belarus to every single corner of the world.

If it was only the Gedolim who were davening for Klal Yisrael in Radin – Dayenu. If the only ones involved in this incredible day were the Dirshu mission of Gedolim to Radin and an array of yeshivos, girls schools and kollel yungeleit around the globe – Dayenu. But it was all those things and much, much more.

The Gedolim in Radin might have been piloting the jet, but the passengers were comprised of every kind of Jew – from yeshivish to unaffiliated. “Passengers” from Staten Island, Cleveland, Texas and Arizona, recited Tehillim. “Passengers” from Atlanta, Detroit, Providence, Toronto and Chicago, recited Tehillim.

It was a day when every single type of Jew was included and valued as an integral component in the proceedings. A day of glorious prayer. A day of spiritual togetherness. A day of Jewish pride. And when Yidden everywhere unite, the sheer power of that collective action becomes a force of such energy that it can’t help but achieve recognition – even by a media that normally has no trouble ignoring the news within our communities.

Not today. Not on the Day of Jewish Unity.

There’s no question you see, that authentic Jewish Unity is news – even beyond our beautiful walls.

The Atlanta Jewish Times had a lot to say on the topic of Jewish Unity.

And I quote, “This Day of Jewish Unity is a revolutionary initiative designed to unify all Jewish people from around the world in a day of prayer on behalf of the current and cautioning state of affairs, both nationally and internationally.” The reporter then proceeded to explain the background of this unique day – the threats worldwide to Jewish safety and well being, the ongoing terrorist alerts in every civilized country, the divisiveness that exists between every camp.

However the article went on to stress that all wasn’t lost, because the Jewish nation has historically turned to prayer. The Atlanta Jewish Times then told its readers what Acheinu wanted them to do. How every one of them should please take the time to recite two chapters of Tehillim – 20 and 130. It then sent anyone interested in taking part, to the Jewish Unity website so they could sign up.

But that was only the beginning.

Newsmax had this to say.

“An upcoming September “Day of Jewish Unity” hopes its message of peace and stability around the world will also help make a difference in this year’s volatile U.S. presidential election. The Sept. 27 event is asking Jews from around the world to pray “on behalf of the current state of affairs, both nationally and internationally.”

“2016 marks an alarming year in which the daunting cloud of uncertainty is prevalent more than ever,” the statement read. “From a turbulent presidential race to widespread terrorism affecting countries across the globe, there is much cause for concern regarding the safety of the Jewish people and our homeland.”

The Newsmax article connected the dangerous global realities and the upcoming American presidential election, while explaining how vital it was for every single individual to learn to accept one another and to treat the people you meet with respect – no matter the differences in opinion. “It’s praying for a change in the political climate. We can change the climate when we speak, not speak negatively about each other, not gossip about each other. We hope the message will change the climate.”

Though the article viewed the Day of Jewish Unity through the prism of current events, there was no missing its salient point. America is deeply divided. Politics are poisoning the atmosphere. Yet a day of Jewish Unity can change everything. A day where people everywhere refuse to speak negatively can and will have an affect on an entire country.

Every individual publication approached the event from a slightly different angle. There was however one common thread running through every single article – a sincere appreciation for what Acheinu was spearheading and a hope that readers grasped the significance of what was about to happen and joined in to take it viral.

Mr. David Luchins – a professor at Touro College and chair of its political science department, had this to say in an opinion piece that he penned for Newsweek.

Entitled “Some Things Are More Important Than Party Unity,” Mr. Luchins drew on his many years in the political arena, (he served as an aide for Herbert Humphrey and worked for twenty years on the Senate staff for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan) to explain exactly why he too was enamored by the Acheinu initiative.

Beginning the piece with a humorous anecdote about Henry Adams as an introduction, he went on to expound at some length about the political system in the United States and how the demeaning nature of the system has even spread into the Jewish community, before sharing a personal story.

“Hubert Humphrey – the embodiment of classic liberal values, had just lost the nomination in 1972 to George McGovern,” Luchins wrote. “Yet Hubert Humphrey picked up the phone and called his arch-nemesis Richard Nixon to offer to help his campaign. I (Luchins) then became the youngest National Vice Chairman of Democrats for Nixon, and was joined by many staffers from both the Humphrey and “Scoop” Jackson campaigns (I later learned that Senator Jackson had made a similar phone call). Hubert Humphrey taught me an important lesson that night. “Some things,” he said (quoting John Kennedy) “are more important than party loyalty”.

And that message is so necessary today when the vitriol of this nasty campaign is eating at the very fabric of our community’s civil discourse. Respecting each other, listening to the other side, avoiding harsh generalizations or hateful speech are all more important than party loyalty.”

Luchins then tied it all together explaining why he feels the Day of Jewish Unity is so important for our society. “And so,” he concluded, “I am excited about a seemingly innocuous request…to say a prayer for our country and our national dignity on next Tuesday, September 27th…in an effort to remind us that some things are, as always, more important than partisan politics.

“What a quaint idea. To pray that we will all speak more kindly to each other. To pray that we will treat our political opponents with dignity and respect. To pray that we remember that when we descend to the gutter we are all soiled.  To pray that we all find the strength and good sense to remember that “some things are more important than party loyalty”.

A quaint idea! Perhaps. But an excellent one indeed.”

Reading Luchins fine article, I cannot help but notice that many papers and writers seem to be commending the concept of unity and efforts in building a bridge between the disparate cross sections of American society, which seems to have reached a point where there is precious little for people to agree on.

All were agreeing that davening together will create a sense of unity/achdus – because it proves that there is something much greater happening around us at every second of every given day, and that it is up to us to rise above temptation and focus on the thousands of details that we agree on instead of the things that drive a wedge between us. 

And that was before I read an article that had been penned about the Day of Jewish Unity for The Huffington Post.

And I found myself amazed.

Too long to quote in its entirety here, I will satisfy myself by quoting bits and pieces. The author, a Mr. Frederick Lawrence, who among other positions of prominence has served as the former President of Brandeis University – began the article with a question he was asked by a student.

“Has it always been like this,” the student wanted to know, in reference to the brutal harshness of the political system which seems to be creating enemies out of everyone on both sides of the divide. Mr. Lawrence explained to the student that in truth, it had not always been “like this,” sharing two examples from American political history to make his point. He then posed the following question to his readers.

“Is it possible to reverse the trend toward incivility in our political life and to restore some basis of cooperation, collaboration and dialog? And how might we, as citizens, play a role in this?”

This is his answer as written in The Huffington Post – which as I am sure most of you know is not a religious newspaper. “We should look to the wisdom of Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, a 19th- and early 20th-century teacher, scholar and ethicist in Eastern Europe, whose most famous work, “Guarding the Tongue,” explicated Jewish laws and learning concerning speech, the power of words, and especially the danger of gossip and malicious speech,” Mr. Lawrence wrote.

“His teachings, as powerful and direct today as they were when written more than 125 years ago, are strikingly simple to articulate and deceptively difficult to implement — we should watch our words carefully, weighing them as we would our treasures. We should speak, discuss, even argue and debate decently and respectfully of others, questioning their ideas but not their motives.

The anniversary of the passing of the Rabbi Israel Meir Kagen occurs on Sept. 27. On that day… (the group) is asking all to refrain from gossip and harmful speech. Just for one day. It is a small but significant gesture. Is it possible that if we could do so as a society for one day, we might be able to do it for another, and then another?”

In all honesty, Lawrence’s article was frum enough to have been written as an op-ed in one of our newspapers, and yet this is The Huffington Post – a far cry from a Torah newspaper that we may take into our homes.

Which means, that Acheinu’s request and message is universal. Apparently everyone agrees that public discourse and our carelessness with words has gone too far!

Everyone agrees that we need to unite! Everyone agrees that achdus through tefilla is the way to do it! But as a mussar shmuez courtesy of The Huffington Post? I have to tell you, I didn’t see that one coming!

The list of media outlets that ran with this story is long and prestigious. From The Daily Wire and The Times of Israel, to The Jewish Star and Cleveland Jewish News, the general consensus coming from outside, is that the Day of Jewish Unity is a wonderful idea whose time has come.

As The Daily Wire writes in its article –

“Orchestrated by the Acheinu organization, the Day of Jewish Unity was born: a revolutionary initiative designed to unify all Jewish people from around the world in a day of prayer on behalf of the current – and cautioning – state of affairs, both nationally and internationally.” Acheinu is working to mobilize Jews of varied ideological orientations from around the world to take a step back and reexamine the often petty and disorienting political divisions that divide us.”

What an interesting turn of events!

The Chofetz Chaim wrote a sefer exhorting us to be careful how we talk about others and a hundred years later, he is being quoted in mainstream American media. How’s that for fascinating?

And so I return to an epic journey that began in Eretz Yisroel and culminated in Radin, Belarus – on the “Yom Limud and Tefillah” – on the “Day of Jewish Unity.”

A journey with so many unforgettable moments.

Who will ever forget davening in the Radin yeshiva, as the walls began to release the sounds of Torah that had been stored inside them for so long?

Who will ever forget the chizuk that was heard on that trip, the stories, the mussar and the opportunity to watch Klal Yisrael’s ambassadors up close?

Who will ever forget the sound of the gedolim crying as they prayed for their nation and how the heavens themselves seemed to cry along with them?

It’s not just the fact that the Chofetz Chaim wrote so many seforim, or the fact that he penned the Mishna Berurah – his seminal work on halacha. There were and are many other gedolim who have written Torah works of greatness.

One might suggest that what sets the Chofetz Chaim apart from his contemporaries or even those who came before him, was the fact that he cared so much about every single facet of Klal Yisrael – down to the soldiers who had been forced into conscription by the Russian army – to the point that he took the time to actually write a comprehensive work explaining how they were to relate to the challenges facing them every single day.

Others might claim that the Chofetz Chaim’s uniqueness lies in the fact that he ran a yeshiva, wrote piskei halacha and managed a business at the same time – thereby being able to relate to every type of Jew.

One could posit that the source of his power was the sense of abject humility that he projected or his honesty or the fact that he was able to forgive… There are so many ways to explain the incredible popularity of the Chofetz Chaim’s ongoing message and the fact that it still rings forth throughout the world on a daily basis.

Yet I would like to suggest one additional reason why this may be so – and that is the fact that it was the Chofetz Chaim who gifted us with an awareness towards the evils of Loshon Hora and our halachic obligations in the realm of Bein Adam L’chaveiro – between man and his friend. It was he who educated us in the intricacies of Shmiras Haloshon, of guarding one’s tongue, and it was he who explained with crisp accuracy how the unthinking words that we utter have a tremendous effect on the people around us.

My point is a simple one.

It was the Chofetz Chaim who taught us what real unity is all about. How to consider the other, how to think before we talk, how to love our fellow Jew. This was his message from day one. That being the case, there can be no other possible date for the “Day of Jewish Unity” than the yahrtzeit of the tzadik who dedicated his life to spreading that very concept.

And so it is, that from Radin comes the word of achdus and Jewish Unity until this very day. Because he cared about us, his nation. And it is incumbent upon us all to do the same.

By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer