Following the recent events in Amsterdam where Jewish and Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel-Aviv were beaten, and knifed in the streets of Amsterdam Rabbi David Wolpe says that it is possible that Jews will exit Western Europe en masse. Wolpe, who was named by Newsweek as the most influential Rabbi in America and one of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World byThe Jerusalem Post was the scholar in residence at Shaarey Zedek synagogue’s inaugural weekend.
“Baghdad was once 30-40% Jewish, but there are now no longer any Jews there," Wolpe noted. This may happen in Western Europe , but it is not clear. People in Western Europe are “wakening up” to the threat of Islamic extremism, and there may be a reaction against this cultural threat, as European’s are “worried about losing the culture they have created.” Wolpe spoke about this at the Gala Fundraiser on Nov 10 in the newly renovated Shaarey Zedke synagogue social hall before over 215 people.
Wolpe stated that when one looks at the course of Jewish history, “we [the Jews] end up Re-inventing ourselves in ways that we don’t know.” He indicated that Jewish communities in Poland and Hungary are growing, even though we would not have expected this.”
He said that one thing is certain which is that in general human beings are “wrong” when they make predictions. Wolpe said “I have no idea” whether Western Europe will be emptied of its Jews,” but he invoked the “old Jewish concept, that of God.” Wolpe noted that there are many peoples that have lost their shared history and disappear, but “there does seem to be a weird providence” that ensures the survival of the Jewish people when all evidence “suggests that we shouldn’t be here.”
Wolpe elaborated on this point indicating that the Roman Empire disappeared even though they were the “friggin Roman Empire” and no one would have predicted that Latin would disappear as a spoken language “but there would be a country that today speaks Hebrew…The Babylonians and Assyrians are gone, but there are still Jews. Wolpe, whose speech was inspirational, then invoked the famous quote of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, who said “Any Jew that doesn’t believe in miracles isn’t a realist.”
Wolpe concluded that it hile it may be that Jews will disappear from Western Europe in that they will leave, he asked , Will Jews disappear? The answer is “no.” And then he noted that “We have seen miracles before and I have no doubt we will see them again.”
Wolpe told a story of a Zionist leader being asked whether the Jews would accept Uganda as the location of their state, rather than Israel. The Zionist leader answered it’s like asking me “Why did you drive 50 miles to see your mother when there are so many other nice old ladies you can visit who live on your street?”
Wolpe, who is the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple andserves as the ADL’s inaugural rabbinic fellow and a scholar in residence at the Maimonides Fund, spoke about the delegates from Kishinev to the Zionist Congress who had to deal with the question of whether they would agree to a state in Uganda which was being offered to the Jews or in Israel. As he pointed out, it was only months after they had faced pogroms in Kishinev, and the physical danger to them was immediate, but these Jews said “no to Uganda.”
On the subject of antisemitism, Wolpe, who has taught at Harvard, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and other institutions spoke about antisemitism and "the disparity between what the Jewish people have given to the world and what the world has given us." He noted that in the last 50 years, we had a "holiday" from antisemitism as this age old phenomena appeared to fade. He indicated, however, that one of the first ways to counter antisemitism is to know our own history. He told a story of an imaginary conversation between himself and his great great grandfather. He would be talking about antisemitism at Harvard University, and his great great grandfather would reply, "There's Jews at Harvard?!!" Wolpe would then say yes but there is a lot of anti-Israel activity at Harvard. And his great great grandfather would reply, "There's an Israel?!!!."
Wolpe pointed out that "the number of Zionists when Zionism started was minimal, but they changed the world."
Regarding supporting a synagogue, Wolpe recalled being asked why he went to a march on behalf of Soviet Jewry. The answer was that ‘if I didn't go, no one would take his place." There are many universal causes that Jews can and do support, but Wolpe noted “ if you support the opera, and you decide to stop, someone else will support the opera in your place. But if you don't support a synagogue, no one else will do so in your place.” He elaborated that the reason to support the rebuilding of a synagogue is to build infrastructure for those who have not yet entered through the synagogue's doors. "You owe that debt to the generation following you" he said to those present. Wolpe gave a special thank you to Gail Asper, who he knows for sponsoring the Gala Fundraiser.
Wolpe spoke about the importance of having Jewish identity, as "if you have no roots, you don't get branches."
He added, "The enemies of the Jews are the enemies of civilization," and referred to the protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies being not only against the Jews "but against Western values"
He said to be resilient Jews have to take care of each other, referring to the example in his congregation of someone losing her husband and the congregation bringing her Sabbath meals every Friday night for 15 years.
He said we have a remarkable tradition and "our story is what will enchant our children and grandchildren." He noted that Western civilization uses the story of the Exodus as the story of liberation, and we brought the ten commandments to the world. "We know what our narrative is…We existed in the land [of Israel] for thousands of years," and “are not settler colonialists.”
As he pointed out, Christmas celebrates "the birth of a Jew thousands of years ago" and Easter celebrates his death and resurrection," all of which is proof of the Jewish people's ancient connection to the Holyland.
Wolpe noted that Jews have always refused to be exactly like other people and brought the world "ethical monotheism." He elaborated, "We came into the world of paganism, where human beings only had obligations to the Gods, and through the ten commandments Judaism says God cares about the way you treat each other."
"We [Jews] have managed to become successful" and ought not "apologize for this," Wolpe said.
Regarding those who say the State of Israel should not exist, Wolpe pointed out that “Germany started two world wars but no one says there shouldn't be Germany anymore.’ He stated that claimingg Israel, which is inhabited by Jewish people "who have been discriminated against" for thousands of years should not exist is antisemitic.
He added that while technically anti-zionism and antisemitism are different things, "the overlap is so great as to make the distinction almost irrelevant."
He summed up the current conflict by saying "The only way there will be peace is when the enemies of Israel accept the legitimacy of Jews in the Middle East."
Antisemitism can come from the hard left and the hard right and Islamism, and "you need to be able to call it out wherever you see it," he said.
At the Shabbat dinner that took place on Nov 8, Rabbi Wolpe noted that in Israel they have found Roman swords that are perfectly preserved due to the lack of moisture in the dessert. These swords were stolen by the young Jews who fought against the Romans in the Holy Land. Wolpe pointed out that just as Jews fought against the Roman Empire to keep the Jewish people and the “Jewish story” alive, so too are the young Israeli soldiers fighting against Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah to protect our people hood and our Jewish state.
Wolpe stressed that it has never dawned on the Jewish people to give up, stop the fight and “end the Jewish story,” because we have contributed so much to mankind for thousands of years.
He said that when he resigned from the antisemitism committee at Harvard was not a difficult decision. He knew he had to do it.
He noted that Nathan Sharansky and other Jewish refusniks were the ones who brought liberated not only to themsleves, but the Soviet Union."
He also spoke of a recent trip to Israel and how one is now never to knock on someone's door, as opposed to phoning or sending a text. When Israelis recieve a knock on the door, they know it is from the IDF notifying that their loved one has been killed in battle.
Wolpe also ended his talk on Friday night by speaking about Judaism and the Valley of Gehenna, where children were burned as sacrifices. He noted that because it was the worst place imagnable, we refer to the concept of hell as Gehenna. But as Wolpe observed, the oldest known text of Torah in existence was found in the Valley of Gehenna. The text that was found offers a blessing for peace, even when it was found in hell. Wolpe ended by emphasizing that Judiasm expresses hope for peace even in the darkest of places.( the Valley of Gehenna surrounds the Old City of Jeruselem and the adjacent Mount Zion. It meets and merges with the Kidron Valley, the other main valley around the Old City, near the Pool of Siloam, and the finding of the oldest piece of Torah there is proof of the Jewish people's connection to the HolyLand).
Wolpe has been featured on The Today Show, Face the Nation, ABC This Morning, and CBS This Morning as well as series on PBS, A&E, History Channel, and Discovery Channel, and has engaged in widely watched public debates with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and many others about religion and its place in the world. Rabbi Wolpe is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times (Riverhead). His latest is titled David, the Divided Heart (Yale U Press). It was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards, and has been optioned for a movie by Warner Bros.
