There Is No Other Hand

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Can I deny everything I believe in?
On the other hand, can I deny my own child?
On the other hand how can I turn my back on my faith, my people? If I try to bend that far I will break.
On the other hand...
There is no other hand.
-- Fiddler on the Roof

If you are familiar with my speeches, classes, and writings, you know I am a big believer and fierce advocate of the importance of nuance and using more careful language in our conversations, debates, and dialogues. Much of our divisiveness and disunity is the result of speaking in absolutes with too much confidence, too little nuance, and the inability or unwillingness to look at other perspectives.

And yet, there are certain issues, events, and people that are clear as day, and the introduction of nuance or the use of a tolerant approach isn't noble or righteous, it is cruel and irresponsible. As Tevye memorably puts it, there is no other hand.

Most of the time we should strive to live in the gray, to respect that there are opinions and approaches we may vociferously disagree with but are still legitimate, within bounds, and espoused by those who genuinely believe in the safety, security, unity and eternity of our people. One can disagree determinedly with the Satmar philosophy and its approach to the State of Israel, but you can't argue that they work against the future or fate of our people. The Satmar community has said Tehillim (Psalms) daily since the start of the war and I personally witnessed the Rebbe gave a member of my community a beracha (a blessing) that his son serving in the IDF be safe, secure and successful in defending our people.

But there are also rare times that call for a black-and-white view, to recognize that being open, thoughtful, respectful of other opinions and approaches doesn't mean tolerating or accepting the opinions and activism of those who are working against our people, who don't share in our fate, who aren't consumed by our safety and well-being, even if they are Jewish.

While Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts, seeking to defend millions of innocent civilians against evil enemies who seek the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews, Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, sponsored and led a campaign in support of a resolution aiming to block $20 billion in sales of U.S. arms to the Jewish state. While he stopped short of declaring Israel of perpetrating a genocide (though he had no problem calling Israel's actions "atrocities"), he asserted that military aid to Israel violates U.S. law prohibiting weapons sales to "countries that violate internationally recognized human rights."

Despite the Biden administration rejecting the claim and actively lobbying against the resolution, nearly half the Senate majority caucus voted in favor, smearing Israel's war of self-defense and casting Israel as a villain on the world stage. This group included two Jewish senators: Sanders and Jon Ossoff.

I have spoken and written about not using my pulpit or platform to campaign for or against political officials. Again, there are times that call for a different approach. Remember these senators' names, work to ensure they are not re-elected, and hold them accountable for slandering the Jewish state and compromising the safety and security of our people around the world:

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), George Helmy (D-NJ) as well as Angus King (I-Maine) and Sanders each voted in favor of at least one of the three bills, while Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) voted "present."

Is it a coincidence that soon after the vote got the support of more than one third of the democrats in the Senate, the illegitimate International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, Israel's former defense minister, for war crimes committed in Gaza? Is it a stretch to draw a line connecting the dots between prominent Jews not only failing to support but working against Israel, and enemies of Israel acting in outrageous and despicable ways?

There must be no nuance in recognizing that Bernie Sanders, Jewish or not, is dangerous and his views are entirely illegitimate. In fact, one can make a reasonable argument that his Jewishness actually provides cover for non-Jewish antisemites and other bad actors, who can (and often do) point to Sanders and say, "he's Jewish and he agrees with me." Failure to call things as they are would be putting ourselves in danger.

This danger is not limited to secular Jews. Neturei Karta, Aramaic for "guardians of the city," are anything but protectors of our people. Despite their external religious garb and presentation as observant Jews, they are dangerous extremists whose behavior—meeting with and hugging world leaders who seek Jewish blood, rallying in the streets to support perpetrators of evil, to name a few lovely examples—has excluded them from our people and ensured they have no portion in the World to Come. They, too, use their Jewishness in dangerous ways and provide useful cover for antisemitism. There is no nuance in rejecting, disassociating and marginalizing them.

There is no other hand when it comes to the extreme progressive groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and Rabbis for Ceasefire. These groups don't claim to be Orthodox and certainly don't look it but they are no less dangerous and illegitmate than Neturei Karta. They use their Jewishness as a convenient tool to advance their goals of supporting Hamas and their enablers. Like Neturei Karta, they provide terrific cover, as evidenced by Rashida Tlaib and other members of the Squad being all-too-happy to rally with them, meet with them, and attend their disingenuous prayer services.

J-Street, a self-described "pro-Israel, pro-peace" organization, has advocated for the Biden administration to withhold weapons from the Jewish state, arguing that the United States needs to hold Israel accountable for alleged human rights "violations" before President-Elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Instead of educating the world about how Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to avoid civilian casualties, this "pro-Israel" organization, led by "proud Jews," has been among the loudest voices of disinformation, miseducation, and distortions about Israel in the world.

Peter Beinart, a prominent writer who keeps kosher and learns Daf Yomi, has written shocking and shameful anti-Israel articles and columns for years, most recently taking to the New York Times to slander and attack Israel, describing the war as, "Israel's slaughter and starvation of Palestinians — funded by U.S. taxpayers and live-streamed on social media." He went so far as to blame the election results on Israel and by extension the Jews.

To be clear, I am not interested in name-calling. There has been endless debate since October 7 (and of course before then, too) about who is a "self-hating Jew," whether certain politicians are "kapos," and the like. To engage in those debates is to miss the forest for the trees. Coming up with the right term or label, and arguing whether or not Bernie Sanders is a self-hating Jew, an antisemite, or neither, is time not well spent. The focus should be in recognizing the behavior, calling it out, and working hard to counter any influence or voice these people have.

Since there have been Jews, there have been traitors to the Jewish people, including famous converts who led disputations and defectors who collaborating with enemies. In her article, The Jews Who Fought for Nazi Germany, Ellen Feldman writes: "What was the safest place for a Jew in Hitler's Germany? A cellar or an attic? A forest? At home with a well-connected Aryan spouse? The answer was in Hitler's military—in the Wehrmacht, the Kriegsmarine, or the Luftwaffe—at least until the tide of war turned and all three began to suffer staggering losses." She documents Jews who fought alongside the Nazis against the Jews for diverse motivations and for different reasons.

While their behavior is inexcusable, Jews who conspired with or aided the Nazis could at least argue they were trying to save their lives. What could Bernie Sanders, Jon Ossoff, Neturei Karta, J-Street, Rabbis for Peace, or Peter Beinart say compels them to vilify of the Jewish state and justifies their efforts to hamper its ability to defend its people? It is disingenuous and dangerous for these people and groups to blame Israel for the suffering—including the suffering inflicted on the Palestinian civilians whom they claim to care about—that is caused by Hamas, who started this war with a heinous, bloodthirsty pogrom, and can end it immediately by returning hostages and laying down their guns.

We read every Friday night, "ohavei Hashem sin'u rah," those who truly love the Lord hate and reject evil and wrongdoing. King David does not encourage us to hate the individual, but rather his choices. However, there are times when we can't and shouldn't separate the person from the choices they make and if we truly love the Lord, justice, and the Jewish people then we cannot and must not tolerate or accept the perpetration of that wrongdoing. There are times for nuance and balance and time for moral clarity and clear lines.

In the days of Rabban Gamliel, Jewish traitors posed a threat to the nation. Shmuel HaKatan was recruited to author a prayer, a 19th blessing to be added to the Amidah that their nefarious and slanderous plans be unsuccessful. Shmuel was called "HaKatan" because he maintained his childlike innocence, purity and love. He was chosen to write this blessing because he had no ulterior motive or agenda in doing so. It didn't serve him politically, financially, or socially. Indeed, he is the one quoted in Pirkei Avos who most embodied the dictum in Proverbs (24:17), "Do not take joy in the downfall of your enemies." He was chosen because his intent was pure and unblemished.

We must remain committed to nuance in our discussions, conversations, debates, and dialogues with one another. Indeed, Shlomo HaMelech taught (Proverbs 18:21), "Maves v'chaim b'yad lashon, Death and life and in the power of the tongue." Our language matters and it can be the difference between life and death.

But in these times when the future and wellbeing of our people is at stake, we must also have moral clarity, to hate evil, call it out, work against it, even when it is from within our people. To recognize when there is no other hand. When you say V'lamalshinim, mean it.

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is the spiritual leader of the Boca Raton Synagogue.