David Wolpe: evaluation

Transcript context

…Do you think it’s realistic to talk about the American Jewish community having become too fractioned to be considered a single community? And if it is realistic or possible, then what is the biggest challenge facing the community? OK, are we a community? I have good news and bad news. The good news is, Jews have never been united. Never. [laughter] Never. Only people who think “Oh my God, why don’t we have the cohesion we used to?” are people who don’t know Jewish history. We used to be excommunicating each other all the time, the Hasidim, the Mitnagdim, there was always, always, always fights among Jews. And there are all sorts of jokes and things, but it’s true, it’s true. And by the way, I don’t think this is unique to Jews, but it certainly is true among Jews. You can speak about an American Jewish community that will mobilize around certain moments of crisis. And if, God forbid, there were a terrible moment of crisis, I think most of the American Jewish community would mobilize around it. If there was a huge wave of anti-Semitism in America, for example. But having said that, in some ways . . . in Jewish theology, there are two ways of serving God. There’s yirah and ahavah. There’s fear and love, and fear in many ways is more immediately effective. When you’re driving over the speed limit, is it love for your fellow drivers or the presence of a police car that will get you to slow down faster? Fear is in some ways more immediate and effective than love, but love is more enduring. Because fear passes, but love, real love, even if creation’s not infinite, real love endures. Love in the words of Shir Hashirim, the Song of Songs, is strong as death. So if the American Jewish community, even if not wholly — because I’m not a believer in universal love, because then love is diluted; it has no meaning. Because people that you love, you’ll sacrifice for, and you can’t sacrifice for everyone. If the American Jewish community feels this familial sense and this sense of love and this sense of closeness, then we won’t disappear. I’ll close with a Hasidic story. To some extent, I feel like our story, not entirely, but a little bit, is like the story that Rebbe Chaim Halberstam used to tell of the man who was lost in the forest. And he wandered and wandered and wandered, and he was completely lost. He had no idea where to go, and he sat down in despair. And as he sat down, another man comes along, and he says, “Oh, I’m so glad to see you because I’m completely lost.” And the second man says, “I have bad news for you. I’m lost too.” He says, “But one thing I do know, is the way we have gone is not the way. Now, let’s hold hands and find the way together.” Thank you.…

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