When we left slavery in Egypt the Bible counted more than 600,000 men. Considering the similar amount of women there were 2-3,000,000 Hebrews entering the land of  Israel in the estimated 1300 BCE.   

As a comparison the Zhou Chinese dynasty which took control of China about the same time at 1200 BCE counted 13 million Chinese people living in China.

The Hebrews  were one fifth or 20% of the population of China at that time. 

Today, 3200 years later  there are a billion and a half Chinese in the world. That is 1500 millions.

There are maybe 14 million Jews.  

From  being  20% of the Chinese population we are now  0.00052 of the Chinese population. 

Compared to the Chinese growing curve of the last three thousand years and keeping the estimate of about 20% of the Chinese population, we should have numbered  many hundreds of millions at least. 

In fact, we are dozens of times smaller than the Chinese margin of error in any census they take.

We all know the reasons for this awful disparity. The Roman empire  of 2,000 years ago murdered about one million Jews. It is estimated that over the millennia in Europe about three million Jews were either slaughtered or  forced to convert in masses.  

Just  in South and Central America alone there are many millions of descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews  who were forced to convert to Catholicism  between the 15th and 17th centuries.    

All that translates to about 100-150 million Jewish descendants of all  the Jewish victims over the centuries who could have been with us today.

We cannot afford to lose more Jewish souls to other influences.            

Generations of Jews since then have changed. Their religious as well as Israel outlook has changed.

With the chaos, killings and destruction in the many cities Anti-Semitism begins to stink to high heavens. it is used  as an important part of radical actions against  America 

Nothing new here!

Jews have been caught in the middle of civil chaos  and destruction for hundreds of years with very  dire consequences.  

Anti-Semitism is being bred in many campuses in some of the most prestigious schools. And it is getting a stronghold among young impressionable  ill informed students, many who are Jewish students.

In the name of this perverted agenda what is really being ignored purposely is the honest and real details of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Its origin, its true reasons and goals are being purposely ignored

The agenda is simple: to deny Israel the right to exist as a Jewish state. Also to remove Israel from being a  close ally  and best friend  to the USA. 

 A whole generation of students, many of them are Jewish, is being bombarded and poisoned with distorted  information. This happens even  in traditionally Jewish colleges like Brandeis  or colleges with a large Jewish student body.

And these are our future congress members and leaders!

Using unfair influence on our students for an intentional Anti-Zionist agenda discourages students  from arriving at their own independent conclusions. 

What is claimed to be lessons in critical thinking which is a common course in college amounts to almost brain washing. 

This is  a gateway to Anti-Zionism which in some places  has become institutionalized and tolerated. 

Make no mistake: Anti-Zionism, denying Israel the right to exist  as a Jewish country  or not at all -  is absolutely Anti-Judaism. 

The land of Israel is a central part of Judaism. It’s  like Mecca to Islam or the pope to Catholicism.   

Judaism cannot exist without it. The hope and yearning  to return to Zion in the last 2000 years has been a central component of Judaism. 

Anti-Zionistic  activity is an act against Jewish survival.

In 2019 there were 2100 reported cases of assault, vandalism and harassment against Jews in the United states alone including schools,  synagogues and community centers.

The problem  is even more compounded because for many of our Jewish students it’s a gateway to losing their Jewish identity. 

What concerns me is that we have become  complacent in the face of those who wish to hurt us the most. We simply do not think it is a major problem.

While, of course, not all of our young people leave their heritage because of college influence,  

We cannot afford to lose anyone. 

We cannot be complacent. Let's continue doing what we, the community of Shirat Shalom have been doing  for many years.

Let us continue bringing Judaism of the heart and souls to our children. Instill in them love and pride in our heritage and in Israel. That is the best remedy against    detrimental influences and assaults  on our heritage.

It’s  about Jewish identity much more than Jewish or Hebrew knowledge.  

Children as we all know, get from us their parents the sense of pride in our heritage and commitment to our Jewish homeland  in Israel.

When our children sense  that both Israel and the Jewish tradition are a crucial part of our own identity they  understand that  Zionism is an existential part of Judaism and in turn, Judaism is an existential part of the welfare of the world.          

They then will be more inclined to make the effort  and seek the honest truth about the Israeli Arab conflict and explore  Judaism further on. We cannot afford losing any more Jewish souls.       

Senator Daniel Moynihan said in 1974 in a rally for Soviet Jewry: One cannot eliminate  a tree  which has its roots in the center of the earth.

It is our duty to ensure our children’s Jewish continuity. 

May  G-D  inscribe all of us in the Book of Life. Let us  pray for a much better year next year. A year of health and healing.  

A year of tolerance and unity. A year of love and prosperity  to all of us. A year of elimination of all viruses and social turmoil. 

Amen 

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