My new article on Linkedin “If Ben-Gurion Were Alive Today”

Last Wednesday, Israel marked the 35th Ben-Gurion day, commemorating David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish community in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel, and the first prime minister of Israel after its establishment. He was not only a political leader, but also a visionary who dreamed of the people of Israel realizing the ultimate calling of the Jewish people, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Israel’s failure to achieve it was probably the reason he eventually departed from public life and retired to the desert. If he were alive today, he would see how right he was in doing so.

On January 15, 1949, a few months after the establishment of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion gave a monumental speech that was to become known as “Revolution of the Spirit.” In that speech he repeatedly proclaimed that the great human calling of the Jewish people was love of others. “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the supreme commandment of Judaism,” he said. “With these words, the eternal, human law of Judaism has been formed… The State of Israel will be worthy of its name only if its social, economic, political, and judicial structures are based upon these eternal words.”

Ben-Gurion did not wish for the Israeli society to resemble societies of other democratic countries. He believed that love of others is not inherent in humankind and must be taught through education. In his mind, the judicial system, too, would not only require people not to hurt others, but also that they actively participate in establishing solidarity. “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is more than the commandment of the law,” he declared. “A principle of law can be interpreted in a passive, negative manner—not to deprive, steal, rob, or harm. Jewish law does not settle for these; it is not enough to refrain from hurting others. Human relations must be built on a common fate, mutual help, friendship of equals, and love of others. Only on the basis of the commandment ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ will the State of Israel be true to the great human calling of Judaism. Only in this law will the key to Israel’s laws and ordinances be found.”

To achieve this sublime vision, Ben-Gurion saw legislators and attorneys as the guardians responsible for fashioning the image of the country. However, he did not leave the responsibility solely on their shoulders. He demanded that everyone participates in the process, to the last person on the street. In his vision, people would obey the law not because they were afraid of punishment but because it was “built on reciprocity and mutual help of all citizens, Jews and non-Jews, [and] everyone knows that in the State of Israel, it is not homo homini lupus est (man toward man is a wolf), but friends and helpers.”

When we think of education today, we think of acquisition of knowledge. In Ben-Gurion’s eyes, knowledge, as such, was of secondary importance, although he valued the contributions of great scientific minds like Einstein’s. Nevertheless, he realized that our strength lies not in knowledge but in fashioning a united society, and pushed for education of the entire nation toward that purpose.

Accordingly, the army was to be an educational tool no less than a military one. “Fundamentally, the army is an educational entity,” he said, “We shall not have an army that does its duty in our historic conditions if it is not accompanied by a greater educational effort than in all the armies in the world. The army must be the school of the youth, the cradle of the unity and strength of the nation.”

Ben-Gurion was well aware of the division and alienation among Jews in his days. “We all love immigration, but very few of us love the immigrants,” he quipped. But in a more serious tone, he realized that “immigrants will not be absorbed without a great educational effort … both among the residents of Israel and among the immigrants.”

Indeed, although Ben-Gurion realized the great importance of education toward unity and went to great lengths to realize it, the nation grew increasingly divided. In the end, Israel’s most charismatic leader and one of its greatest visionaries in modern history had given up. In 1970 he retired to a hut in a kibbutz in the Negev desert and spent the final three years of his life there working on an 11-volume corpus describing the history of Israel’s early years.

Since his departure, educating the people of Israel has only become more urgent. We have lost all sight of our vocation and the reason for our being here. Instead of exemplifying unity, we demonstrate internal loathing and division. We did not educate ourselves toward unity, and now we are suffering the consequences.

Nevertheless, as long as we are here, there is hope for change. We must still employ education toward unity. It should be mandatory, and it should encompass the entire nation, all ages and all factions. As Ben-Gurion said, unity is not a prerogative; it is vital for our existence.
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My new article on Linkedin “No Need for a Metaverse; a Pill Will Do”

We all heard that Mark Zuckerberg is building a hypothesized iteration of the internet called the Metaverse. In clips advertising the platform, we can see him moving over to live there, in his virtual universe. The idea is to allow people to communicate and even move regardless of the physical distance between them, and to allow them to travel between times and countries. I wouldn’t want to be near there. It will not be a place where people can be happy, and in such a place, I do not want to be.

The whole idea of the Metaverse, as I understand it, is to have people living in an illusion. On one corner, some superman is fighting a demon; on another corner, dinosaurs are dancing to pop music, or something of that sort, and I am in a room with them, enjoying the show.

Is this reality? No, it is a drug.

If all we want is to feel good, we do not need a Metaverse; a pill will do just fine. We can make a pill that slowly excretes drugs that make us feel happy, place it under our tongues, and let it pacify us through the day. We wouldn’t need anything else; why bother creating high-tech illusions when we can enjoy by simply taking a pill?

Pleasure is possible only when I want something so strongly that when I get what I want, I experience the relief as pleasure. But if I can take a pill that makes me feel good without the preceding deficiency, why bother feeling it? It is true that I will be a zombie, hooked on my pill, but as long as I feel good and do not hurt anyone, what is wrong with that?

I would be like a lion—laying under a tree all day and getting up only when its stomach is empty or it is mating season. But is this the life of a human being?

Human beings were given a society for a reason. Disconnecting from people for the sake of being in some fake universe would make us animals, while connecting to people can reveal to us a whole new world.

The real joys in life are not in numbing our desires and our minds, but in intensifying them and vitalizing our spirits. The only way to strengthen our desires is through connections with other people. When we see them doing things that they enjoy, learning things that enrich them and increase their capabilities, we envy them and want to emulate them. This is how we grow.

Look at how attentive little children are to their environment. Their open eyes are always looking for new things to see, and their ears are always listening for new sounds and words. They are eager to learn from the world around them; their deficiency is enormous, and this is why they grow so fast.

As we grow up, we close our eyes, our ears, and mainly our hearts to connections with others. We lose the spirit in our lives and seek compensatory pleasures to fill the void within us. But in doing so, we relinquish the purpose of our lives.

We were not meant to be lions. We were made to be conscious human beings, aware of everything around us, connected to reality, and in constant interaction with the world around us. We were meant to discover how the world operates and how its elements intertwine. We were intended to discover it by interacting with everything. If we want to live, we must give and receive, connect and disconnect, and in this way grow. We do not need a metaverse for this, but a real universe where we can truly live.

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My new article on Linkedin “Israel – Defenseless against Smiles”

It has been nearly six months since the conclusion of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the latest round in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. On the surface, things have been quite calm since then. But nothing is ever truly quiet in the Middle East. Israel’s enemies have gotten smarter and understood that they can destroy Israel much faster and without firing a single shot by simply smiling and pretending to want peace. Because we feel we always feel guilty of some sin, we fall for anyone who gives us a friendly smile, even if we know there is a knife behind their backs. That’s just the way we are; the smartest people on the planet are absolute fools when it comes to matters that really matter.

Our enemies across the Gaza border have learned their lesson. Through diplomacy and pressure on various political entities, they raise funds and promote government decisions in Israel that enable them to take over the country from within.

Their ultimate goal has not changed. They strive to rid the country of Jews. The only thing that has changed is how they intend to achieve that goal. They have realized that they cannot defeat us on the battlefield, so they will fight us with words and smiles instead of guns and rockets.

Israelis, who always feel they have to justify their existence, cannot resist a non-Jew smiling at them. It is an affirmation that “we are OK.” Even if the knife is hidden in plain sight, we do not want to see it and believe in the sincerity of our “partner.” Because we always feel guilty, indebted to the world, we are utterly gullible and all our business skills and acumen fly out the window as soon as someone eases our perpetual guilt trip.

There is no cure for this malignant folly except to understand why we feel guilty and what we should do about it. Every Jew feels deep inside that we Jews owe something to the world, and that sensation causes us to make mistakes. Therefore, we must understand the nature of our debt, which is really quite simple: We must stop setting an example of division and mutual derision, and instead become a model of mutual responsibility and love of others.

Over the generations, we have given numerous “gifts” to the world. Jews have been responsible, in whole or in part, for the development of almost every ideology, religion, and technology over the past two millennia. Yet the world has not been grateful. The only legacy that the world truly sees as meritorious is our social legacy, which advocated mutual responsibility and love of others to the point that one loves one’s neighbor as oneself.

Everyone agrees that these ideas are commendable. However, everyone equally agrees that they are unachievable because human nature is evil to the core.

This is where the justification for our existence comes in. The Jews are the ones who must prove that “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not a lost cause, but an achievable goal. If we demonstrate the merits of love of others in our own society, the world will not doubt our right to exist as a sovereign nation. On the contrary, it will preserve and cherish our sovereignty since it will see in us an example to follow, and it will want to learn from our example.

The future of our country does not depend on sophisticated defense systems. These are necessary for the time being. For a permanent solution, the guardian of our wall can only be our unity, our love for one another. It will protect us not because it deters others, but because it brings them closer to us and shows how they, too, can acquire today’s most required commodities: mutual responsibility and love of others.
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My new article on Linkedin “May We Never Stop Asking”

Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli astronaut. He was aboard STS-107, the 28th mission of the space shuttle Columbia. Upon re-entry into the atmosphere, Columbia disintegrated and exploded killing all seven crew members on board. Ramon was a great achiever. He was an elite fighter pilot and the youngest pilot who participated in Israel’s strike that destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor. Despite his success, Ramon asked poignant questions about life and its meaning that I think we should all ponder, for they are what give value to our actions.

Mr. Ramon sent his questions to Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a renowned professor of biochemistry and neurophysiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who was also a prolific writer on Jewish thought and western philosophy. “For a long time, I have been pondering many questions that might be incorporated under the title, ‘What is man’s purpose in the world we live in?'” wrote Ramon. “The more questions we ask, the greater the contradictions and ambiguities. How do you explain the essence of life?” he asked Prof. Leibowitz. “How do you see man’s purpose and goal in life, and what is the way to achieve this goal?”

Today, when many people are asking similarly poignant questions, we should look into them more closely. There is a reason for these questions; they are the compass that leads us to our calling in life, to our ultimate goal.

However, to find our purpose, we should start with the basics. We may not be aware of it, but humanity, indeed all of reality, does not consist of distinct entities and separate individuals. In truth, we are all parts of a single entity that functions like an organism, with us as its cells and organs.

The problem is that we are unaware of our oneness and perceive ourselves as separate beings. Just as we can understand the purpose of the existence of a cell only in the context of the organism where it lives, we can understand our own existence only in the context of all of reality. Because we feel like separate beings and do not recognize our connection to all creations, we cannot find the meaning and purpose of our existence.

Therefore, instead of living a fulfilling life as part of something higher than ourselves, we live only for ourselves, not knowing why we go through life’s hardships or the benefit we derive from our existence. This is the root cause of today’s increasing prevalence of anxiety and depression.

Our task, therefore, is to become aware of our interconnectedness. If we can come to feel as one entity, we will know our place in the world, how we can contribute to it, and how we should live our lives. We will be happy and confident knowing our worth and our place in the world.

However, we will never know about our connectedness or about the meaning of our lives unless we ask about it. These fundamental questions, which can be quite daunting at times, are the engine that drives us to seek answers. They are the force that drives humanity to learn and evolve. If we want to keep growing, we should never stop asking.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Happiest Sad Birthday”

Let me tell you a true story that sends an important message to all of us. Halleli, a 4-year-old girl from Jerusalem with special needs, wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends from kindergarten. Her loving parents arranged for everything: the place, the food and sweets, a clown to entertain the kids, and various fun activities that all the children enjoy doing. All her friends from kindergarten had promised they would come, and Halleli couldn’t wait to celebrate with them. But in the end, only one girl showed up. The candy, the clown, and the games just stood there, untouched and unwanted.

The next day, heartbroken, the girl refused to go to kindergarten. Her parents were beside themselves with sorrow and worry for their child and didn’t know how to comfort her. In his distress, Halleli’s father posted on social media what had happened, and matters took a sharp turn for the better.

A man from the neighborhood read the post and was overcome with emotion. “I have kids too,” he thought. “What if she were my daughter?” He felt he had to do something to give that girl an experience that would wash away her sadness. He decided to throw her the birthday party of her life.

He combed the neighborhood and told everyone about Halleli and that he was organizing a birthday party for her and asked everyone to come. A few days later, Halleli had her party. This time, hundreds of children and their parents showed up to make the little girl happy on her special day. Her parents were overjoyed and grateful beyond words to the kind stranger, and as for Halleli, her face beamed brighter than the sun.

This story doesn’t only tell us about human kindness. It is a warning sign. It demonstrates how heartless, perhaps even cruel, we can be if we are not organized and galvanized into positive action. It also proves the immense potential that lies in establishing mutual responsibility in society. When people who don’t know each other help each other because this is the value they live by, there is no end to what such a society can achieve.

The Jewish people became a nation when complete strangers found the words of their teacher, Abraham, compelling enough to implement. His teachings about kindness and mercy as the key to solving society’s problems struck a chord in the hearts of his listeners and they joined his group. This is why mutual responsibility and “love your neighbor as yourself” are the tenets of Judaism – social laws that relate not to God but to our fellow person.

Today, when alienation permeates every corner of human society, we desperately need mutual responsibility and care for others. These are the only qualities, the only values that can keep human society from collapsing altogether. Just as Abraham had found that the remedy to his homeland’s social ills were care for others, all of us must now realize that the cure for heartlessness has not changed since ancient times. The only difference is that alienation has now spread throughout the world.

Humanity must do today what the ancient Hebrews did – unite across divisions and establish love of others where today there is nothing but hatred. Perhaps such moving stories as the one about Halleli’s birthday will help us realize that mutual responsibility is not a noble but unrealistic notion, but an imperative step we must take to ensure our survival as a functioning society.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Darkness of the Crystal Night Continues”

The words “crystal night” may evoke the image of stars twinkling in the clear night sky, but it is nothing of the kind. This week, 83 years ago, the Nazi Party’s paramilitary forces (SA) smashed the windows of synagogues, schools, and other Jewish institutions, broke into them and set them on fire. The coordinated pogrom took place throughout the Third Reich, in Germany and Austria. The smashed windows scattered on the ground gave the night its name, Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), or the Night of Broken Glass. More than 400 Jews were slain that night, 400 more died in concentration camps shortly after, and many more committed suicide as a result of the pogroms.

Jewish unity must never be for its own sake. The whole purpose of the existence of the Jewish people is to build an exemplary society. In the short periods when we had such a society, we thrived and the nations admired our achievements. When we grew apart, they began to hate us since our division sent the opposite message from the one we are intended to send, that unity above differences creates the ideal society and the happiest people.

This week, Austria unveiled a memorial in Vienna to commemorate the memory of the victims of Kristallnacht, and the memory of the 65,000 Austrian Jews who perished in the Holocaust. This event is also an opportunity to acknowledge that antisemitism is rapidly intensifying the world over, and another Holocaust is already on the horizon.

I wish I could be a bearer of good news, but the reality is that we have not coped with the reasons that generated that violent hatred and its subsequent horrors. We are still deep in the darkness that originated that pogrom, and all the pogroms before and after it.

Nevertheless, I see no cause for despair. On the contrary, the key to changing our position in the world is in our hands; if we muster the determination, we will prevent such atrocities from afflicting our nation going forward.

Memorial days should not focus on remembering the dead. I, too, lost the majority of my family in the Holocaust, but remembering them will not prevent it from happening to my children or grandchildren. If we want to secure our future, we must focus on what we can do today to achieve it, rather than mourn the dead, although that has its place, as well.

In the spirit of this proactive approach, I think we should look at what we can do about antisemitism. For all our efforts, we see that reasonable explanations do not uproot the hatred. We can, and should, forbid expressions of online antisemitism, and we should do all that we can to curb overt Jew-hatred and Israel bashing, which has become trendy among politicians and opinion leaders. However, these measures will only buy us a little time; they will not prevent the eventual intensification of the hatred to levels that will erupt in large-scale violence against Jews.

To use the little time we have, we should focus on ourselves rather than on our haters. There is a lot we can do that will change the world’s view about us. Below is a list of don’ts and dos regarding coping with antisemitism.

Don’ts:

1. We should not attempt to appease our haters, neither abroad nor in Israel. They hate Jews, and anything we do to appease them will only embolden them and add derision to the hatred.

2. We should root out the thought that antisemitism is the result of this or that policy of the Israeli government. The expulsion from Spain, the pogroms in Russia, Kristallnacht, and of course, the Holocaust, happened long before there was a Jewish state. Therefore, bashing Israel is just an insinuated way to express hatred of Jews.

3. Don’t argue with Jew-haters. Hatred needs no justification; the hater always feels entitled to the hatred, so arguments are a waste of time and energy.

Dos:

1. Develop solidarity among Jews. Our ancestors were strangers who united around an ideology of creating a society where people love each other as themselves. Only when they committed to be “as one man with one heart” did they become a nation. Moreover, we were exiled because we hated one another, so the basis of our restored nationhood must be unity.

Incidentally, unity does not imply uniformity. On the contrary, the differences among us will create a society whose strength is in its diversity. The shades and nuances of a united Jewish society will generate a lively, dynamic, and powerful society.

2. Once we establish unity among Jews in Israel, it should spread and encompass every Jew around the world who wishes to join in. Following the same idea that diversity generates power and vitality, any Jew who wants to contribute one’s special flavor to the rejuvenated united nation will be welcome to join.

3. Finally, and most important: Jewish unity must never be for its own sake. The whole purpose of the existence of the Jewish people is to build an exemplary society. In the short periods when we had such a society, we thrived and the nations admired our achievements. When we grew apart, they began to hate us since our division sent the opposite message from the one we are intended to send, that unity above differences creates the ideal society and the happiest people.

As I have shown in two extensive publications on the subject, The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism and Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, history proves that these dos and don’ts work. Now we must have the courage to implement them.
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My new article on Linkedin “La Palma – A Reflection of Our Toxic Relationships”

The Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge on the Spanish island of La Palma, part of the Canary Islands, located some 70 miles off the coast of Morocco, in northwest Africa, has been spewing lava since the 19th of September. The eruption has now continued for more than 50 days with no signs of abating. Already, it has destroyed more than 2,600 buildings, cut the coastal highway, and formed a new peninsula. The lava has also destroyed the town of Todoque, and the fuming flow has reached the town of La Laguna. This eruption has already caused more damage than any eruption on La Palma since records began, and it shows no sign of fading. There is a way to stop eruptions, or at least mitigate them significantly, and it has nothing to do with how we treat the earth, and everything to do with how we treat each other.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods, and gigantic fires have all been growing more frequent and intense over the past several decades. But the forces that set them off are not related to the phenomena themselves, but to the human species, which intensifies them and causes them to erupt more frequently and fervently.

Earth’s ecosystem is built like a pyramid. Its base is the inanimate level, the land masses and oceans that cover the planet. The next level is the flora, the plants that cover the earth, followed by the fauna, the animal kingdom, and at the top of the pyramid is humankind.

The forces that govern the planet stretch from the top down. Like a hurricane, the eye of the storm is the least turbulent, but generates the mighty winds and torrents that surround it and destroy everything they touch. We are the eye of the storm. Our subtle but sinister intentions toward each other create the mayhem unfolding around us. It is therefore we, and only we who can calm the storm, for its engine is within us. Until we switch it off, the planet will keep burning.

Nature is not only trees, animals, clouds, the earth, and the universe. Nature is first and foremost a force that fills all of reality. We exist within it and influence it through our conduct. When we, the top of the pyramid, conduct ourselves positively, we have a positive influence on all of nature. When we conduct ourselves negatively, this is the influence we have on everything.

The pyramid-like structure of nature permeates all levels, including our thoughts and intentions. Therefore, when we spoil our intentions toward each other, the blight spreads downward like a cancer sending out its malignant metastases. If we want a calmer Earth and a kinder climate, we needn’t focus on carbon emissions or plastic waste. These will be fixed when we fix the top of the pyramid, the eye of the storm, namely our negative relation toward each other.

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My new article on Linkedin “No Need for Price Hikes”

Lately, headlines have been warning that prices are about to go up. The price of many commodities has already started rising and pundits alert that this is only the beginning. “Unilever warns of more price hikes as inflation worsens,” writes Reuters. “As Inflation Persists, Everything Is Getting More Expensive,” echoes The New York Times. “Fed to begin slowing economic aid as inflation worries rise,” warns the Los Angeles Times. Everyone has become gloom and doom prophets, but no one is asking why there should be inflation in the first place.

Commentators on all news outlets explain that shortage of computer chips, jams in supply chains, rising oil prices, and a spike in consumer demand following the termination of the closures are all contributing to the price hikes. I think we should not be so credulous; behind all those “crises” are people poised to make billions over billions at our expense.

They will not starve us; starving people doesn’t create revenue for tycoons. To keep padding their bank accounts, magnets will give us crumbs here and there to keep us going. They won’t deny us food or electricity, or other staples, as this would send people to the streets, which is bad for business. What they will do is stretch the wire thin until it almost snaps, and squeeze from us as much as they can without crossing over to riots and mayhem.

We might think that if someone else were in charge, things would be better. We might elect a new president, force the government to “regulate” the rich or tax them, but it is all for nothing. In order to get to the top, you have to be like the people at the top, but worse, or they will crush you. As a result, anyone who gets to the top is already willing to perpetuate the system.

Moreover, we the people have been numbed for so many years that we can no longer imagine a different life than what we have. We have been made to think that life is a struggle for survival.

All the while, the chiefs are running a completely different life than ours, one we cannot even imagine. In their parallel universe, which governs ours, money doesn’t buy gadgets or vacations, but power, control, and much more money.

But there is one thing that money cannot buy, and it is not love. Money can’t buy meaning!

When we begin to ponder the meaning of the rat race, the reason for the madness we call “civilization,” and indeed, the meaning of life itself, we will transcend all physical boundaries. For now, the inequality and injustice that are spreading through society are only aggravating our misery. Eventually, they will force us to ask what it is all for. When this happens, we will begin to learn why we are here and how we can rise above the physical shells that host our tormented souls.

We will not begin this process of self-education until we feel that we have suffered enough. It is therefore my hope that we will decide to terminate this senseless ego-game and start rising above the power struggles as soon as possible.

Once we embark on the new journey, we will discover that we have been deluding ourselves the whole time thinking that we can rise above others. We will discover that we are all connected, so every time we hurt someone, we hurt ourselves, as well, in ways we could not notice. This is why in our previous mode of work, we could never be happy. We will realize that we can be happy only when everyone is happy, just as no part of the body can feel good unless the whole body feels good.

Our biggest enemy is ignorance. Our obliviousness to our interconnectedness makes us act in the selfish ways we do, so our first and most important task is to grasp that pain anywhere is pain everywhere.

Only if we understand this, we will act in a considerate manner, and we will suddenly discover that there is no need for any price hikes, there is no shortage of anything, but rather abundance of everything that we might need to give us a good, secure, and happy life.
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My new article on Linkedin “Shop Till You Drop? I Pass”

Come November, the shopping frenzy starts. Everyone is trying to grab the best deal before everyone else, get the coolest bargain and tell everyone about it. Now that most shopping is done online, it has become a global mania and everyone wants a piece of the pie, even if that piece comes several weeks after you ordered it. I wish it made people happy, but it doesn’t. At best, it only covers the void for a few hours.

I understand the temptation. It’s not easy to resist buying when everyone is talking about what they bought and advertisers are inundating you with commercials talking about price cuts for this or that occasion. I, too, get in on this sometimes. My personal weakness is kitchenware. I buy all kinds of appliances for cooking, heating, cutting and refrigerating food, even though I do not actually like cooking.

Most of us are like that. For the most part, we buy products that we do not really need, and at a price that is not exactly a bargain. Our only consolation is that we have not lost face and we have not drifted from the herd.

There is nothing behind all of this but ego. It’s a struggle between sellers and buyers. They tell you, “It’s a steal! It’s usually $100 and I am practically giving it away for $20!” So you buy and you are happy because you think you have tricked everyone and beaten the system. True, you have five boxes of new shoes that you’ll never open because next year, you’ll buy five more boxes and by then you will have worn maybe two, but for now you feel smarter than everyone else and you’re content.

This excessive shopping is not only foolish, it is a crime against the planet. This is why we produce twice as much as we need and throw the excess in the trash. While our petty egos fill the oceans with plastic, we delude ourselves into thinking we have outsmarted others, but the joke is always on us.

At the very least, we should know where this is coming from. The world today is cold and heartless. We feel alone and insecure, so we buy gadgets and fleeting pleasures to make up for it. If we had friends and family we cared about, and who cared about us, we would rather spend our time with them and wouldn’t click a single link for an online shop that has nothing of meaning to offer.

Now, thanks to our greed, we have come to a state where prices are rising, ships are stuck at sea because they cannot dock and unload their goods, and gasoline and transportation prices are skyrocketing. In addition, the shortage in computer chips has brought production lines of cars and other products around the world to a standstill. It seems we have shopped till we dropped.

Hopefully now we will begin to look for joy in the people around us, in bonding with our family and friends, and in building solidarity in our communities. It is time to move beyond skin-deep communication and begin to find meaning and joy in heart-to-heart connections.
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My new article on Linkedin “Sally Rooney’s Hate Is the New Normal”

It is not easy to convince the Snapchat generation to read books. To do so, you must be a gifted writer and know which buttons to press in young people’s hearts. Sally Rooney, a young Irish author, is that kind of writer. Her first two books have won multiple awards and she is widely regarded as one of the most prominent voices of millennials.

Rooney is also very opinionated. She is a self-proclaimed Marxist and an avid supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS). In line with her views, she has refused to sell translation rights to Israeli publishers. Because of her notoriety, her decision caused quite a stir. The New York Times stated, “Sally Rooney Declines to Sell Translation Rights to Israeli Publisher.” CNN echoed, “Sally Rooney refuses to sell Hebrew rights for latest book to Israeli publisher, citing political objections,” and other prominent news outlets also reported her decision.

In response, Israel’s two largest bookstore chains announced that they would pull all of Rooney’s titles from their shelves. This also caused a stir, though not as much. The BBC reported it, as did The Guardian and other British news outlets. Naturally, the Jewish press was all over the case, as well.

I sympathize with the response of the bookstore chains, just as I was in favor of banning other individuals and brands that boycott Israel. At the same time, I understand why they are doing this, and I am glad that it is causing a stir in Israel.

We can look the other way for only so long. At some point, we will have to ask ourselves why the world hates us, and it is better if we do it now than later.

We need to use such incidents constructively. By “constructively,” I mean that we should use them as an impetus to return to the roots of our nation, to our fundamental principles of mutual responsibility and brotherly love. These are the building blocks of our nation, and these are the qualities that we lost long ago and for which we were exiled from Israel.

When we were cast as a nation that was to be “a light unto nations,” we were made to reflect the splendor of love of others to the entire world. Long before we gave the world Albert Einstein and Arthur Rubenstein, we gave it “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Granted, we did not quite manage to make it a reality, but the idea itself was, and still is, so novel, so unlike human nature, that to this day it seems undoable.

Still, the world will not leave us in peace until we begin to implement this very legacy we had left to humanity. Indeed, it makes perfect sense to demand that the progenitors of this sublime idea be the first to implement it.

The more the world becomes divided and hostile, the more it needs its opposite – love of others. The more people hate each other, the more they will demand that we love each other, and they will hate us for not doing so and setting an example for the world to follow.

In the near future, numerous celebrities, pundits, and politicians will declare their disapproval of Israel. They will not justify our existence as a sovereign state unless we justify it by setting an example of unity. Nothing else will satisfy them; nothing else will appease their hatred.

For more on this, see my publication The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.
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