A high-profile Manhattan event about a book on Judaism turned into a lively and sometimes candid exchange about Jewish identity and the authentic causes of antisemitism.
The packed event at the Safra Center last Wednesday was intended as a celebration of the 20th anniversary edition of the book A Letter in the Scroll by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, zt”l, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. The VIP panel included former deputy prime minister of Israel Natan Sharansky, who currently serves as chairman for the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), and Israel’s current special envoy for combating antisemitism Michael Cotler-Wunsh.
Never Alone
In one of the most striking moments of the night, Sharansky called upon Jews to embrace Judaism in the face of antisemitism and other challenges. Jews who have replaced Judaism with social justice causes are upset, Sharansky explained, because after October 7, they were abandoned by people and organizations they thought were allies.
“When Jews in America, and not only in America, decided that they don’t need Judaism – they have Tikkun Olam, they have human rights – that is their religion and they have so many allies. When your only religion is human rights, you’ll be alone,” Sharansky said. In contrast, “the moment you embrace your Jewish identity, you’ll never be alone.”
When asked by The Jewish Press about the role of Torah in fighting antisemitism, Sharansky, a former head of the Jewish Agency, pointed to spiritual causes rarely cited in public discourse. “We Jews are fighting G-d, fighting one another so of course we have antisemitism,” he said.
“Antisemitism is a very big threat, and one of the reasons why it’s relatively successful is because Jews are hiding from their own truth,” he continued. “Be a proud Jew, a proud Zionist. And the more we do it in public, the less space we leave to antisemitism.”
Credit: Aryeh Werth / The Jewish Press
When asked the same question in an interview by The Jewish Press, Israel’s antisemitism envoy Cotler-Wunsh also stressed the importance of turning to Judaism – an uncommon response by an Israeli government official.
“Without remembering our past, we certainly cannot combat antisemitism and cannot continue into our future to make that connection that Rabbi Sacks’s book alludes to as a letter in the scroll,” she said. “And in many ways, without that, we can’t reclaim the covenant, including the covenant that is so clearly articulated in the Torah that kept us together as a people for thousands of years. And renewing that covenant enables us to take it forward for thousands of years.”
“I am a Jew because only if I remain a Jew will the story of a hundred generations live on in me,” Rabbi Sacks wrote in the book. This concept of Jewish continuity and perseverance was an ongoing theme throughout the evening.
‘Tsunami of Antisemitism’
The panel was dismayed at the extent of anti-Israel and antisemitic reactions since the Hamas attack, including on U.S. college campuses.
“What has been the most overwhelming piece of my exchanges and interactions with young Jews,” Cotler-Wunsh told the audience, “is to try to make it accessible how it can be that in response to the worst attack of Jews since the Holocaust – fueled by antisemitic hate that burned, raped, mutilated, massacred, and abducted hundreds on October 7th – what we have witnessed is a tsunami of antisemitism.”
Statistics confirm a surge. The Anti-Defamation League reported nearly 9,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. during 2023, a140% increase compared to 2022. Most of the surge occurred after October 7. European countries also reported significant increases in antisemitic incidents during this period.
Speaking to The Jewish Press about possible solutions, Cotler-Wunsh emphasized the importance of organizations using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism which has been adopted by more than 40 nations and over 1,200 entities. “We begin and end there. Without identifying something, you cannot combat it, and without defining it, you cannot identify it,” she said. “We will not be able to combat this strain of antisemitism that is anti-Zionism without the IHRA. So that is the key.”
In addition to the anti-Israel protests on campuses, Sharansky said he was “shocked” at how “easily American public opinion, a big part of it, is not our ally in this.” And according to Cotler-Wunsh, “the responses to October 7 were an indication [of] a collapse of morality.”
“If you could not unconditionally condemn, unequivocally, without a ‘but’ at the end of the sentence, what happened on October 7, that’s not progress – that’s regress,” she said.
‘Hineni’
Despite all the problems, the panel highlighted a couple of positive developments. An American Jewish Committee survey cited by Sharansky found that 47% of Jews surveyed reported feeling closer to their Jewish identity since October 7 (including 17% attending synagogue or synagogue events).
An awakening is also occurring among many Jews around the world regarding support of Israel, as evidenced by how many traveled to the country as reservists and volunteers after the attack.
“One hundred and forty percent of the people called up on October 7 showed up. That’s an incredible statistic. That’s unbelievable. They came from all over the world,” Cotler-Wunsh said. “And that is the most important notion of ‘hineni,’” she said, referring to the Hebrew word meaning “here I am” that is used in the Torah to refer to a person being ready to do G-d’s will.
“If this is not going to wake us up, I don’t know what will,” she said.
