My home is not typically a social hub, as I am known to share my opinions as readily and as fiercely in private as I do in this space. The one time that my house was a gathering spot was when we hosted Israeli shinshinim (young adults on a service year) about four years ago. Much to my surprise, this cadre of young people found our basement to be an ideal venue to use as their lounge.
Their closeness to our family was such that one afternoon they all came to my son’s football game at George Washington High School and made themselves into a vocal cheering section. From the first snap, they screamed his name and shouted his praise.
Their exuberance drew curious looks since my son had been a decoy on that play and had done exactly nothing except stand in his position on the far side of the field.
They did not understand American football. Not even a little. They did understand, however, the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
Since they left our home, those shinshinim and the other young people we hosted over the years went off to war. When I worried about them on Oct. 7, and when I think about them since, I am keenly aware of the role inversion that has taken place.
It was our responsibility as their elders to care for them and to protect them, both here and in Israel. We failed to do that. They were then tasked with caring for and protecting us, which they have done with extraordinary devotion, courage and honor. Anything other than an expression of gratitude to them for their service to us is an insult I take personally.
“Not in our name.”
That phrase gets used and re-used in public declarations by people who wrap themselves in a veneer of Jewishness to benightedly condemn Israelis for defending the lives of Jews.
It has happened time and again, most recently in a post-ceasefire letter from Jews Demand Action, a morally questionable subset of the Jewish community that embraces calumnious narratives about Israeli actions in Gaza. As always, without citing a single principle of Jewish tradition or law, they declare: “Not in the name of our heritage, our faith, or our moral tradition.”
My voice might not be as loud as the B-list celebrities like Wallace Shawn (Vizzini from “The Princess Bride”) who signed on to this screed, but I will tell you that you should echo as loudly as you can the same thing that I now declare, “Yes! In My Name!”
In my name, children went out to protect and save Jewish lives.
In my name, they went to seek recompense and justice for the murders of over 1,000 Jews.
In my name they fought to find, rescue and return hostages.
In my name, they preserve an island of Jewish self-determination in a sea of exclusion, condemnation and mortal threats from nations, celebrities and bloodthirsty mobs.
In my name, and in yours, they put themselves at mortal risk and some have given their lives.
Those who dare to say “not in my name” have despicably turned their back on the Jewish people while slandering us as they do so.
Genocide.” The Washington Post published a poll in which it claims 39% of Jewish respondents said that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. I’ll say from the start that I think this poll is, at best, flawed; at worst, a nefarious attempt by the Post to legitimize continuing to publish baseless allegations of genocide under the cover of saying that Jews believe it too.
The poll question itself is leading by reading to the respondent the UN definition of genocide before asking, “Do you think Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza?”
By asking if “Israel” committed genocide, the question eliminates the humanity of the Israeli people and tricks the respondent into thinking they are condemning something other than human beings.
Genocides are not waged by countries, they are waged by people. It was individuals who shot Jews by pits in the forest and drove them into gas chambers. It was individuals who wielded axes and hacked to death their neighbors in Rwanda. It was individuals who murdered Muslims in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Their leaders give the orders, but it is the abandonment of humanity by individuals that gives rise to genocide.
If the question asked, “On Oct. 7, Palestinian individuals invaded Israel, slaughtered Jews, sometimes killing parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents, and kidnapped even babies with their mother. Given that, do you think Israelis fighting in self-defense are committing genocide?”
If the question realistically apprehended the origin and nature of the conflict and made it about the individual actions of Palestinians versus Israelis, would 39% of the respondents still have said “yes?”
If they would have, there is a deep moral problem among American Jews that transcends this conflict.
Over the last two years, far too many rabbis, celebrities and so-called “Jewish leaders” have been willing to condemn “Israel” for its actions in Gaza. They pretend that praying for the welfare of Gaza or accusing Israelis of participating in war crimes makes them morally superior when, in fact, the rising tide of anti-Jewish mobs sees them as useful idiots whose embrace of specious narratives serves as justification for hating Jews.
To them I say that the reward for your self-righteousness is the proliferation of “not in my name” and those who would answer “yes” to scurrilous allegations of genocide.
Far from strengthening the moral fiber of the Jewish people, you undermined it to such an extent that if the poll could be believed, a large portion of Jews now believe the fiction of the enemy.
My rebuke to these slanderers is to say again, as you should too, loudly and clearly:
“Yes, In My Name” the children of Israel fought righteously for me, with courage and honor.