Some people chose to present Knesset member and Reform rabbi Gilad Kariv as Gilad 'bar mitzvah for dogs' Kariv, with Palestinian flags, pigs and bacon shown alongside him. All this just two days before Tisha B’Av.
I am putting aside for a moment Kariv’s political views and his parliamentary work, because the issue is not really the Knesset member. And this cartoon is not merely tasteless or sharp criticism. It is a quiet declaration that Jews who are not Orthodox should be treated with contempt. Yes, the same people who created this video will probably sit on the floor and cry over baseless hatred on Tisha B’Av, but in practice, they are producing total demonization of a Jew who does not behave exactly like them.
Knesset member and Reform rabbi Gilad Kariv
In recent years, Israelis have been shocked by the plunge in support from American Jewry in particular, and from U.S. citizens in general. That decline does raise serious concerns. True, large parts of it have nothing to do with Israel at all.
But let us talk about the part that is within our control: Most American Jews are Reform or Conservative. The military equipment that landed in Israel? Most of it was most likely funded by Reform or Conservative money. The solidarity delegations, the FIDF, the donations to buildings, organizations and volunteer initiatives. An enormous amount of kindness and resources invested in Israel comes from enthusiastic Zionist Jews who define themselves as Reform or Conservative. When Smotrich or Rothman march in the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York, many of those marching beside them are non-Orthodox Zionist Jews. How convenient to forget that there, how easy to smear them here.
Put simply, this is ingratitude. It is ingratitude because we expect world Jewry to understand us and support us all the way, while significant parts of Israeli society continue to despise them and deny their Jewish identity. An identity they devote their lives to preserving and work day and night to maintain. Without government support, in a world that is becoming more dangerous by the moment, and with temptations all around that pose an almost impossible challenge.
This is baseless hatred in the simplest sense of the word: Jews who are more occupied with smearing and denying the identity of another Jew than with joining forces against an existential danger. And the existential danger is more serious than is comfortable to think.
Oz Bin NunRapid technological progress, an unstable world that is becoming more aggressive by the day and a huge wave of delegitimization on a scale we have not seen before. A decline in the power of American Jews, internal struggles within the communities, the collapse of the relationship between American Jewry and Israel and the collapse of cooperation among Israelis themselves. All these create a real danger to our people’s ability to cope with the challenges that continue to pile up.
And here is the hardest truth: The fate of the Jewish people depends on its two most successful projects: building the Land of Israel and the flourishing of American Jewry. If one of these important projects collapses, the fate of the entire people will be in danger.
So here is something for you to think about on Tisha B’Av: Do not mourn only theoretical baseless hatred and the destruction of the First or Second Temple. Ask yourselves what you think is leading to the third destruction, and decide to do everything to prevent it.