The Challenge of Immigrating, the Challenge of Immigration
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian immigrants are coming these days to Israel, posing a serious challenge to the country. On the one hand, they are refugees seeking asylum from a brutal war. On the other hand, Israel is not like any other country, and people who come here must be ready and willing to take on the task of being Israelis, or their absorption will be unsuccessful and they will resent the country that gave them a haven. Being Israeli in the full sense of the word is a great challenge, and teaching people to be a part of the people of Israel is a challenge for the state. But only if both are achieved will the refugees become Israelis and will be happy in their new home.
The State of Israel will flourish and be safe only when its people unite. Just as terror does not distinguish between nations and cultures, Israelis should not make distinctions, but anyone who lives here should have one single ideology: unity above differences.
In the terrorist attack on Tuesday evening in the orthodox city of Bnei Brak, two of the five victims were Ukrainians who came to Israel before the war to work. Another victim was an Arab Israeli police officer who confronted one of the terrorists and was shot in the chest before firing back and killing the assailant.
Terror does not distinguish between nationalities or faiths, and in many ways, this is the essence of living in Israel. It is a land that demands certain traits from its residents. For those who possess them, it is “a good and spacious land … flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8). For those who do not possess the required traits, Israel becomes “a land that devours its inhabitants” (Num. 13:32).
At the moment, the people who are living in Israel do not constitute a nation. They are defined as Israelis, at least the Jewish residents feel as Israelis, but their definition of what it means to be an Israeli varies greatly. Division is everywhere, mutual contempt is the norm, and the country is on its way to internal breakdown. In such a setting, adding Ukrainians to the clutter will only exacerbate the problems.
But any challenge is also an opportunity. If we rise to the challenge and launch a national program for enhancing unity and solidarity in the nation, the lemon will become a sweet lemonade. If we do not, it will become a very sour lime.
Solidarity pertains not only to newcomers from Ukraine. It has been a problem since the establishment of Israel. Like the original Israeli people, today’s Israelis come from all the cultures in the world. They immigrated to Israel from different lifestyles, standards of living, customs, traditions, and levels of education. But unlike our ancestors, who chose to become Jewish, from the Hebrew word Yehudi, meaning united, the immigrants who formed present-day Israel, especially after its official establishment in 1948, fled here from persecution or financial hardships, to improve their personal security and financial situation, and not in order to reunite the nation.
There have been exceptions, of course, and Zionist movements had a clear ideology of rebuilding a Jewish home specifically in the Biblical land of Israel, but especially after the establishment of the State of Israel, and to an extent, even before, ideology was not the key factor in deciding to immigrate to Israel, if at all.
Yet, even back then, when Zionism was the motivation, unity of the entire nation, above all differences, was not the goal. The lack of this aspiration has been the Achilles' heel of Israel since the beginning of the Zionist movement.
The State of Israel will flourish and be safe only when its people unite. Just as terror does not distinguish between nations and cultures, Israelis should not make distinctions, but anyone who lives here should have one single ideology: unity above differences.
Unity does not mean sameness. On the contrary, when different people unite and form a tight bond, their unity becomes much stronger than that of similar people. The effort they had had to exert in order to build their union makes it that much stronger than those who feel natural affinity toward each other.
While the founders of the state did not succeed in forging unity within the nation, they were keenly aware of its vitality to our success. A notable example of this was David Ben Gurion, leader of the Jewish community in Israel before the establishment of Israel, and the country’s first Prime Minister. Ben Gurion wrote, “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the supreme commandment of Judaism. With these three words [the length of the sentence in Hebrew], 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 three eternal words.”
Until today, we have not been able to live by these three eternal words. Perhaps the challenge that the Ukrainian refugees pose to the State of Israel will trigger a sincere attempt to forge that badly needed union.
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Times That Call for a Tough Hand
There is a tense atmosphere in Israel these days. Within a week, a total of 11 people have been killed in terrorist attacks perpetrated either by Israeli Arabs or by Palestinians who entered Israel illegally. There is no question that we should not let fear overwhelm and disrupt our lives, but at the same time it is obvious that there is panic in Israeli society. The recent attacks inspired by the tactics of ISIS have proven that such acts can happen anywhere and at any time.
Any city in the world that has been affected by terrorism can relate to the sense of panic and anxiety that permeates every street, every inch of entire neighborhoods. Fear, mistrust, anger and sorrow are all feelings that describe the current state of mind of Israelis who feel that their right to live a normal life has been taken away from them.
Our sages wrote, "He who comes to kill you, kill him first" (Midrash Rabbah, 21:4) and "If one comes to kill you, kill him first" (Midrash Tanchuma, Pinhas, Chapter 3). This ancient law also applies to those who protect themselves or others from an existential threat. It aims at saving lives from those who deliberately want to kill us or others.
The terrorists today are not afraid of anything; even their own death is no deterrent. They know that if they succeed in inflicting harm, they will be hailed as heroes in their hometowns, their pictures will adorn squares, and candies will be distributed in the streets where they lived to celebrate the murders they have committed. We have seen this many times in previous attacks. On top of that, the murderer's family will receive generous financial compensation from those who support terrorism. And in the event that the terrorist survives and goes to prison, he or she will find better conditions there than some of them had at home.
Even if we covered every street and every neighborhood with security personnel, we would not be able to eliminate the threat and the fear that plagues us. However, if we begin to respond with an iron fist to those who seek to kill us, as we are commanded to do, we could effectively combat terror. If, on the other hand, we continue to cringe, the circle of terror will widen, and we will keep witnessing violent and extreme events that befall us, and will again and again face the heartbreaking images of orphans and widows.
We are in a constant struggle for our safety here in Israel. From attack to attack, we feel shock waves that force us to question ourselves: Why should I live this way, for what purpose? If not here, where could I live?
If we assess our situation correctly, we will eventually arrive at the simplest truth: Our external foes can only be neutralized by our internal unity. Our existence depends on how much we support and help each other. We must build a society that lives in mutual guarantee over our differences, because “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18) is the great rule of the Torah. If we lived according to it, all people would feel a positive enlightenment emanating from the Jewish people, and thanks to it, the rest of humanity would also come closer to the realization of this rule.
If we implement this principle and unite with each other like members of a close-knit family, no one will be able to harm us. Thus, internal solidarity and cohesion are the true and lasting defenses against our enemies.
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Taking the Fear Where It Should Go
At such times, when people are afraid to walk out of the house, to go to work, or to take the kids to school, we should remember that there is a purpose for the fear: to bind us all together. If we direct our fear toward unity, it will vanish along with its cause.
While we must do all that we can to protect ourselves and our families on the military level, we must work equally hard on our unity, as the lack of it is the root cause of our problems. When we achieve this, we will bring lasting peace to ourselves, and to the entire world, which is, as Rav Kook said, “crumbled by the dreadful storms of blood-filled swords.”
It may not feel this way, certainly not in times of strife and terror, but humanity is one entity. Our ancestors, led by Abraham, felt it and formed a nation that accepted into its midst anyone who subscribed to the principle of unity and love above all differences and hatred. King Solomon canonized this principle in the verse (Proverbs, 10:12), “Hate stirs strife, and love will cover all crimes.”
Indeed, unity had been our primary tenet from the very beginning. We were pronounced a nation only after we agreed to unite “as one man with one heart.” Immediately thereafter, we were tasked with setting an example of unity to the rest of the world, namely with being “a light unto nations.”
Because of our unique calling, our success or failure has always depended on our unity or lack thereof. Our sages throughout the ages have repeatedly stressed this point. The book Maor VaShemesh asserts, “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come over them. … [If] there is bonding among them, and no separation of hearts, they have peace and quiet … and all the curses and suffering are removed by that [unity].” The book Maor Eynaim echoes these words: “When one includes oneself with all of Israel and unity is made … at that time, no harm shall come to you,” as does the book Shem MiShmuel: “When [Israel] are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”
Unity is not only for our defense, it is our mission to set an example of unity to the world, and the only time when the nations of the world accept us in their midst. During World War I, Rav Kook felt compelled to outline the connection between the world’s troubles and Israel’s unity. In his book, Orot (Lights), he wrote, “The construction of the world, which is currently crumbled by the dreadful storms of a blood-filled sword, requires the construction of the Israeli nation. The construction of the nation and the revealing of its spirit are one and the same, and it is one with the construction of the world, which is crumbling in anticipation for a force full of unity and sublimity, and all that is in the soul of Israel.”
Therefore, while we must do all that we can to protect ourselves and our families on the military level, we must work equally hard on our unity, as the lack of it is the root cause of our problems. When we achieve this, we will bring lasting peace to ourselves, and to the entire world, which is, as Rav Kook said, “crumbled by the dreadful storms of blood-filled swords.”
You will find more on the connection between Jewish unity and peace in my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.