Chayei Sarah 2018

This past Shabbat, the Jewish community experienced the largest killing of Jews on American soil; murdered because they were Jews. We know well from Jewish history that whether or not we see ourselves as one, those who want to kill us certainly do. If we fight among ourselves, reject each other as illegitimate, or demonize other groups of Jews instead of assuming they are working hard to do what they understand to be God's will, we will be one for persecution in the eyes of those who wish to destroy us. Haman knew this well as he argued for the extermination of our people with these words: "There is one people, spread out and divided..." (Esther 3:8).
The rabbis, of blessed memory, are clear that our exile and our persecution is a function of sinah, of our hatred toward other Jews. We must fight back against antisemitism by loving each other as one Jewish family. Jewish unity is the spiritual tikun, the repair, for persecution. Jewish unity, and love for each other, is the mechanism which reorients the fabric of the universe into one that is redemptive instead of exilic, and undermines the hatred of those who would destroy us.
Instead of worrying about antisemitism or shaking our heads in sterile despondency, let us fight antisemitism by redoubling our efforts to judge all our brethren favorably and to love them as our family, for indeed they are.