Whoever Is For The Lord, Come to Me

Like so many others, I was shocked to read that roughly 20% of Jewish New Yorkers are supporting NY mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdan, an openly anti-Israel (and yes, therefore anti-Jewish) candidate. I said it because everyone else is afraid to.

Now, layer that onto a backdrop of prominent Jews who are anything but friends of the State of Israel. But don’t take my word for it.

Whether it’s George Soros, the billionaire who donated over $100 million to the notoriously anti-Israel Human Rights Watch, or Bernie Sanders, who pals around with AOC (a proud member of “The Squad,” whom even Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban once called “a self-hating Jew and an Israel hater”), or Shaul Magid, the counter-Zionist recently appointed professor of modern Jewish studies at Harvard, it all paints a very troubling picture.

How can Jews support our enemies?

Obviously, in their minds, they believe they are doing the right thing. Just like the 50% of Jews who voted for Kamala Harris, they’re convinced they’re on the right side of history. I can understand that intellectually. What I’m grappling with, however, is not hating my fellow Jews.

But are they even our “fellow Jews”?

Their actions often resemble those of enemies, not family. Not friends. And certainly not brothers.

Every time Bernie Sanders votes against providing arms and aid to Israel, he is effectively hampering our IDF soldiers’ ability to win, and end, this conflict. His actions are reprehensible, appalling, and downright nauseating. And for the 20% of Jews, along with many Reform rabbis, who proudly endorse a Muslim antisemite who doesn’t even recognize the State of Israel, I say: shame on every single one of you.

A few months ago, Ben Shapiro said something bold: at a certain point, Jews who oppose the most fundamental elements of Jewish identity, Torah, tradition, love for Israel and fellow Jews, essentially opt out of the Jewish people. Their actions reveal that they no longer identify with the best interests of Klal Yisrael.

I called several rabbis to ask for their opinions. At one extreme, some said that no matter what a Jew does, he’s always part of the club and must be loved unconditionally.

I struggle with that.

Sometimes, a brother can do something so destructive, so dishonest, so disloyal, that he is pushed out of the family. Stealing, lying, backstabbing, or supporting those who wish to destroy your family is inexcusable.

As one of my esteemed rabbis put it: “Anyone who supports those who want to harm Jewish lives is a rasha. Plain and simple.”

Longtime journalist Michael Goodwin recently wrote: “The refusal of so many on the left to back Israel is all the more absurd when you remember that Iran pledges to destroy Israel, and then go after the United States.”

A nameless blogger posted:

“The Democratic Jews who don’t support the IDF… who promote woke, anti-Torah values… who hate Trump and love Kamala… who took part in the ‘No Kings’ protests while our homeland burns and Iran fires ballistic missiles at innocent Jews… these actions say everything. You don’t belong to our nation, you abandoned us long ago. The word traitor is too kind.”

Painful words. But true.

Ask yourself: if you were in a war against terrorists, who would you want by your side?

The Jew actively preventing you from defending yourself, while marching in solidarity with “Free Palestine”? Or the devout Christian who genuinely wants Israel to endure?

Honestly, I’m having a hard time distinguishing between some of today’s Jewish leaders and the kapos who turned Jews over to the Nazis. People like Norman Finkelstein, who walk around as shameful ambassadors of Jewish self-hate.

After the sin of the cheit ha’eigel, the Torah says (Shemos 32:26):

“Then Moshe stood in the gate of the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for Hashem, come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered to him.”

He was drawing a line in the sand. Enough is enough. You are either with us, or against us.

Today, we share a common enemy that wants to destroy us. You are either for the State of Israel, for the IDF, for Torah values, for the safety and dignity of your fellow Jews, or you are not.

That includes everyone from Israeli professors taking Ivy League blood money to spew anti-Israel propaganda… to twisted politicians like Chuck Schumer, who consistently vote against Israel’s best interests.

The line has been drawn.