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"In Order to Repair the World, First and Foremost You Must Love Yourself and Your Family"
(Makor Rishon-Israel Hayom) Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch interviewed by Avital Indig - Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, spoke at a conference last month of hundreds of rabbis, presidents of Jewish communities, cantors and educators of the Reform Movement. He leveled strong criticism against those antizionist members of the movement who like to quote the biblical verse which has become the motto of Reform Jews, "Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof" "Justice, justice you shall pursue," accusing them of conveniently forgetting the rest of the verse: "that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving to you." He concluded that rabbis adhering to antizionist stances should not be allowed to take the pulpit and lead any communities. "Although, according to the polls, the antizionists make up only 15% of the North American Jewish community, they do exert tremendous influence on the public discourse in the U.S. It is an extremely raucous group which is engaged in an effort to legitimize our most tangible enemies." "Some 80 to 85% are in the pro-Israel camp, the large majority of whom define themselves as Zionists and many of them regard Israel as an important part of their Jewish identity....I staunchly draw my red line at antizionism." "I think that in the past we have placed too much emphasis on the Jewish aspect of the love of one's fellow man, on the universal dreams of Judaism....I fully understand why we chose to do this, and to a certain extent rightly so....On the other hand, Jewish universalism that is not deeply rooted in the love of one's fellow Jew and the Jewish people as a whole is not Jewish universalism, it is simply universalism." "The combination of these aspects is the real genius of Judaism and one of our most important contributions to the world as a whole. The understanding that in order to repair the world, first and foremost you must love yourself and your family." "Oct. 7 and all that came in its wake was a real surprise for us. But I am not sure that the massacre created any new form of antisemitism; it simply provided the existing antisemites with the permission and authority to step out of the shadows....I think that this immediate outburst is connected to...Hamas's success in hurting us. It led to euphoria among antisemites around the world and for the first time they thought that they might actually be able to bring those Jews to their knees. It...encouraged them to take action."