Jewish Identity and Our American Moment
The commentary explores Jewish identity through the narratives of Abraham and Isaac, emphasizing the dual role of Jews as strangers and neighbors in society, particularly in the context of American history and current challenges.
meirsoloveichik.comSince ancient times, in every place they have ever lived, Jews have represented the frightening prospect of freedom. As long as Jews existed in any society, there was evidence that it in fact wasn’t necessary to believe what everyone else believed, that those who disagreed with their neighbors could survive and even flourish against all odds. The J
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Converts excepted, Jews do not become Jews. They are Jews by birth. Jewish identity, then, is not only a faith, but a fate. It is not an identity we assume, but one into which we are born.
Jews began to see themselves not as the people loved by God but rather as the people hated by gentiles.
it argues that there is one God and many faiths—and only one world in which to live together in peace. That means that for Judaism the great spiritual challenge is not so much finding God within oneself as finding God within the other, the stranger.