Light to Unite | The Unification of American Jewry | CHAZAQ

[Music] good evening everybody Welcome to our light to unite pre-recorded college and university session of our entire program I'm happy to welcome Rabbi Deon MTZ of the Executive Vice President of Oli an amazing organization Yehuda Farber a director of twit links in Lakewood New Jersey which is the Outreach for BMG for all of their kirev movement and a very special guest of shabas castom who is a very unique Jewish Harvard student who's an activist fighting anti-Semitism on campus and taking on Harvard a major lawsuit to go after them regarding all the anti-Semitism that's been taking on uh this is an amazing group of people and this area of college and universities is really where right now it's the biggest stress for the Jewish people in the United States uh it's the most violent and this is one of the areas that we're addressing and uh we hope it touch moves inspires you to support our college students and their families thank you enjoy the event okay my name is David marwitz I am the Executive Vice President of vision and Partnerships at Oli uh Oli is working across the world in 30 countries but in North America in particular on a 100 campuses servicing tens of thousands of students and since October 7th we were surprised and we're surprised many times the first surprise was obviously October 7th the whole world was surprised the Jewish people were devastated soon after that where we thought that the world would come together unite behind the Jewish people and everything that befell us we were surprised how could it be that people were coming out against the Jewish people on what basis why are Jewish kids on campus facing anti-Semitism at a moment when they most expected to be supported and so people were surprised yet again and then only a few months later things seemed to quiet down and maybe it would pass and maybe it was a moment yet a blip on the screen and then just around PES time we were surprised yet again an encampment started they started taking over buildings and threatening language and assaults and attacks and 40 people were hospitalized in UCL in one night what was going on why do we keep getting surprised and this is a question that we have to keep asking ourselves particularly now a critical moment as we stand right before October 7th yet again right before rashash Shana Yom Kipper and sukot the holidays the holiday season a season where last year we were celebrating and dancing together only to then follow with a year of tragedy and so much challenge that we've been facing and continue to face and so we have to think now in this moment this is a moment when we have to take a pause and say are we going to be surprised yet again we can't somehow we have to learn the lessons not of history of of thousands of years ago of course we always say we should learn the lessons of history of thousands of years ago but let's at least learn the Les the lessons of history from this year there are so many lessons so many moments of surprise that cause us to pause and think wait a second what what's going on over here what did we miss what do we continuously Miss in the story and as we look back and we think about where were the Great Moments in the year where were the moments that we felt strength we felt support we felt happiness we felt Joy amidst all of the challenges and those were clearly the moments when we came together and while it's true that right after October 7th there was so much anti-Semitism there was a brief window right in the middle if you remember a brief window but there was a really important window right after October 7th when so many Jews showed up so many people showed up for vigils and crying and praying people that we've never seen on campus before were showing up on campuses in hundreds thousands to be together in that moment we felt strength we felt support amidst all of that pain and then the language that song of Started to emerge from Israel together we will win together we will prevail and there was this energy people felt that yes we are going to come together we are going to succeed the Jewish people will continue to live on and be strong somehow that narrative started to fade away you don't you didn't hear it as much and all of a sudden encampments and they're coming out against us yet again how could it be and consistently consistently throughout all the generations of the Jewish people the secret to our survival and our success has been to come together when we unite we spread the light in the whole world and the world understands respects and celebrates the Jewish people's Unity it was our Unity at sin when we came together as one people in one heart it was our unity in the story of PM when we came together and we recognized that this was our moment it was our Unity around October 7th that helps us to get through that pain and suffering and it's our Unity that we need now more than ever we cannot wait until the next tragedy God forbid it should never come to wake us up yet again to be United it is our responsibility to stand up against this hate and so as we reflect on the last year and we think about what was happening on the campuses we think about students from Colombia who were pinned up against the wall a young man Noah who says that he was surrounded by an angry mob of 50 anti-israel anti-semitic protesters and they held one of them held his head against the wall and he thought I am about to be stabbed I'm going to be killed my parents are going to find me dead in the news or another young man Eli in Colombia who said he was chased off of Campus by 500 angry protesters scared for his life in Columbia University but it's not only in the the famous campuses of Harvard and Colombia and Penn that faced such rabid anti-Semitism it was all across the United States and so as we look into this next year so many people expected you know we're coming into the fall semester and all the encampments are going to start again and yet again look at that we're surprised no encampments maybe it went away maybe anti-Semitism won't show its head anymore and now we could just go back to being the regular people that we wanted to be but this is our moment this is the most important moment when we need to stand shoulder toosh shoulder people together uniting the light and spreading that light to the whole world we have to think about what this new year is going to be it's a moment of judgment yes we have rashash as a day of judgment but the real judgment is are we together in this when the people are looking at us they're asking the question are you guys for real are you are you guys serious about this whole Jewish people think is this who you really are one people with one heart or okay yeah you want to be in a land occupy who are you for real and this is a moment we have to dig deep we have to ask ourselves that inner question do we see each other as one family one people United together look to the person to your right and to your left person a little bit different and ask yourself can I get together with that person can I build my relationship a little closer can we spread some light together put our candles together not just me lighting a candle and you lighting a candle but when we put our candles together we form a torch we create cre something that is so much brighter it's the distinction of the beginning of Shabbat to the end when we start Shabbat with two individual separate candles and by the end of Shabbat we come together at havdalah with one torch some synthesis has happened we go through an experience and now we come out with something so much brighter so much stronger and so in the face of the greatest anti-Semitism that we've seen in our generation after what we heard from our grandparents generation of the Holocaust let this be the end to that story and the beginning to a new Beautiful chapter a year that brings the unity of the Jewish people in all of its Glory this evening Jews all around the world are coming together to light a candle step up and join us be part of spreading this light around the world it should be somewhere around 8:00 pm just where you are as this is broadcast around the world so join us each person around 8:00 p.m. in their local and light a candle not just you find a family member a friend do it together light more candles spread the light spread more light than we ever could have imagined because now more than ever we need to dispel the darkness and the way we do that is by lighting together join us and light to unite thank you so much to kazak and to my fellow panelists and to all the uh co-sponsors of this really fantastic the light to unite project um well what not sounds corny but kazak keep on doing amazing things have the privilege to work for Toro links which is a cure of organization based in Lakewood um doing this for about 25 years and um seen a lot seen a lot in the terms of Cur of Outreach and had the opportunity to go ahead and really observe the comings and going of the of the Jewish community and what I could say is that you know from from my little small snapshot of 25 years we're facing when I say we I don't I this is not just total links as an organization but and it's not just the C of world but I believe the entire Jewish Community is really facing something that isn't we're in an unprecedented time and unprecedented you can go back we certainly can go back to the United States at the community the American Jewish Community postwar you may even go back beyond that but let's focus on the post-war Community I was privileged to be born in the early 70s parents and Grandparents were survivors but you know you're talking about Grandparents parents myself my kids my an I've seen five generations of American Jews and frankly this is the first time since I'm around and since anything I've heard from my parents and my grandparents that we're actually experiencing real real anti-Semitism you know for Jewish communities throughout the world particularly in Europe This Night this may not be as big a paradigm shift but in America I mean let's be honest even as a as an ffb as somebody who was raised to be from and went to Yesa my whole life but I was an American can get very similar to Richie Machado and JP who were were salvator were my neighbors in the in in Midwood and flaish felt very very very much at home and I remember older European Jews who talked about anti-Semitism and as much as we believed and as much as we understand basically that that's a reality but we really kind of thought like this was it like we we had seen the worst and eventually we're just going to sail into mhia and unfortunately for whatever reason we don't know what the what is plan is what the reason is but now it's real now we're actually going ahead and seeing anti-i ISM and it's an anti-Semitism that is clearly unsettling the American Jewish population like nothing I think any of us have seen before for so many Jews again for us that those of us that are privileged to be ffb and have lived somewhat sheltered lives so in as much as we're engaged in the American Jewish scene but we still have our shoil Yas so it may not be as jarring but what if you're from Jew what if you're somebody who doesn't really you know you you have very little Jewish Identity or your Jewish identity is Gila fish or being Bagel or Israel whatever that means but for all practical purposes you really view yourself as just an American like everybody else who happens to have this thing called being a Jew and now all of a sudden particularly in the more Elite parts of our society which is we American jwy gravitates we're highly educated on the for the most part highly successful and all of a sudden it's particularly in the more in the higher level of society where we are we where we are experiencing the most anti-Semitism and for an American Jew that is really jarring it is really something that I've seen in the last 10 11 months whatever it is since October 7th like nothing I've ever seen I've seen moms drop come drive up the Torah links to bring the college age young men for a summer program here women who would clearly have never allowed their children to come to a cur program you know if they think we have horns and I don't blame them we're the Taliban all right so they can't relate to us but yet I would see Mom after Mom who would very a little suspicious a little weary would drive up see that we're friendly and I would see what ultimately they would tell us pretty much straight up why would they be depositing their their son with us for a for six to seven to eight weeks and it was always the same thing it's because they experienced so much hatred and they are so they're such outcasts in many years they have to hide their Judaism and they have to make believe did not choose they know one thing here they're G to find love they're G to find warmth they're going to be embraced and I it's it's unbelievable I some somebody one of my students used this term and I think it's a talk about a paradigm shift you know many of us when you hear the term a safe space so a safe space you know it alludes to many interesting connotations certainly those that are of the on the political right don't exactly look at a safe space as as something that you know of of substance here all of sudden I have students secular students non-religious students who are coming into our community and saying this is a safe space you know when a when a young man or a young woman or an older man or an older woman but if a Jew comes into a from Community they're safe and they're warm and they're loved and I don't know if that's something that we fully appreciate and frankly so this is not a Torah links message this is not a kir of message I think for the first time in my life you know we talk about Jewish Unity we really have that opportunity we've always had that opportunity obviously but this is the first time that the broader Jewish Community really wants it and needs it and frankly if we as Torah Jews would really understand that we could bring Messiah tomorrow and I know it sounds cliche and it sounds like you know lofty and I'm not some calist saying it's from from esoteric terms that's always true obviously but if you really you know you you you constantly you think but how we really going to bring everybody together how are we going to take millions and millions of Jews who have been sold disen franchise from each other and so distant have so little to do with each other how are we going to everever go ahead and do that are we going to need like the proverbial Eagles to go ahead and all of a sudden MH to show up in a white donkey is that the way it's going to happen maybe it will there are many sheas that that's not it's not there's nothing gonna be so if you take the out if you take the Miracles out how's it gonna happen but I think today has as as as catastrophic as October 7th was and as painful as it was and as painful as it still is to so many people to all of us but at the same time Hashem is giving us an opportunity which is just unbelievable if if we would realize it just every Jew today wants to hug another Jew that's just the bottom line and really really we all do we all realize nobody else cares about us yes there are some there aesome whove been tremendous friends to us and there always will be but we got to realize that that's the exception to the norm the reality is we are the and we are proud of it and the way for us to survive is the way we always survived we always what do we do we take them going and pointing whatever it is at us and we turn it around and we wear it with as a source of Pride you know those those Holocaust people people live through the Holocaust they took the Star of David and they turned it into a source of Pride and realize that's what every Jew wants so that's my that's my optimistic View at this somewhat scary point and unsettling point for all of us but I think the is giving us an opportunity we should be miss that each and every one of us grabs this opportunity and we can and be hasem we will hi everyone my name is shabis Casten bam I'm a proud first generation American um certainly a proud religious Jew and as I always say I'm the proud plaintiff suing Harvard University for their failure to combat anti-Semitism on on their own campus so I could really spend the next 10 minutes just giving you a laundry list of the incidents that have happened at Harvard University alone about the Jewish student who was spat on for wearing aipa the Israeli student who was asked to leave the class because her nationality made others uncomfort the staff member who challenged me to debate him as to whether Jews were behind 9911 and unfortunately the list really does go on and on but throughout the last 10 months irrespective of the incidents irrespective of the acts of anti-Semitism what has really propelled and animated my activism is the idea from the ethics of our fathers the second century Rabin text of when there is a place where there are no people strive to be a man and I certainly am striving I'm not there but my activism has been fueled by my religiosity and I don't think that had I not had that religious infusion that connection and attachment to Jewish values I would really be where where I am today so just a a quick story that sort of highlights this was I of course spoke at the Republican National Convention but to me that wasn't really the the main story the main story was what was happening behind the scenes so I was in the speaker Lounge really eating chips with Republican politicians and conservative thinkers which was certainly a interesting experience for me and all of a sudden a young woman comes up to me and says okay your speech is next you need to come with me uh we're going to go backstage and so we walk down this very long Corridor we're flanked by secret service members on our left and right and we enter into the backstage room no bigger than 200 maybe 300 feet a very very small room and there are four people in that room there's myself there's Lee zeldon who is the former Republican nominee for New York governor and there's Omar neutra's parents Omar Neutra of course is the American Jewish hostage still being held against his will in the Gaza terit tonals and I go to Omar neutra's parents and I say there's nothing I can say in fact there's nothing I can do all I want you to know is the Courage The Bravery and the inspiration you have given me on an individual level is something I will never be able to repay for the rest of my life and with that I leave the room because I begin crying and the Republicans had me in makeup and I start my speech and of all of the speeches I have given of all of the people I have met of all of the places I have been to I can assure you that not one of them holds a candle to the two-minute conversation I was privileged to have with Omar neutra's parents and it actually reminds me of another story that also happened to have happened that same day where in the morning the Republican National Convention sent a driver to pick me up from my hotel which is a pretty cool sentence and we went to the convention floor to do what was called a walkthrough so the Secret Service PS us down we rehears the speech from the teleprompter I'm told this is the stage you will ENT enter from this is the podium this is the camera to look at and my stage manager a guy by the name of Eric kept asking me do you have any questions do you have any questions and truth be told I I really didn't I did not care what my hair and makeup would look like I didn't particularly care what part of the stage I was meant to sit on or stand on but as I was leaving as I was about to enter the uh the taxi I turned around and I say Eric you know I actually do have one question can you promise me that when I give the speech the cameras will be able to see my yamaka my skull cap because irrespective of the words coming out of my mouth regardless of the substance of the speech I have two friends right now at Harvard University who stopped wearing their keepa in response to October 7th I know hundreds of Jewish students across college campuses who've stopped wearing their keas who've taken off their starve David necklaces who've ceased their involvement in the Jewish Community as a response to October 7th and I wanted more than the speech more than the words I thought it was imperative that the the Camas should see that in the 21st century not only can and should but Jews must must be wearing their Jewish Pride as loudly as publicly and as confidently than ever before and it actually reminds me when I'm not suing Harvard I actually study the Holocaust that's what I'm there to do I study how religious groups came to terms with with genocide and throughout my studies there was an individual who I've come across by the name of Abraham Johan mus Abraham Yan mus was not Jewish he was a religious leader who became a figure of the anti-war movement really before it was a movement and one night he's protesting outside of the White House and reporter comes up to him and says father must I don't really understand it's 3:00 a.m. Nixon has gone to sleep there are no counter protesters there's no media no one knows that you're here certainly no one can see see what you're doing why are you protesting you're not going to change the country and father must without missing a beat looks at this reporter and says I'm doing this not to change the country I'm doing this so the country doesn't change me so the country doesn't change me what organizations like kazak are doing especially before the Jewish New year before the day of atonement before the high holidays is reaffirming loudly publicly and confidently reaffirming our Jewish values reaffirming not only the imperative of combating anti-Semitism but what makes being Jewish what makes fighting for Jewish values so thrilling so engaging so rewarding and I can say that I am not the most religious I've certainly missed many days of toilin I am not always the most careful but I can say without question after October 7th I have never been more attached to the land of Israel I've never felt more connected to the Jewish people and I've never felt more confident to openly express my Jewish value certainly in sharp contrast to the values of our ideological adversaries and I always say that after October 7th Israel began attacking our enemies by the air by the Sea and by the land I'm 5 feet the IDF doesn't want me I can assure you but what I can do is contribute to the battle of ideas I can fight in the halls of Congress in the halls of power I can fight in Academia in the classroom in media on social media and that is a fight that each and every one of us can and should and must be waging because the reality is we are outgunned and we are outnumbered and we need your voice in whatever capacity whatever your talents are we need every member of the Jewish people to stand up and say I am Jewish I am proud to be Jewish and I am not going anywhere and as we start the high holidays as we start an intense spiritual and emotional climax of the year as we ask Hashem to make us a year very much unlike the year we just experienced but a year of unity a year of positivity a year of growth a year where we can reunite with our hostages we must first understand that the step to change and the step to Unity begins with us we must recognize the power and the talent that each and every one of us has in internally and once we can tap into that once we can be confident in our own strength will we be able to positively affect our community our people and the world so with that thank you for elevating thank you for amplifying the voices and the experiences of unfortunately all too many Jewish students across this country because we are fighting for something that we did not intend we are fighting for something we did not ask for but we are fighting nonetheless because we are so proud to be part of the Jewish people and may Hashem answer our prayers may he give us a year of health of Happiness of reunification wishing each and every one of you a Shana Tova we hope you enjoyed the university and college segment now we're moving into the pre-recorded ladies segment I'm pleased to introduce three ladies three very special ladies Robin Myerson who is the North American director for the shabas project um lady I've known for quite some time and she's just does many many things really really well and has always been a great adviser and collaborator with me our second guest CIA Wexler who was born in Israel lives in Philadelphia now and has been working with the IDF in various divisions currently working with raising funds and helping the veterans who are injured thank you very much um and our third speaker Laura Shaw Frank who's the national director um at the American Jewish committee uh who has a lot of influence in working on Jewish campuses high schools uh and has had a major effect in doing some very very interesting program and we thank all three of you for joining us this evening thank you thank you so much for having me it's an honor to be here so I want to talk a little bit about this amazing event that we're going to do light to unite there's a a mitzvah for the Jewish women to light candles and that's how we bring more good to the world and shabus of the 27th of September is a special night in the afternoon that's when we light our candles right before the sun goes down and it's a Mitzvah that we can bring more good to the world so I want to encourage everybody who's watching this to light because we want to get a million women or more why can't we get all the Jewish women of the whole world to light candles on the shabas of the 27th because that is before this beautiful event that we're going to do on September 29th where on that day we want to light another candle we want to light a yard site candle because we want to remember the people that we lost in this war that started on October 7th and why did the war start on October 7th you know we don't have all the answers but we do know that when a war starts on chabas it's because God is talking to us in fact God is always talking to us but the war started on shabas because God wants us to know that shabas is the greatest gift there are 613 Mitzvah but Shabbat is the only one that's considered a gift and why is it a gift because it protects us it refines us it makes us the best that we can possibly be and our role as women is to bring the goodness of chabas into our homes whether you're just starting starting in chabus or whether you've been doing chabas your whole life we can all work on improving our shabus there's there's actually a source that says that women today are reincarnated Souls of women from the time of mitam or Egypt that sounds so strange that we would be reincarnated Souls but if you look at today's society it actually makes a lot of sense men are doing women's work women are doing men's work it's just so strange so maybe are reincarnated Souls from that time and what can we do to fight the evil that's in the world we can bring more light into the world and we do that by lighting shabas candles I'm going to tell you a secret I actually never heard of chabas until I was in my late 20s my parents are Jewish my grandparents are Jewish but I never actually heard of shabus I thought chabas was on Sundays the first time I heard about it and I thought it was just for none how can it be how can that be that I'm Jewish and my parents are Jewish and my grandparents are Jewish but nobody ever reached out to me nobody ever explained it to me I didn't experience my first authentic chabus till I was in my early 30s and if it wasn't for someone reaching out to me showing me an authentic shabas I wouldn't have my my beautiful five children my beautiful four grandchildren it's such a gift but I'm just like the 90% of the Jewish women and men in North America who don't know about shabas so I encourage all of you who are watching this today to reach out when you light your candles on shaba September 27th and ongoing reach out to somebody who doesn't know how to light candles encourage them give them some candles encourage them to light candles in their home so we can spread the beauty of chabas it's such a gift through chabas we can actually become our best self toia mentioned that I work for the chief Rabbi of South Africa and I run shabus project North America and part of our goal with lighting candles this on shabus for the 27th leading up is because November 15th and 16th is the worldwide shabas project where we want to get every Jew in the entire world to keep shabas and it starts with the women it starts with the women going and getting some candles and lighting candles in their home and then slowly slowly learn more about chabas the chief Rabbi wrote a book called Shabbat a day to create yourself it's not a Rules book it's not a how-to book it's a book about how to become your best self and everybody who's watching this today can get the gift from the chief Rabbi they can get a copy of this book as a gift because Shabbat is a gift and when you learn this book it teaches you about how to refine yourself how to become your best self how to refine your character traits and your mindsets and through shabus that's how you become your best self and God gave us this gift so why not think about lighting the candles on the September 27th shabas and then lighting a yards side candle to honor the victims who were murdered and how do we how do we fight the evil that's in the world today because we are in a war we are in a war of good versus evil this is not about politics this is not about countries and borders this is a fight about good versus evil and the way the women bring more light and more good to the world is through lighting candles and through shabas so I'm going to show you a copy of this book everybody can get a copy as a gift from the chief Rabbi of South Africa this is the book Shabbat a day to create yourself it's a gift for everybody who wants to learn it they can learn it at home you can learn it at work you can learn it 101 you can learn it with a group it's going to refine yourself and please I implore all of you to light a candle on shabus of the 7th and reach out to your fellow JW to invite them to do the same and then to light a yard side candle for those that we lost so hello everyone uh I'm tvia Wexler I am the national development director of bohim balim uh supports IDF wounded soldiers currently we have in our centers about 62,000 wounded soldiers from previous war and unfortunately we are getting thousand more coming to receive our support and help I just want to tell you a few words about myself for the last almost three and a half decades I'm working for Israel and for the IDF and now for the IDF HED soldiers I cannot tell you what a privilege to have this Mitzvah to be for those that defend the state of Israel for those that being there fighting for us to say we have a state of Israel and if we are talking about the state of Israel so our program today talks about light and unite Israel the state of Israel is the center that unite all Jewish people from all over of the world so to have this country we have our Defenders we have our people our heroes that stand guard 247 to assure that we are we those that lives in the diaspora have a place to go have a place to call our home Israel the program that we put together light and unite is an incredible incredible to bring everybody together and understand how important these days especially these days to unite to be one to show the example to everyone that does not understand the meaning of being one and strong if we look at our past as Jewish people we can find in a different places Through the Bible through our today's days today that when we unite we succeed when do things together we have power if I give you some uh information about uh about the the am isra we can go back to M when people left Israel I'm sorry when people left Egypt they left Egypt after they understand that they need to unite and that was a big success if you look at what we have today in the state of Israel the more we we unite the more we get what we want to get we are all over the world as Jewish people as Jewish people we need to be together we need to work on one thing especially now before the holidays we have to come together and help one another and give as much as we can to bring the light to am Israel the history of um of the country of Israel shows that it the country become a country after the Holocaust after the said the the am Israel the Jewish people suffered so much to understand that we have to unite and have a country a place to go whenever we want to go and call it the state of Israel after all this suffering we did win we did succeed because we have a state we have a place we have our Medina Israel you can see during the the wars of Israel it was Unity if we did not have a Unity during the war we would not continue to be in this state of Israel this Unity during emergency time is incredible and I can tell you even with the work that I do bet we have four centers we have one in Tel Aviv one in hia one in Jerusalem and one in Bea and soon is going to be one in asod I gave the number of 60 over 60,000 wounded soldiers that's a Unity because we bring them under one facility under one home to understand that they are all equal that they can talk about they don't have to give any reason why they are in this place all they have to be there and enjoy and rehab and get better and re build their their their life so everything in our life starts and end with unity Unity when we talk about the the project light and unite when we unite the light comes to us so when we light this candle that we are talking about in two days like on the TW September 27 I believe we are bringing the light to all of us we are uniting we are giving am Israel the people that wants to understand what's am Israel and the power of am Israel to come together that day right before rash right before the high holidays that all of us knows how important these days to come together give help and do what best you can do for others I'm Israel also known with their holidays and especially with the Shabbat we actually every Shabbat unite because every Shabbat when sun goes down we all come together and we unite the family friends if we go to the holidays every holiday whether it's p kanuka we always unite so the tradition of am Israel known as Unity everything we do we unite and when we we unite this is when we see the light this is when we see the power when we see how we can succeed or we can get whatever we want and we can defeat everyone that do not that does not like us another thing that I'd like uh to uh emphasiz on is the unity in the diaspora in the diaspora we don't have the privilege that we have in the state of Israel because in Israel when Shabbat comes you feel it you smell it you see I mean like it's incredible the everything is Shabbat like around 2:00 Friday everything is stop it's so nice to see it you feel it even if you don't observe it but you know it's Shabbat in the diaspora we have to bring Shabbat to us in Israel Shabbat comes to everyone but in the diaspora we have to bring Shabbat to us we have to do everything to understand that this Shabbat bring all of us together as I said the unity of Shabbat so it's very important that we understand that every Shabbat if we want to do a reset to our mind in the diaspora that it's very hard to do because it's not Israel that you can feel it and see it I think you should start bringing Shabbat to your home bring Shabbat to your home and feel it and feel this Unity feel this incred gift that us as Jewish people got from a I want also to talk about the Jewish people the Israelis in Israel these days they're going through such a hard time whether it's the war in the south in the North or even what we see with what's going on within Israel what's going on with Israel it's not something that we should continue we should stop it once for all we should unite we should put all the nonsense all those words that we don't need as of now behind and understand what's the most important part the most important part for us is to give hand to one another and I have I must talk about my memories from home since I was 5 years old I'm coming from a home of seven kids it was a time that my brothers start to fight with one another my father saw it and called one of them and say come here give me your hand he gave him his hand and my father goes like that and say ow dad it hurts me and he said okay call your brothers and he called all of us and each of us put the hand one of top another and as we did that my father start to break our hands but he couldn't and he say you see this is when you unite nobody can break you but when you fight one with another this is when you can break yourself and break the others so with that I would like to wish all of you here in the diaspora in Israel and wherever you are sha happy healthy and peaceful New Year to all I'm Dr Laura Shaw Frank and I direct the American Jewish committee's Center for Education advocacy and in my role there I oversee all of our work in University spaces and in K through2 spaces non-jewish K through2 spaces um I work with administrators University presidents and Deans um heads of school principls and and faculty members and students all to advance the Jewish people to create educational spaces that are resilient against anti-Semitism and that are places of Jewish belonging which as we all know from the past year and in fact really before the past year our educational institutions have not been that great at we do a lot of work in in educating people about who Jews are which is a very very complex and beautiful story um of of a diverse Jewish community of a Jewish community connected to the land of Israel Over thousands of years um of a Jewish community that is of every race every ethnicity um every culture and is Unified by a sense of peoplehood um peoplehood with a capital P we like to say um so we do an enormous amount of work on educating about Jews and educating bad how to identify anti-Semitism and how to combat anti-Semitism um this past last week actually earlier this week um I was honored to be a part of a summit that ACCC together with Hill International and the American Council on education convened for University presidents and we had over 75 University presidents with us for a day and a half of programming where we to spoke about the history of anti-Semitism and we spoke about how it's presenting in this current moment and how universities can live up to the challenge that this moment faces and we're going to continue to do that um and continue to work with our K through2 administrators as well to create these spaces that are inclusive of Jews that are resilient against anti-Semitism that understand what anti-Semitism is even in its more opaque or difficult to Define um ways and terms that it shows up we work with Jewish students empowering them in our leaders for tomorrow teen program and in our campus Global board campus program um which we we give Jewish students Pride we give them a knowledge of who they are of their identity and we give them the tools that they need to explain to talk about anti-Semitism to engage in dialogue across difference to talk to those with whom they disagree and who disagree with them and to try to help con emerge more Frameworks of understanding that are so so much more strong than the Frameworks of hate that unfortunately we're seeing all too often on campus um we know that this work is not going to get fixed we're not going to fix the problem overnight we're not and it's very important that we all understand that we're not going to fix the problem overnight we do believe that through ongoing careful careful work we are going to be able to make change in our educational Frameworks in the higher education space in the K through 12 space um through partnership with University administrators who are willing to be partnered with um through very very strong advocacy for the Jewish people through education and through building of productive dialogue across difference in this moment of incredible incredible strife and difficulty anxiety fear anger grief for the Jewish people I keep finding myself going again and again back to the Book of Esther migot Ester and looking at the character of Esther as a symbol of such strength and as a symbol of what we as diaspora Jews of particularly diaspora Jewish women can do in this moment and I want to talk specifically about a particular moment a moment when Esther wakes up is woken up by her uncle morai to become a Jewish leader who changes the world for the Jewish people so let's just back up for a moment so we can remember what the story of Esther is it's strange to be talking about the story of Esther now in September when we are thinking about rashash Shana when we're thinking about a different Jewish holiday so dig back in your brains for a moment and remember the story of Esther so Esther ends up marrying the king king aash in Persia um after he banishes his first wife from the kingdom and as she's selected to be the queen her uncle Mori who's been raising her tells her Esther don't tell anyone who you are do not tell anyone that you're Jewish keep it secret just go in there and be the queen and that's what Esther does but then as we all know hmon the evil Wicked hmon gets past uh legislation that is going to allow him to commit genocide it's going to allow him to murder all the Jews of Persia and when morai finds out about this he dresses as Jews did in sackcloth and Ashes and begins wailing outside the palace Gates Now esther is living inside the palace and she sends out a messenger to Mori and she says what are you doing you have to change your clothes this is embarrassing how can you be doing this and morai says to her no no no you have to understand that this is what's going on we are about to be murdered and it is your job because you're in the palace to save us you have to go into the king and Esther is terrified remember this is a young woman who has been told by her uncle her whole life keep it a secret don't tell anyone you're Jewish and now he's all of a sudden changed his mind and says you have to go into the king and save the Jewish people so he says to her you have to go in and her response is I haven't been summoned by the king only if you're summoned by the king is it okay to go into the king I haven't been summoned if I go in there I might be risking my life and Mori says the following and I want you to listen carefully to what he says he says do not imagine that you of all the Jews will escape with your life by being in the king's Palace on the contrary if you keep silent in this crisis relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish and who knows perhaps you have attained the Royal position for just such a crisis so I want to unpack the three sentences that he says to her first of all don't imagine that you're going to escape he's saying to her you're part of the Jewish people the Jewish people is in danger you are a Jew that means that you too are in danger you're not going to escape just because you're the queen and we know throughout Jewish history that that is of course the case and then he says to her that if she keeps silent that relief and deliverance are still going to come to the Jewish people but she and her father's house will perish so the word for perish there in Hebrew is actually the word tovu which actually is the Hebrew word word for the root lost so what I believe I read a a rabinal interpretation of this verse to mean that what she what morai is saying to her is if you don't stand up for us now you're not really part of us we need you you will be lost to the Jewish people if you do not stand with us in this moment and lastly who knows perhaps you have attained the Royal position for just such a crisis Esther you are the one who has access to the king you are the one who is in the palace and you are the one who can save us and what happens right after that after this incredible speech that morai gives to Esther's servant who then brings it back to Esther Esther sends back the most remarkable message she's completely changed she says go assemble the Jews who live in chushan fast on my behalf don't eat or drink for three days I'm gonna do the same thing and then I'm gonna go into the king even though it's against the policy and if I'm if I die then I die she's completely turned from being a a scared girl to being a strong Direct Jewish advocate of a woman because of what morai said to her so I want to bring this back to the moment that we're in right now the moment that we're in right now is a moment where each one of us has to think so carefully about what is our Palace where is the place that you have influence is it a school is it a workplace is it a golf game is it a country club is it a supermarket you go to where is the place that you have access to power or you have access to change somebody's mind where can you be an Esther where is the place that now you know why you have gotten to this place in this moment the Jewish people needs every single one of us to be an advocate to be strong to be proud to be defiant of those who try to destroy us so let's look at this Esther at this incredible incredible role model that we have have particularly we Jewish women have of Di and a diaspora Jewish woman who was able to stand up for her people in the most impactful way possible because of course we know the end of the story she told the king and and the King reversed Hon's order and hmon ended up hanged on a tree and Esther and the Jewish people survived what is your Palace what is your Palace and where can you be like Esther hello everyone my name is Sarah pactor and it's an honor to be part of this candl lighting initiative when I was a little girl I would like candles and somebody mentioned to me that the reason that we cover our eyes is because we're not supposed to look at the flame because God's presence is resting on the flame and we don't want to look at God so I'm 12 years old I'm lighting what do I do I Peak but I didn't see God and I didn't understand what the person was saying either but now years later I do and I want to share that idea with you in the physical world whenever you give you have less if I have a pizza and I decide to give you a piece I now have one less slice that's how it works in the physical world when you give you have physically less right but the the flame is the only thing in the physical world that when you give you actually get more when I give to you from my Flame the flame increases instead of decreasing this represents your soul the more you give the happier and Fuller you feel inside if you notice a candle's flame is always pointing upwards you can turn it sideways you can turn it upside down that flame is always going to strive to connect upwards and the flame of a candle is really your soul it's the spark of godliness that's inside of each and every one of us it's the part of us that wants to give that wants to connect upward so what's your soul made of well there's a sentence in the Torah that says God blew into Adam the Breath of Life do me a favor take a deep breath now exhale when you exhale you are taking what was once inside of yourself and putting it out into the world your breath it uses the terminology in the Torah that God blew into Adam the breath of life because he was taking what was once inside his body and putting it into us your soul is literally a piece of God inside of you so with that in mind there's a beautiful story that I heard that someone asked a famous question what do we learn from aitz so people say we learn we never forget we learn to always remember we learn something else too we learned that five men can share one blanket in awit they gave every fifth guy a blanket and that means that that person had the choice do I share this blanket or do I keep it for myself well did you know that in aitz under the most torturous conditions 90% of Jews decided to share their blanket they decided to give and they ended up getting more compassion is built into the DNA of every Jew no matter how anyone in the world around us treats us we can always choose an elevated response a soul response the world can try to say that we are rats the world can try to dehumanize us the world can say that we're committing genocide but we know our choices like sharing like giving like compassion that's what makes us who we are and no one can take away that greatness we as Jews will always rise no matter how the world treats us and that's the message of why Jews Like candles thank you thank you everybody for joining our college and university and our ladies event I'd like to personally thank Rabbi Devin marwitz Rabbi yahu Farber chabas Kabam Robin meerson CIA Wexler and Laura Frank Laura Shaw Frank you were all amazing and you inspired me and I'm sure you're inspiring all the other people who have joined this and we all would like to welcome you to now light at 8 o'clock in your own time zone and uh May our Unity bring Salvation for the Jewish people and bring M shiach soon and thank you all for joining us