Jews Are Disappearing. And It's Not Because of Anti-Semitism.

17 minutes, that's cute. >> [laughter] >> They must not know how far Boca is from Bal Harbour. 17 minutes. In the old days, maybe. But they moved Bal Harbour further away from Boca. Used to take 40 minutes, now it takes like an hour and a half. Rabbi Berg, thank you for your exceedingly kind words. Rabbi Berg is an old and dear friend and in many ways a mentor. To watch him talk about Never Enough move the Jewish people everywhere he goes, together of course with his family, to care so deeply for the Jewish people. I'm really honored and grateful to have this opportunity. Rabbi May, so many friends in this room for so long. And people that I admire, I've learned from, and nobody more than all of you. The people who are not professionals and are not obligated and took time out of your busy schedule and made it a priority and set aside the resources to be here and to be devoted and to care about and be in a conversation about Klal Yisrael in what for my lifetime is the most critical juncture to be having this conversation with so many enemies from without, with so many threats that we face, with so many concerns, there's never been a more important time for all of us to shift our focus to the Jewish people and to our future. And that's what I want to talk about in my limited time with you. Klal Yisrael, caring about Klal Yisrael. What does it mean to care about Klal Yisrael? I saw one of the modules, one of the incredible tools that's being provided and hosted by Aish about anti-Semitism. And that's the catchword, it's the keyword, it's the word of our age, unfortunately, tragically it seems of our generation as anti-Semitism is on the rise and everyone is exploring and everyone is suggesting ways to confront it. And I don't know if it came up today, it's hard to imagine it didn't, but the conversation about the ad in the Super Bowl about anti-Semitism. And I have only the greatest admiration and respect and gratitude to Bob Kraft for putting his money to this cause and I don't have a critical word to say about him, but I want to actually pose it to you and challenge you a little bit differently. It's how I was thinking about it. Not what did he do wrong or not what was wrong with maybe his commercial, because I think we should applaud him and be grateful to him. But if you had the resources to buy 30 seconds at the Super Bowl, if you could put a message and an idea, if you could put a commercial in front of a hundred million people's eyes, if you could draw people's attention to think about something that would best advocate, best represent the Jewish people and our future, what would it be? What would that message be? Would you focus on our being a minority, bullying, hate, the Holocaust? What would you focus on? And that's how I want to use my time with you today. And I want to close us out by talking about the message I would put. My 30-second spot, my commercial at the Super Bowl, the billboard I would put on every highway, the message I would broadcast everywhere if I had the resources. And that is the following. There is a danger and there is a threat far more pernicious and penetrating far more into our people, causing a greater casualty and victims, having a greater a greater damage to our people far more than anti-Semitism. And it's called assimilation. All the anti-Semites on the planet, if they got together and had a magnificent conference like this with all the incredible delicacies and accoutrements and branding and they coordinated in order to be able to take down our people, they could not do the damage to us at the pace that we're doing it to ourselves. They could not cause the disappearance to our people as we are doing it to ourselves. Do you know that until the middle of the 20th century, the intermarriage rate never rose above 3%? 1964, it rose to 7%. It was startling. Today, among secular Jews in the United States, the intermarriage rate is 70%. In Europe, it's 50%. Anti-Semitism is concerning. And we need people who will focus on it and confront it. But to a degree, we need to not be distracted by it because there is a threat that threatens the disappearance of our people in a much more real and in a much greater number and at a much faster pace than anti-Semitism and that is assimilation and intermarriage. You know, for 3,300 years, since we stood at Sinai together, the Jewish people have been moving in a fast pace to improve and repair the world. We've embraced our mission to be ambassadors, to represent Hakadosh Baruchu, to take achrayus, to take responsibility for this world and everyone in it, to make the world follow the blueprint that Hakadosh Baruchu created. The world is takah baraysha ubora alma. He looked in the Torah and he created a world and our job is to make those two conform, to mold and shape this world to represent and model the behavior and the attitudes, the lives and the lifestyles that other people will want to emulate, will want to learn from, the values, the ethics, the morals, the responsibility, the justice. For 3,300 years, we have been driving at warp speed towards that goal. And if you look back over those three plus millennia, you will see the difference we have made, how we have radically transformed the world. We've introduced the world to things the world takes for granted today, the equality of all men, systems of justice and of charity, ethical monotheism altogether. Those are the gifts of the Jewish people to the world. That's our responsibility and our mission. Anti-Semitism, it's dangerous. I don't I don't want to minimize it. Please don't misquote me or misrepresent. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. And we need to make sure in the world of politics to elect only candidates who will stand with our people and stand with Israel. In the world of legislation, to ensure legislation is passed to protect students on campuses and to protect all of us in the streets, to make sure we have the security funding that our institutions so desperately need. I'm not minimizing it an iota, but if that's what we talk about and talk about all the time, if that's what we obsess over, it's the theme of every gathering and the conversation of every table and the people whose names I don't even want to repeat from this microphone because they don't deserve it. Those people who indeed have millions of followers online because I'll tell you a little secret. The only people who want to talk about anti-Semitism is anti-Semites. It fuels their fire. It continues to shine a spotlight on them. It elevates the volume of their microphone as we continue to talk about it. It's a distraction from the conversation we have to be having. The conversation is not about them, but it's about us. The conversation is who are we and why are we here and what difference are we making and how can we continue to not to not get stuck on the speed bumps of those anti-Semites who want us to pull over. Who want us to focus and complain. Who want us to say, "How dare they put the speed bumps here?" Instead, we've got to step on the gas and step on the gas harder and faster and firmer because there's so much to do to improve and repair this world. Anti-Semitism and assimilation are not only both rising dangerous threats, but our response to both of them, in fact, I think is one in the same. That's not talking about either, but instead it's focusing on and endorsing and promoting and enabling and empowering more than ever Jewish pride, Jewish practice, and Jewish passion. It is arming young people and all people to reach into that Jewish spark in the Jewish soul inside them. It's helping them find the answer to why is the world obsessed with you? Why is the world so concerned and threatened by us? If they want to kill us for being a Jew, then find out what does it mean to be a Jew? Why are we Jews and what difference can we make as Jews? When talking about the mitzvah of tzitzis, the Midrash Rabbah, our rabbis tell us, they give the following metaphor of a person who's cast into the sea, somebody who's flailing, waving their arms, they're drowning. And the Coast Guard threw the person a rope and they say, "Grab on. Hold on. If you hold on, you will survive. If you let go, these winds and these waves, they will sweep you out to sea. You will disappear." And the Midrash says that tzitzis that we wear, "Re'u itam, so look at them. Wear them. They are the rope." And not only the tzitzis, the tzitzis is a metaphor for all mitzvos. Grab onto that life preserver. Grab onto that rope. Hold dear. It's chaim yeelamchu machazikim ba. We, for 3,300 years, we have the tree of life. Everyone's looking around trying to make sense of this world. Everyone's trying to navigate how to get where they want to go. Everyone's just trying to find happiness and pleasure. And you know what the sum total in the most prosperous time in all of history, in the most comfortable and convenient time that humanity's ever lived, there are more people more unhappy, more depressed, more anxious, more miserable than ever. With the greatest creature comforts, with the greatest conveniences, with the greatest prosperity, there is the most misery. We have the answer. We have the secret. We have the antidote. We've been living it for 3,300 years. Grab onto our rope. Eitz Chaim yeelamchu machazikim ba. Grab onto that tree of life. Don't let go or you'll be swept away and that's our message first and foremost to our own people, but also to the world. To throw those life preservers. That's what today is all about. That's our mission. When you go home, you're holding the tree, you're holding the rope, you're holding those mitzvos. And our mission and our mandate is to throw it to those who are threatened to be drowned. Those who are flailing and holding on while the winds and the waves are washing them away, throw them the life preserver and the rope of Torah and mitzvahs of their own legacy so it can become their destiny. Tell you an amazing Harvard study. I quoted it recently in another context. Over half of young adults, 58% it's nearly six out of 10 said they had experienced little or no purpose or meaning in their lives in the previous month. 60% of young adults polled were asked if they had experienced any meaning or purpose in the last month of their life. 60% said no meaning or purpose. Half of the young people said their mental health was negatively influenced by {quote} "not knowing what to do with my life." Interestingly, those belonging to a religion did feel much more purpose. They felt twice as much as those that didn't. Young adults who had little or no purpose or meaning reported twice as many rates of anxiety and depression than young adults who did feel purpose and meaning. There is an enormous correlation between feeling meaning and purpose and having mental health and mental hygiene. The people who felt meaning and purpose were twice less at risk of anxiety and depression. For 3,300 years, our sacred Torah, our people, our practice, Yiddishkeit has offered a prescription for a life of meaning and purpose. In a world consumed by consumerism in a world consumed by pleasure and happiness and themselves, in a world and a market and marketing agencies that are telling us to obey our thirst and just do it and just be happy. That's not bringing happiness and pleasure. It's quite the opposite. It's robbing people of meaning and purpose. It's making them feel lost. And it's therefore bringing depression and anxiety. Not it and not it alone and certainly of course never judging those people who are struggling, but these are the statistics. We just read last week Parshas Yisro how we stood at Har Sinai. And there and then Hashem told us, "You are to be a Mamleches Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh." Our mission and our purpose, our mandate, our why of why we're here are to be role models for the world. We are to embody what it means to live with meaning and purpose. To wake up every morning and not say if I'm alive, what comes with that? What are my rights and entitlements? What do I get with being alive? No, what what comes with this membership? We are a people that Ramchal begins his Mesilas Yesharim by telling us that the foundation of all foundations, the root of all piety is to wake up every day and ask ourselves, "Ma Chovos HaAdam VeOlamo?" What is my mission and purpose? Not in my what what not what are my rights and entitlements? What are my duties and obligations? What's my achrayus? What's my responsibility? What difference can I make? How can I make this world a better place? Who can I fight for? Who can I stand up for? Who can I help? Who can I support? Who can I love? Who can I care about? How can I make a difference and how can I meet some mean something? That's our mission. We're meant to bring light into the darkness, kindness instead of cruelty, justice instead of corruption, discipline instead of impulse. We have the platform. These are incredible platforms, but the OG platform is called Torah. Halacha. And we were given it 3,300 years ago and Hashem said, "Here is the first platform. Go run with it. It's meaning and purpose and it will make your lives and the lives of everyone around. It'll bring you happiness and joy. It'll bring health and wellness. It'll enhance and enrich your relationships. It'll turn your life from black and white to living color. Live a life in a relationship with the Ribono Shel Olam. Feel you are a agent, ambassador, a steward. He is sending you out. Ask wherever you are and at every moment, "What is my mission? What am I meant to do? Why am I here?" To embrace your place. We have a shiur every week. We taught it this morning living with emunah and I'm proud to say it's not just a class or a shiur, it's a movement of people around the world who understand and who recognize. The emails they send me not every week, but literally every day to say that when you embrace your place, when you let go and you let God, when you ask, "What's my mission in this moment?" You find such happiness and joy. You become an altogether different person. If I had the time, I would tell you countless stories and examples of it, but we have that secret. We have that into the we have that answer. And we need to share it with the world. Stop being distracted by our enemies and anti-Semites. Stop focusing on the agenda that they're writing and let's write our own. Let's tell our story. Let's empower our people. Let's step on the gas together instead of slowing down and being distracted by them. If I had 30 seconds, if I had 100 million eyeballs, if I had an ad in the Super Bowl, it would be about standing tall, proud, passionate, and practicing. I would be talking to the Jewish people, a small fraction of that larger group, but I'd let them listen in. And I would tell those Jewish people, "Know where you come from. Be proud of who you are. Know the DNA you carry and know the destiny that you're headed towards. Know your mission and your purpose in this world. Know the platform that you have and that you're part of. Rise up and be part of the Kadosh and the Mamleches Kohanim. Stand tall and proud, passionate, and practicing. Partner with the Almighty in repairing and redeeming his world. He's counting on us. He's looking at us. He's waiting for us to take responsibility and to answer that call. And now you may think, "Well, what does that mean? How do I do it?" Well, you just spent the day and we're so grateful to Aish, the incredible, extraordinary Aish, what it's doing all over the world, online and offline. >> [applause] >> Absolutely. I got to tell you, I'm proud not just to have driven down Boca today, but actually when I was in Kiryat Bialik, I'll age myself. Some may be surprised to hear I'm so young given how I look, but when I was in Kiryat Bialik from '92 to '94, there was Aish at the time did kiruv training seminars. They came to yeshivas and seminaries and I participated in it and I was inspired back then. It might have set me on the path of my career, of my calling today. And after I came back and I was in YU for 1 year, that next summer I went back. I was a madrich in Aish. That was when we all were able to have attention that lasted longer than a TikTok. It was 2 and 1/2 days and I and two friends spent the other days of the week the Kotel Plaza and Ben Yehuda and wherever we could go. It's a longer story, but this countdown clock is really startling, but we were benei yeshiva. I was really religious back then. We refused to go to Ben Yehuda. That's not where we belong. We were benei Torah. So, they took us to Rav Noach Weinberg, zt"l. And Rav Noach, it didn't take long. He just looked at us and said, "If the train were pulling out to Auschwitz and a woman extended her hand and you could pull her off, would you be too frum to do that?" Said the trains are heading to Auschwitz and there are people on Ben Yehuda and everywhere and they're waiting for you to pull them off. And a few hours later we were on Ben Yehuda. So, I go a long way back. That doesn't come out of my time, that little plug for Aish. That little Aish plug. But Aish is giving us the tool. There are no more excuses. There were then, before it came to my yeshiva and gave us kiruv training, people would say, "I I I don't know what to say. How do I reach out? How do I represent? How do I explain? What's kiddush? What's washing? Where's the evidence that there's a God? What are the wonders of Jewish I I I don't know." But those excuses have all been taken away and every one of us now can be sent with a mission armed with everything we need to succeed. There are no excuses to walk away today and every day and not take responsibility for the Jewish people because those speed bumps there are more and more of speed bumps being put in our way. Not only of our enemies and anti-Semites, but the assimilation, the intermarriage. It's frightening what we're doing to ourselves and our own disappearance. We can't rely on kiruv professionals and rabbis and kodesh alone. This is something that every Jew needs to feel part of because when we stood at Har Sinai, Hashem didn't say to rabbis and rebbetzins, "You'll be the Mamleches Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh. Everybody else, eat at the buffet. Everybody else, go ski. Everybody else, go do yoga. Everybody else, go enjoy." Nothing wrong with any of those activities. But he turned to every single one of us, all of us, and he said, "Mamleches Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh." This is not the first time we've encountered these speed bumps. And we're about to celebrate one of them that came a long time ago. This Shabbos we're going to bench Rosh Chodesh Adar and Adar of course contains the holiday of Purim. And when Haman first approached Achashveirosh with his diabolic diabolical genocidal plan to exterminate the Jews, he said, "Yeshnam Am Echad Mefuzar U'Meforad Bein HaAmim." There's a Jewish people. They're fractured. They're scattered. They're fragmented. They're fighting with one another. They're all over. And the Gemara in Megillah tells us that Achashveirosh in fact first demurred. He hesitated and he said, "Uh have you heard about the God of those Jews? Have you know anything? Have you seen any headlines? I don't think I really want to mess with them." And Haman relieved the king of that fear when he said, "No. Yeshnam Am Echad." Which translates to there is a certain nation and you don't have to worry. Now, why don't you have to worry? The Gemara there in Megillah quotes Rava who says, "Don't read it Yeshnam, there is one. Read it Yoshnam, fast asleep." There's a nation that's fast asleep. They're asleep. They're fast asleep. Their eyes are closed and they think that they're immune to what's happening. They're not recognizing the danger and the threat. They're not recognizing the disappearance. They're not recognizing. They're not Yeshnam, it's not that there is a people, but Yoshnam, there is a sleeping nation. They've been negligent of mitzvahs. They're fighting with one another. They're consumed with all the wrong things. They're arguing among themselves and they're fast fast asleep, said Haman to Achashveirosh. They are fast asleep to what I what we want to do. We were on the brink of extinction as a people because we were asleep. And we know Esther's heroism. She risked everything, her life, her family, her people. She went out on a limb to go march into the king. She understood her moment. She embraced her place. And we're grateful to her and we celebrate her ever since. But what made Mordecai a hero when you think about it? Not only may Mordecai not be a hero, but if you really think about the story for a minute, and that's all we have, Mordecai in some ways is a villain. He couldn't just bow down once. So, you'll say, "No, no, you're not allowed to do that. It's a violation of the Torah. You have to give your life before you worship an idol." There's a whole sugia. There's something to learn there. But on technical grounds, Mordecai, and certainly he knew, a member of the Sanhedrin, he had every right to bow down. Halachically, every justification he could have gotten a heter. On the Aish bot that pops up on aish.com, "Can I bow down? It would save my people." And whoever was manning that bot would write back, "Yes, in the circumstance, you can bow down. It would save your people." He'd have the answer. And he wouldn't need to ask. And yet, he still stubbornly, obstinately refuses to bow down. And when the king remembers that he previously saved his life, and he invites him to come celebrate, Mordecai could have said, "Look, I don't want a mess. We don't need to be in the spotlight. Haman's already got a" He says, "Absolutely. I'm all in." What is Mordecai doing? Not only should Mordecai maybe not be the hero, if you really read the story without knowing, then Mordecai in some ways should look like a villain. The answer. The answer is the following. Because Mordecai, the humble scholar and righteous sage, he witnessed the growing anti-Semitism of Haman and he witnessed the growing assimilation of his own people. They were fast asleep. They were excusing away. The answer he realized is to never bow down. The answer. The answer is exactly the opposite. Stand firm and stand strong and stand tall and be a proud and be a practicing Jew. Don't apologize ever for being a Jew. And don't be defensive for being a Jew. Be the proudest, most tenacious Jew that ever lived. And that's exactly what he does. And that's how Mordecai is known. Because how does the Megillah end? Ish Yehudi haya b'Shushan habirah. U'shmo Mordecai. What do you mean Ish Yehudi? Shushan habirah was filled with lots of Jews, lots of minyanim, lots of daf yomis, lots of kosher restaurants. Singular Ish Yehudi, there was one Jew in Shushan. Mordecai was super Jew. Mordecai was the proudest, most tenacious Jew. Mordecai was the Jew who refused to bow down. And he is our hero. And that is our story. And this is our moment. Mordecai. Mordecai put on a bigger yarmulke. And he wore a big Magen David. And he said, "Ish Yehudi! I'm a proud Jew. I'm not apologetic. I'm not ashamed. I don't hesitate. And I'm not going to hide. I won't be distracted by the conversation you want to have. I'm staying true to my mission to repair and redeem this world." That's what happens when Jews stand up for ourselves and we call out and confront our enemies. But also, when we recognize the danger and threat of assimilation. Proud, unashamed, unapologetic, fearless Jew. And what happened? How does the story end? He earns the respect and fear of all of Shushan and all of the world. And so will we. So will we. So, if I had 30 seconds and I could put up a commercial, it would tell Jews everywhere this. And maybe this is another idea for Aish. I think we should be doing it. Any Jewish student on a university who's willing to put a mezuzah on their door, we'll send it to you. Any Jew who's willing to wear a Magen David around their neck, we'll send it to you. Any Jew who's willing to put on a kippah on their head, we'll send it to you. Any Jew who's willing to light candles, who's willing to lay tefillin, any Jew who's willing to wave a gragger on Purim, we'll send it to you. We'll empower you not only with the technology and the platform, we'll give you the physical tools to stop hiding, to step out into the light, to dispel that darkness, to stand up and be a proud Jew. Not a proud Jew who's 16, 17, 18, 19 years old on college campus. But we have to tell the Jews on college campus, you're 3,300 years old and you look pretty good for it. You're 3,300 years old. Who cares how old this podcaster, who calls cares how old that influencer? Who cares how old they are? Do you know how old you are? You're 3,300 years old. That's my message. I hope that's our message. And I hope every one of us can walk away today embracing our place and our mission and this moment to take achrayus for our people, to imitate and emulate Mordecai, to be the Ish Yehudi of our time, to not be afraid and not apologize, to not be distracted, and to not slow down, but to step on the gas towards our destiny. And it happens one at a time. Just learn with one fellow Jew. Just check in and care about one fellow Jew. Just respond to one Jew bagel-ing you at Costco who says, "Oy vey." Or I see there's matzah. When is Passover again?" Their soul is desperate for an invitation to your Seder. You were put in that place in that moment to respond positively. And you don't have to worry about, "What am I going to teach them? What am I going to say? And what am I going to tell them?" Because you have Aish as your partner. Y'hi ratzon, may the Ribono shel Olam give us all the strength, the courage, the clarity, and the conviction to take responsibility for our people and for this moment, to march with momentum towards where we're meant to go, to be able to reach into the DNA inside of us until we can all walk together towards our destiny. Thank you so much. >> [applause]