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For 12 years, I was Vice Chair of Birthright. I went around the country, speaking to families and young people about the importance of Birthright for them and others. One of my trips was to one of the wealthiest communities in the country: Palm Beach. I spoke in the house of Barry Sternlicht’s mother to thirty people from that community. At the end of my speech, one of the fathers raised his hand and asked the following question: “Mr. Rosen, I have two sons who attend Miami University. They are both dating non-Jewish girls who are adamant about not converting to Judaism. What went wrong? Who’s responsible for what happened?”

I told the man that one should never answer a question with a question, but here goes. I said: Sir, what is Friday night like in your house? He said, “Friday night has always been the same as Thursday night and Wednesday night and Tuesday night. In fact, we have very little Jewish practice in our home. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I don’t require my sons to go to temple. I have two other children finishing high school who will probably attend the Miami University. What should I do with them?”

My answer was, “I strongly recommend that you have a Friday night meal with your family. Have your sons go to temple with you on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Start having Judaism enter your home and see what happens.”

The Jewish world in the United States and much of the diaspora world is broken. Outside of Orthodox circles, adults and children are completely disconnected from Judaism, living fully assimilated lives with limited connection to their heritage. An anti-Semite like Zohran Mamdani won with 20 to 30 percent of the Jewish vote. How is that possible? He supports intifada in the United States!

Let’s compare the Jewish world in Israel with the Jewish world in the United States.

October 7, besides being the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, was also a breakthrough Jewish turnaround day for Israeli Jews. More Jews have begun keeping Shabbos than at any other time in modern history. Thousands and thousands are attending Shabbos meals who never did before in their lives. Hostage families and friends have started observing Jewish laws. It’s nearly a country-wide revival.

The message after the death and killing of October 7 is that Israeli Jews choose life. Not just personal survival, but life with a purpose, with meaning. Jewish meaning. Israeli Jews are getting it.

What about their American brothers?

On the American front, things are not so bright. In the wake of WWII, Jews were either angry or indifferent about their heritage. There was a tremendous need to fit in, to become part of society. In addition, there was no joy in Jewish activities. Hebrew school was a nightmare. Judaism was unattractive. It wasn’t a privilege to be a Jew. It wasn’t cool. In addition, the media kept the achievements of Jews under wraps, but made a very big deal of our failures.

This situation existed from WWII until October 7, 2023. On October 8, a revival of anti-Semitism erupted across college campuses around the country. The fight against anti-Semitism became the motto of every Jewish organization.

But October 8 must now be a turning point for the diaspora Jewish communities as well. It’s time to shake things up.

We need to revamp the entire educational system. The focus throughout the educational system must be on a joyful form of Judaism. Instead of being afraid to be Jewish, we need to convince our children to be proud of their Jewish heritage. On the Hebrew school front, we need to revamp the entire Hebrew school system. On the yeshiva and day school front, the cost of a Jewish education must be reduced significantly. Or subsidized. We need to convince billionaires and millionaires to contribute to the school system in order to reduce the costs.

Is there hope for the future? Of course. Jews are only 0.2% of the world’s population, but won over 20% of Nobel prizes. Jews have excelled in all aspects of society; stories about Jews doing amazing things abound. In Israel, the pagers, the targeted assassinations, and other success stories are all over the place. Besides the revival of religion on the Israeli front, in the United States, a recent poll shows that a whopping 80% of American Jews celebrated the Passover Seder. Let me repeat: 80%!

The families who are doing great things for the hostages and their families include several people in this room: the Schottenstein family, the Trump family, among many others.

Dozens of Jewish billionaires are supporting Israel for the first time.

Here’s a terrific story of Jewish pride: Two weeks ago, the Yeshiva University basketball team traveled to Atlanta, Georgia for a third-round game in the NCAA tournament against Emory University. The Macs were convinced that they were walking into a hostile gymnasium of 4,000 people with about 50 of them supporting YU. In fact, every Jewish institution, school, synagogue, temple, and JCC closed for the day and brought busloads of people to the game: approximately 3,950 people came of the 4,000 in the stands, and all 3,950 were rooting for Yeshiva University. Talk about Jewish pride. One of the families in this program all wore Jewish pride yarmulkes. Maybe we all should!

Jewish pride must make a comeback. And all of us here have to help. Thank you. 

J. Philip Rosen is Chairman of the board of World Jewish Congress-American Section and a Member of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University.

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