Hope, Values, and the Jewish Future
Yosef I. Abramowitz

A nearly full moon shimmers, eerily lighting the tombs of David and Paula Ben Gurion; it is 1:30 a.m. in Sde Boker.   I raise my flimsy Israeli plastic cup in a silent toast, inhale the biblical air, and sip the remaining Johnny Walker.   Three hours of wrestling on Shabbat with next-generation Jewish leaders from a dozen countries at the Kol Dor conference produced elevated spirits, new ideas, an overflow of hope. We toast to life and then I eventually make my solitary pilgrimage to the tombs.

Perhaps I see the fragile glass of the Jewish people as more than half full because I am a spiritual nationalist.   Within the DNA of our faith is a tikvah trait different from the hope we glimpse in the writings of religious leaders from other religions appearing in these pages. Yes, there are plenty of Jewish texts that affirm hope. But beyond those texts are Jewish historic experiences and a mission that provide powerful and affirming commentary on our texts. Just as Jewish holidays are about a national story, Jewish hope is a national hope. It is precisely in the ability to demonstrate collective action and consciousness, and to live the value of mutual responsibility, areivut , that the Jewish people create miracles and model social change.

I am a child of the Soviet Jewry and anti-apartheid movements, both monumental achievements in the annals of campaigns for freedom. Not only was there a disproportionate involvement of Jews in the universal movement against apartheid, but the particular struggle of Soviet Jewry was animated by a relatively small number of quixotic Jews – albeit with allies – and, against great odds, it triumphed as a redemptive spiritual corrective to Jewish powerlessness and, perhaps, ineffectiveness of the previous generation.

Furthermore, the success of a small, nascent Zionist movement in establishing the Third Jewish Commonwealth was breathtaking. Both the Soviet Jewry and early Zionist movements had ingredients for success that could be re-stirred in any age: mobilization of youth, a compelling moral idea, and historic perspective – with a splash of faith. In his book From Good to Great, Jim Collins teaches that faith in the ability to overcome difficult challenges is critical to transcending apparent negative destinies. In addition to building on the successful 20th-century Jewish legacies, this generation has new and powerful advantages:   the potential of major venture philanthropy, instant worldwide communications, an unprecedented level of expertise and skills, and the support of the world's only superpower.

This gift to humanity of a hopeful, life-affirming peoplehood, even after being battered around for a couple thousand years, is also a gift to individual Jews; as yet unwrapped and unopened by most.   The task of Jewish education should be to make accessible this undercurrent of textual and historic power and optimism, to take this national life-affirming spirit and distill it into basic value components from which everyone can drink its tonic.

Jewish values – supported by our texts, traditions, and communities – are the building blocks of our future. Every holiday and festival has the seeds of hope within it, every flickering of Shabbat candles, every smile of a child after tasting Milky-Way challah, every human encounter that affirms life. These experiences must bubble up to the surface so that the Jewish people and the Jewish experience create the sensation and potential of national and personal redemption. The Jewish way is to live our story individually as part of a holy collectivity. Our values are primarily linked to action, since this world is the real world, this life is the life we are living, and today's challenges are the test of who we really are.

The Jewish people are blessed with abundant sources of hope. Our tradition teaches that 4,000 years ago God established a covenant with us and promised that we would become a great nation and a blessing for all humanity. The Jewish contributions to the moral advancement of civilization are unparalleled. Bolstered by a rich heritage, Jews have maintained our life-affirming values and commitment to justice throughout time.

Our ability to see beyond the endlessness and starkness of the desert, and our predisposition to dream of a more life-affirming human legacy, are unique gifts of our prophets and visionaries, old and new. So what are we waiting for?