The Precarious States Of America

Jews have a history of prospering in foreign lands, but for how long?

by Esther Varon

‘OK, so which one would you choose?” It was my first day of Jewish history class. My teacher asked us a simple question. I looked down at the sheet in front of me.
One side said leave home, lose all money, separate from family, move to Israel (a desolate and empty land). The second side said live comfortably and successfully, stay close to family, outside of Israel.

As she counted up the tally of the class it was obvious which side gained most of the votes. Most students chose to live a comfortable life outside of Israel.

“People were too comfortable to leave,” she explained about the Jews living in Babylonia. In the time before the reconstruction of the Second Temple, Ezra and Nechemya were two people who had a hard time trying to convince the Jews to move back to Israel. “Everything they needed was right there [in Babylonia],” she concluded.
From that statement I realized how relevant history is to our own lives. It was as if the statement spoke about the Jews in America, the Jews in Brooklyn. I looked out the window to Avenue J. Almost every store is owned by a Jew. We have a variety of restaurants, bakeries, clothing and Jewish book stores. Yeah, you can say we’re comfortable, everything we need is right here.

I’ll say from the start, nothing is wrong with being successful. The problem is that success leads to comfort and comfort makes it hard to leave when trouble arrives. America is where we live now, but it isn’t our home. We know that we can all be complete as a nation once we come together in Israel.

This article isn’t about moving to Israel. It is about belonging. Even though we’re leaving a deep mark on America and its culture, our home still stands in another place. Time will pass and history will recreate itself. The Jews, just like they have in the past, will for one reason or another find their way back home.

Friends of mine who went on the Heritage trip to Poland returned with many interesting stories and thoughts. One thought that I found very interesting was when my friend Claire told me how it was almost creepy to look at the streets of Brooklyn filled with Jewish schools, homes and people. It reminded her of the empty streets of Warsaw, streets where Jews were once flourishing.

The thought scared me; it was one that I thought a lot about myself. Every time I look around Brooklyn, I ask myself how is this possible? How can almost every house on this block be a Jewish home? How is it possible that on Saturday the busiest block in the neighborhood is empty of cars? How can there be so many parking spaces available on Saturday? We are such a big part of the city, there is an entire Jewish world right here in Brooklyn. We’re standing on the peak of the mountain. Will we always stay this comfortable in America? Or will history once again repeat itself? Will we stay at the top or will we eventually recede?

I live on East 10th and Avenue M. I’m surrounded by Judaism. Almost every person living on my block is frum. The children playing on the street all wear kipot and the girls are dressed modestly. My family has a variety of about 20 kosher restaurants located a block away. I think about how lucky I am to have everything so convenient for me.
I discussed this with my older brother Jack and he told me this is how Syria and Turkey was for our great-grandparents. They were wealthy merchants and this is why it was so hard for them to leave. What? I thought. There was a time when we didn’t want to leave Syria? But wasn’t Syria where the Jews suffered? Weren’t we persecuted there?
It soon hit me that all these places where the Jews were so comfortable are now places of Jewish destruction. Jews are victims. Throughout history there were very short amounts of time when we were safe until now, here in America.

To some people that’s a valid question: are we safe? Yeah, we’re living in the home of the free. But can’t everything change just like they did in Germany? Can’t one leader come in and manipulate the government, the country? It happened once, can’t it happen again?

No, no of course not. Look how settled we are. Look how much we fit in. Plenty of America’s icons are Jewish. Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen are two of the country’s most famous movie directors. Come on, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Can there really be anybody who didn’t break out into hysterics just looking at them?

Jews practically started Hollywood with vaudeville. Then there is Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud — major contributors to the understanding of the universe. Milton Friedman and Robert Solow are among the many Jewish-American Nobel Prize winners. These individuals are household names. How can everything turn on us?

I can’t say that one day the country will turn on us and America won’t be safe. I’m not a prophet. I’m just a student in school who learned a lot about our history and is afraid. I’m afraid because history has repeated itself many times. Many times the Jewish nation has made the same mistake. We’ve gotten comfortable in a land and culture that isn’t ours.
I think it’s important that we all realize the possibility and remember the past. I’m not saying we should all jump on the next plane to Israel or that harm is headed our way. Just keep in mind that we’re guests here in America. It’s never good to get too comfortable in a stranger’s home because we’ll have to leave sometime, won’t we? Whether we’re pushed out and forbidden to return again or politely asked to leave, we should know when to get the hint.

It wasn’t until the Passover seder that I realized how relevant today’s Jewish status is to the Jews in Egypt. It says in the Book of Exodus, “Va temaleh haaretz otam” the land filled them, meaning the culture filled them. They became Egyptians. They were assimilated and the Pharoah’s harsh regime followed soon after. This sounded so familiar. Didn’t we try assimilating with Greek culture? German culture? Syrian? This is what happened with all the Jews around the world. History really does repeat itself.
Megillat Ruth, which we read on Shavuot, contains the story of Ruth and Naomi. Naomi entered the city of Moab with a full, flourishing family. The family of Avimelech and Naomi assimilated with the Moavim and eventually lost everything. Knowing she had nothing she decided to return to her home in Israel in Bet Lehem. Yes, her home. Naomi knew that although she lost almost everything she still had a place to return.

No matter how long we stay in America, no matter how comfortable we become, we should know where our home is. Are we American Jews or Jewish Americans? I am always proud to say I’m an American. I’m fourth generation on my father’s side. I take pride in the fact that my grandfather fought for the country in World War II.
I love America and I love living in America especially as a Jew. Freedom of religion allows us to be treated equally. Being able to practice our religion with pride and not in secret is a gift beyond words. I appreciate the fact that in America everyone has a chance to be successful no matter who they are or where they came from.

Although we live here, we are still Jews living in America. Not Jews living in their homeland, America. Foremost and always, our home is in Israel. n

Esther Varon is a senior at the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization