8 January 10 • 2019
jn

scene, safely planted in a comfortable
chair, not breaking a thing and no
longer bleeding.
I began to contemplate the whole
scene. What is it about Jews and
Christmas, I thought? Christmas is a
beautiful, celebratory holiday, filled
with lots of love, fun and gifts. Nothing
wrong with that. So, what is it that
causes so many Jews (including this
one) to overthink it? Why is there a
slight touch of uncomfortableness for
so many of us? Is there something
inherent in the Jewish soul or are
the scars of history so deep that we
can’
t just chill out and fully embrace
Christmas? Attending a Christmas
party doesn’
t mean we’
re embracing the
gospel of Jesus or betraying our Jewish
heritage, so why do we still feel a bit
like a pair of brown shoes on a black
tuxedo on Christmas Day?
As I sat there, I quickly began to
recalibrate my attitude. Jews must do a
better job at tolerating and respecting
the religious differences of others,
I thought, just as we demand from
non-Jews. I reminded myself of all
the non-Jewish people with whom we
are aligned in the fight against hatred
and injustice. I even thought of all the
“righteous Gentiles” in Europe who
risked their lives in order to save Jewish
lives. We Jews honor them and other
good Christians when we respect their
holidays, and Christmas is among the
most beautiful and holiest days of the
year for them.
Surely I can embrace the cheer of
good people on their special night.
Doing so, I figured, is a sign of respect,
solidarity and kindness — actually a
very Jewish thing to do.
Suddenly my daughter-in-law’
s
mother approached me and kindly
asked me if I’
d like another drink.
“Definitely,
” I said with a smile,
contentedly. “Make it a double.
”
I could get used to this holiday. ■

Mark Jacobs is the AIPAC Michigan chair for
African American Outreach, a co-director of the
Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, a board
member of the Jewish Community Relations
Council-AJC and the director of Jewish Family
Service’
s Legal Referral Committee.

views

continued from page 6

I

n the aftermath
of the tragic syn-
agogue shooting
in Pittsburgh, I asked
one of my colleagues
in Israel about the last
time she was subject-
ed to anti-Semitism.
She thought about it
and responded that,
actually, she never directly experienced
anti-Semitism.
Our conversation moved to the
anti-Semitic incidents that took place
at Michigan campuses during my
two years as the Jewish Agency Israel
Fellow at Michigan State University
(MSU) Hillel, including a Valentine’
s
Day card distributed at Central
Michigan University — whose campus
is part of the Hillel Campus Alliance
of Michigan (HCAM), a division of
MSU Hillel that oversees 10 campuses
throughout the state — which stated
“My love to you burns like 6 million
Jews,” a swastika scratched on an MSU
student’
s car and our AEPi house get-
ting vandalized with Hitler mustaches
spray-painted on past fraternity broth-
ers’
pictures.
My colleague was shocked to hear
about these incidents — and how they
continue to occur, whether it be two
University of Michigan instructors
recently denying recommendation let-
ters to students because they planned
to study abroad in Israel or the deadly
anti-Semitic attack in Pittsburgh. I told
her that while I worked at MSU Hillel,
I lived for two years as a minority.
Even now, I’
m only just beginning
to understand how Jews live in the
diaspora. For Israelis who haven’
t had
the opportunity to spend a significant
amount of time in North America, like
I did, the gap in understanding is that
much greater.
In the summer of 2017, I became
one of the hundreds of Jewish Agency
shlichim (Israeli emissaries) who
return home to Israel each year after
serving in diaspora Jewish communi-
ties, undergoing transformative profes-
sional and personal experiences. More

than a year after my return, my own
transformation continues.
During my work as an Israel Fellow,
I reached out to and spoke with many
students, most of whom didn’
t really
know about Israel. I always felt that
every talk with a student (Jewish or
non-Jewish) was important because
I was a shaliach (emissary), and they
saw me as Israel. For a lot of them, I
was their only personal contact with
Israel or an Israeli.
MSU Hillel has a terrific collabora-
tive initiative with the David Project,
in which they reach out to non-Jewish
student leaders and their groups in
order to forge friendships between
Jewish students and the broader
campus community. The highlight of
this initiative is a 10-day trip to Israel
which, in an unbiased manner, gives
non-Jewish student leaders an inside
look at Israel, Israeli culture and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The stu-
dent leaders who attend the trip bring
back important lessons for their orga-
nizations.
As an Israel Fellow and as part
of the collaboration with the David
Project, I also had the opportunity to
work on programming that celebrat-
ed diversity. For example, we had an
African American dance/Jewish hora
class, in which both groups taught
each other the styles from their respec-
tive cultures. It was inspiring to see
how Hebrew music and Israeli culture
made such a positive first impression
about Israel on the African American
students. It was just one example of
the meaningful relationship between
Jewish and non-Jewish students at
MSU, with Israel at the center of that
relationship. Through such programs,
we showed a diverse study body that
Israel is more than what people see on
the news — that it does have conflict,
but also so many other sides.
I still keep in touch with some of the
non-Jewish student leaders I worked
with at MSU. I can see that, even in
the flurry of all of today’
s headlines,
they understand the complexity of
Israel. When I visited East Lansing

this past Sukkot, I met with one of
the non-Jewish students who took a
trip to Israel through Hillel, a student
who feels destined for involvement in
local or national American politics.
He proactively reached out to me, and
we spent a full day together. In that
moment, I understood the impact I
had on him. He cleared an entire day
in his schedule just to spend time
with me and to talk about Israel. One
day, in whatever role he assumes, he’
ll
bring his unique narrative on Israel to
the table.
Yet at the same time, since return-
ing to Israel, I’
ve realized that the
awareness doesn’
t necessarily go both
ways. It seems to me that most of
us, as Israelis, don’
t know very much
about the diaspora unless it pertains to
major news stories like disagreements
about egalitarian prayer at the Western
Wall or the shooting in Pittsburgh.
Nor do many Israelis understand or
respect the diversity of Jewish prac-
tices and Jewish ways of life in the
diaspora. When I attended the Jewish
Federations of North America General
Assembly in Tel Aviv in October, I
was encouraged to learn about how
seriously the Jewish Agency is working
to raise Israelis’
awareness and accep-
tance of Judaism’
s religious streams
and the Jewish community’
s most
important challenges both in Israel
and the diaspora.
As a returning shaliach, I came to
understand how everything Israelis do
or decide here affects Jewish life in the
diaspora and how we need to do all we
can to foster increased mutual under-
standing between Israeli and diaspora
Jews. From anti-Semitism to religious
pluralism, the Jewish people have
numerous challenges and opportuni-
ties before them. It’
s incumbent upon
us to try to understand each other, to
prioritize Jewish unity and to tackle
this journey together. ■

Rotem Raiter, the former Jewish Agency Israel
Fellow to Michigan State University Hillel, works
for a consulting com
pany in Israel’
s Jezreel
Valley.

commentary

A Former Emissary’s Refl
ections
on Israel and the Diaspora

Rotem Raiter