What Returns on Investment?

I am shocked by the docile, lay-down, defeatist attitude we are taking to the societal challenges here in Australia.

Plenty of analyses by the Jewish communal “commentators”. But very little tachlis! Jewish leaders are busy explaining the freakin’ obvious, and making us feel even more helpless and hopeless. The result – everyone is saying how scared they are! And don’t tell me it’s ok – it’s being handled stealthily by “shtadlanut” – i.e. it’s all happening behind the scenes. Enough of “behind the scenes”!

Why haven’t heard one Jewish leader, lay or religious, come out and say, “its’ time for action! We can do it! We can stem the tide. We can fight this!” Not one such leadership voice. All I hear is: we can’t fight it because it’s worldwide; or, it’s because of Israel and Netanyahu; or, it’s Nazi Germany again; or, we have to get out-er-here, or, well, they have a point – all those babies, and…. –  such defeatist, frightened, misguided, and weak, rationales for doing nothing!

I can hear your retort: So, if you are so clever, tell us, what can we do?

The challenges and Solutions

1. Media: the media won’t provide the time of day for “our side” because Israel won’t allow them into the Gaza military arena that Israel is fighting in and control. So, the journalists, needing to make a living, go where they can take the best photo-shoots (even win a prize), stage-manage great and dramatic visuals of purported and real human suffering (who’ll know anyway!), and pay off the friendly Hamas with great propaganda stories and narratives which Reuters and the like sells on to the world news channels and talk shows.

The Answer: We have wonderful philanthropists who give (perhaps more accurately, gave) many tens of millions to the arts, theatre, hospitals, cultural centres, and other important Australian facilities. Time to look after our own. We urgently need to start a media fund – millions of dollars worth (a hundred million dollars is not excessive for several billionaires and multi-millionaires who are thinking twice what to do with their philanthropy dollar). And buy time on Australian TV, social media and radio.

If currently our media won’t call out fake photos and videos of “starving Gaza children” or fake images of starvation, then buy full pages in the leading papers, and space/time on other media. And create and build talking-points for well known “influencers”. Correct all the mis-impressions. Invest in information dissemination! Pay generously for our best strategists and marketing gurus to fill these bought spaces and time, creatively and definitively.

(I read the most creative approach to fight antisemitism, developed by one of the most creative marketing gurus in Australia, Sergio Brodsky, a strategy that would take Australia by storm tackling antisemitism. Guess what – the plan was seen by the few willing to view it as too ambitious, too expensive. Can one be too ambitious or too expensive given the price that is being paid by Judaism and Israel?)

How much was the investment for this amazing strategy? A mere $3 million to turn the tide of antisemitism in this country. Too expensive??!! As if it’s cheaper to hide under the radar screen as a Jew, or sell up and run away. Apparently, it’s cheaper than $3 million to support Australia’s institutions over the past 20 years. Really? Another objection “buying space does not provide believable messages”. Well guess what, Hamas and Qatar have had quite an effect on the western world in the last few years. How? Buying space. Buying time. Even buying professional provocateurs! Which segues to my next point.

2. Education: Schools are not being taught about the Jewish people, Jewish history, our beliefs, our country, our disproportionate contributions to the world. Our university students are being harassed in an environment where understanding of Jews and Judaism is practically nil. Why? Jewish teachings and values, which can create a “beachhead” of understanding the Jews for generations of Australians, has not been pitched to the Australian education scene. Hence, we aren’t seen as a worthy people or even as a nation. Also, being a complex collection of races, nationalities, beliefs, customs, and lifestyles, makes it almost impossible to understand our core and nature. We are a complete outlier amongst peoples of the world.

Answer: Invest heavily in Jewish curriculum development for non-Jewish schools. Invest in well-funded Chairs and Centres of Jewish studies at tertiary level. You might well ask why should we do the work that curriculum developers should be doing within the budget of the non-Jewish schools themselves? Why invest millions into this endeavour?

The answer is simple. Because they won’t, and they don’t have the funds or interest to implement and roll out a Jewish curriculum stream. Yet this would be a key investment in Jewish future in a wider society. It would enrich understanding and tolerance at ground level! – kids and tertiary students. It’s not difficult raise all sorts of technical objections of how, and what and who. But it’s all about commitment, clarity of goals, and yes, money – money invested generously into wider Australian education – a test of true philanthropy, and much more lasting returns than a theatre or museum. It takes will, belief, and generosity. A small amount of light dispels much darkness. Today there’s lots of darkness. Solutions provide the light.

And of course there is the obvious – Jewish education in Australia should be free! Calculate how many millions that would take? Much much less than all the museums, theatres, and hospitals, and cultural centres! It’s simply a matter of priority. And that depends on the values we hold dearest. Then we wouldn’t the weak and frightened Jew of today. Enough said.

3. Personal Strength and Knowledge: Most Jews today are Jewishly illiterate. That’s not a criticism. It’s simply stating a fact. Most Jews do not know how to read our own millennia-old literature, how to read Chumash with Rashi, Talmud with commentaries, responsa literature responding to modern technological and fast changing lifestyles using Jewish values and ethics. On another plane, we have no idea as individuals let alone collectively as a community) how to respond to threat, vilification, cat-calls, and “looks”.

Answer: It’s up to you personally. If your child sees you as a Jewish ignoramus, feeling uncomfortable in your own synagogue, uncomfortable attending a Pesach seder (treating it as a great “feed”), or unable to respond to a critic who questions our rights to the promised land – it’s time to go back to “school”. Invest in a learned tutor to come and tutor you and your family for two hours a week. And, let’s have free Jewish courses led by social psychologists on the nature and meaning of having a strong personal and collective identity. Also invest in personal defence training. Jews must know how to defend ourselves in the street and the increasing “incidents” in closed arenas like supermarkets and roadways. Provide the funds for every Jew to be equipped mentally, physically and spiritually to defend him/herself at all levels – words and fists (coming from a Rabbi!????).

A message to wannabe Jewish commentators and leaders: please don’t bombard us with daily “learned discourses” on how bad things are and why. We don’t need that. We need a true, strong, courageous inspiring leadership – a Churchillian attitude, a Moshe Rabbeinu, a King David. Enough sucking up to weak government leaders. Time to flex your intellectual muscle, seek heavy monetary investment, and most of all Jewish willpower. Strength breeds strength. The opposite is also true.

I advocate this week a high dose of “…Eikev Tishme’un…” – the opening words of this week’s Torah reading, which can be translated as “Let even the heels of my feet heed the words of My (G-d’s) instructions”. The Manual is not wrong. We are. If all else fails, go back to basics.

And ask yourself the basic question: Am I a Jewish Australian or just an Australian Jew?

Rabbi Dr Laibl Wolf is a Melbourne-based rabbi, author and speaker.