The college protests and encampments have been deeply disturbing for the vile Jew hatred being espoused by the participants. You may be aware that a segment of those participating in these protests are actually young Jewish college students.
What should our attitude be toward these uninformed, profoundly misguided young Jews? Should we view them as estranged brothers? Should we reject them? After all, what can be a greater statement of denouncing one’s Judaism than siding with the enemy?
The four species with which we celebrate Sukkot (which we learn about this week) are symbolic of four different Jewish characters: one who is knowledgeable in Judaism and active in good deeds (Etrog), a second who is knowledgeable but inactive (Lulav), a third who is uninformed but active (Myrtle), and the fourth one, the willow, represents the Jew who is uneducated and inactive. Yet, we can’t bless and shake the Lulav without the ‘good for nothing’ fourth Jew, tied in with all the others.
The involved and active Jewish community is incomplete as long as any ‘lost’ Jew is not part of the pack. This means, that even a Jew who has no identifying factor of their Judaism, all they have going for them is that they were born Jewish, they are deserving of our unconditional love, not because of anything they do, but because of who they are. In fact, the less Jewishly they identify, the more they are in need of our love.
Here’s a timely takeaway: There are plenty of Jews who largely mix with non-Jewish people. In recent months, they may be feeling increasingly lonely, discovering that their friends may not be such good friends after all. So they never had Jewish friends, and now may feel distant from their non-Jewish friends. Now would be a great time for you to reach out to them, meet them for coffee, invite them to your home for a Shabbat dinner, or to be your guest at a community event. Make sure they are lonely no more.
Watch, in no time the ‘Willow’ branch will start smelling like the delicious ‘Etrog’.