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Rabbi Benji Levy

from oy to joy:

A call for positivity in Jewish engagement

isha B’Av is the saddest day in generally not been strong enough hand, exposure to the Shabbat
our collective history – it was to translate emotion into action experience, for example, can lead
Ton this day that the slanderous in a consistent way. Tisha B’Av is to an appreciation that supposedly
report from the spies was received still of enormous importance and disruptive restrictions can grant the
and the nation of Israel was forbidden remembering our traumatic past freedom to value the truly important
to enter the Land of Israel in 1312 must have its place in the Jewish things in life.
BCE; our Temples were destroyed in calendar. But there is a reason it
586 BCE and 70 CE; the Bar Kochba is counterbalanced with so many Jewish teachings about charity and
revolt was crushed in 135 CE; Spanish reasons for celebration. Our ongoing hospitality allow one to appreciate
Jewry was expelled in 1492; World story has its sad parts, but we are how an ancient moral compass can
War I broke out in 1914; the mass edging closer to the happy ending enhance the quality of life for the
deportation began from Warsaw to and the positives can dominate the most vulnerable members of modern
Treblinka in 1942 and the list goes on. story that’s worth telling. We must society. And a deeper understanding
While causing us deep sadness, these stand tall and say that we are proud of the vibrant, nuanced, multi-
events often led to unity. to be Jews, not because of terrorism faceted reality of Israel can allow
in places like Pittsburgh or Poway, or one to acknowledge its issues while
Threats to one’s Jewish identity often Israel’s enemies, but in spite of them. seeing past its falsified reputation and
provoke an instinctive reaction of appreciate the truth of its inclusivity
protectiveness, but this approach is In the late 1960s, Stanford and flourishing democracy.
becoming less effective as the distance psychology professor Walter Mischel
from these events widens and time conducted a series of experiments Days like Tisha B’Av are still of vital
marches on. on delayed gratification known as importance but a healthy Jewish
The Marshmallow Test. Particularly communal body cannot thrive on a
The establishment of the State fascinating for psychologists today diet of tragedy alone. It cannot devolve
of Israel has been coupled with are the follow-up studies, decades into a skeleton devoid of bone marrow
significant general improvements later, which found that childhood based on external threats. It must
for global Jewry, and many Jews ability to delay gratification correlated celebrate the inner beauty of Jewish
have not been directly exposed to with higher SAT scores, professional life. To move from oy to joy, we need
old forms of anti-Semitism and the success and better physical health. a paradigm shift in our pedagogy. The
powerfully emotional tribalism it can impetus for Jewish living must come
induce. Instead, as Jewish millennials What is clear is that as Millennials from inside the Jewish world, being
are welcomed with open arms into grow up, they are witnessing the proactive rather than reactive.
western societies, they have become collapse of the long-term security once
increasingly disengaged from days like offered by traditional institutions, We must begin by truly believing
Tisha B’Av that memorialize a heritage older generations losing their entire that the Jewish story is worth telling
with which they struggle to relate. accumulated wealth, debts rising and then reconsider how we tell
and job prospects and job security that story. Perhaps this is the reason
Desperately attempting to re-establish declining. As a result, they assign that tradition teaches us that the
these stirrings of Jewish pride, many greater social value to experiences – Messiah will be born on Tisha B’Av
Jewish educators double down on memories guaranteed to last. and ultimately herald the era of the
Jewish victimhood, limiting their building of the Third Temple which
educational impact by focusing on Judaism, when lived fully, includes will never be destroyed.
instilling a responsibility to lead enriching, positive substance that can
Jewish lives purely because the victims make a far more enduring impact on After all, our children no longer want
of prior generations could not. the individual than the declining sense to hear how not to leave. They need to
of obligation to marry Jewish and the experience why they must stay.
While this narrative continues to uninspired schlep to a synagogue
inspire a sense of Jewishness, it has on the High Holidays. On the other Rabbi Benji Levy is CEO of Mosaic United

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