Not that we needed the reminder – this week’s Torah portion shows us that threats can come from far and wide. We read the account of the sorcerer Bilaam who is summoned by the King Balak of Moab to curse the people of Israel. After being humiliated by his talking donkey, Bilaam moves between three different vantage points to pronounce his curse. However, each time he opens his mouth to curse, only blessings and words of praise leave his lips. Among the noble attributes he recognized in our people is the separateness of Israel among the nations. “A people that dwells alone, Not reckoning itself among nations.”

And while our people might have outgrown the fear of sorcerers, the increase in antisemitic incidents and acts of hate in recent years make Jewish communal security more important than ever. Last week, UJCVP’s very own Secure Community Network (SCN) Regional Security Advisor Dave Brackins was recognized by the FBI for his leadership protecting the Jewish community in Virginia and awarded with the prestigious Director’s Community Leadership Award. I encourage you to click here to read more about the award and the proactive steps Dave takes to keep our Virginia Peninsula Jewish community safe and secure. Throughout the award ceremony a repeated note of praise was in Dave’s ability to build relationships between the Jewish community and local law enforcement, understanding that a key to our safety is ensuring that in times of threats the Jewish community is not alone.

Responding to the connection between antisemitism and Bilaam’s language of separateness, the celebrated moral thinker Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that “antisemitism is not mysterious, unfathomable, or inexorable. It can be fought; it can be defeated. But it will not be fought or defeated if people think that it is [our] fate to be ‘the people that dwells alone,’ a pariah among peoples, a leper among nations. What then does the phrase “a people that dwells alone” mean? It means a people prepared to stand alone if need be, living by its own moral code, having the courage to be different and to take the road less travelled.”

The battle against antisemitism can be won, but it will not be if Jews believe that we are destined to be alone. That is Bilaam’s curse, not God’s blessing.

Shabbat Shalom,
Eric Maurer
Executive Director
emaurer@ujcvp.org