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October 7 shattered many illusions. We believed we had built an impenetrable defense, reinforced by sophisticated technology and capable of protecting our citizens and cities from Arab brutality. That notion proved false. Conversely, our enemies assumed we were too fragmented to rally and defend our country. Fortunately, our enemies were wrong too.
In addition to these misconceptions, another devastating illusion was also shattered. Those who had believed that anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred had been eradicated were tragically proven wrong.
In particular, many residents of communities near Gaza who were deeply committed to peaceful coexistence with their Arab neighbors saw their dreams of harmony go up in flames. They had committed themselves to peace initiatives and promoted a vision of mutual respect and understanding. Yet on October 7, their communities were devastated and burned.
One of the most poignant examples is that of Vivian Silver, a peace activist from Kibbutz Be’eri who selflessly drove Palestinians from Gaza to Israeli hospitals. On that fateful day, she was kidnapped and, after weeks of uncertainty, it was confirmed that she had been killed. Countless others across Israel who were committed to building bridges have had the bitter realization of how much we are hated by many, perhaps most, Palestinians both in Gaza and in the neighboring territories.
It was not only the illusions of the Jews in Israel that were shattered on October 7. Many Jews around the world had built their Jewish identity on the mission to create a more just and perfect society – the program of the Tikkun Olam.
Especially for those who found traditional rituals less compelling, the pursuit of social justice became central to their Jewish experience. As they marched alongside other minority groups in the fight against discrimination, they assumed that Jews were accepted by modern society as equal partners in the struggle for social justice.
After October 7, however, many of the minority groups for whose rights they had fought turned their backs on them. Those with whom they had stood shoulder to shoulder in the noble struggle for equality betrayed them and unleashed a torrent of vicious anti-Semitism. The halls of academia, once seen as bastions of enlightenment and education and as forces against racism and anti-Semitism, became breeding grounds of hatred and violence.
The world they thought they knew and the society they believed to be civil and enlightened revealed darker realities. Their vision of an enlightened world that aspired to a society without racism and hatred was shattered.
Deeply held beliefs were shaken both in Israel and throughout the Jewish world. We recognized the persistent toxicity of anti-Semitism that lurked beneath the surface and could erupt at any moment. Opportunistic anti-Semites will always align themselves with the political movement that advances their agenda of hatred and bigotry. Many mistakenly believed that the trauma of the Holocaust had seared a permanent abhorrence of anti-Semitism into the human conscience.
Yet 80 years later, anti-Semitism still rages unchecked. On October 7, our naive ideas of a modern and enlightened world – whether in Gaza, on US campuses or along the boulevards of Europe – collapsed.
A biblical world
October 7, however, ushered in an even more profound and comprehensive transformation of Jewish identity. It not only demonstrated the enduring malignancy of anti-Semitism, but was also a vivid reminder of our place in biblical history. That fateful day and its harrowing aftermath revived the ancient echoes of the Torah and its prophecies, reminding us that we are part of a timeless narrative. It affirmed with remarkable clarity the deep connection between our people, their history, and the Land of Israel.
In Israel, the discourse often revolves around the divide between religious and secular Jews, between those who maintain a halachic lifestyle and those who do not. But there is a deeper divide: between those whose lives are shaped by biblical narratives and those whose experiences are detached from the Torah. This divide is not only about Torah observance, but also about how we perceive the meaning of the Torah in our modern, technology-driven world.
For many, the Bible has become a historical document that offers only moral guidance and a record of our national past. It is seen as a relic from an ancient sandy desert, detached from our present urbanized, technologically advanced reality. In this view, history has moved beyond the pages of the Torah.
Others view the Torah and its teachings as the foundation of their identity and existence. They see their lives and the Jewish mission as closely intertwined with the promises and prophecies of the Torah. Even those who do not live a classical, halachic lifestyle view their lives and our national struggle through the lens of biblical narratives. Our ongoing efforts to settle the land and confront international hostility are viewed as chapters of a holy book that are as compelling today as they were thousands of years ago.
Israeli society may not be becoming more religious, but there is no denying that it is becoming more oriented towards the Bible and the Torah.
It wasn’t always so. Zionism began as a secular nationalist movement that largely broke away from the narratives of the Torah. Early Zionist leaders, including Herzl, saw the State of Israel not as a continuation of ancient prophecies but as a means of combating the age-old hatreds of anti-Semitism. They believed that the creation of a Jewish homeland could overcome the prejudices rooted in Jewish exile and the experience of living among foreign nations. In its early years, the State of Israel was shaped more by Marx than by Moses.
Over the past 75 years, the character of the State of Israel has undergone a profound transformation. Israeli secular society today is far more biblically influenced than the secular culture of its earlier years. This change is due in part to the influx and growing influence of Jews from Sephardic lands.
Sephardic Jews, even those who are not classically observant, often hold a more traditional perspective compared to their Ashkenazi counterparts. The secularization movements that characterized European Jewry in the 19th and 20th centuries largely bypassed the Jews of the Sephardic regions. In addition, the rise of religious society in Israel, including a strong national-religious sector, has significantly influenced Israeli public life, especially in the military and political spheres.
The ongoing battle for our land has transformed secular Israeli society into a more biblical one. The unrelenting hostility toward our presence here, the disproportionate condemnation and double standards toward the State of Israel, and the sheer cruelty of the violence on October 7 – all of these elements defy a purely geopolitical explanation. The intensity of the hatred we face suggests that our conflict goes beyond territorial disputes; it is embedded in a biblical narrative, interwoven with deep, ancient themes about the people of Hashem and the land promised to them. This story goes beyond purely human dimensions.
October 7 not only reshaped Jewish identity worldwide, but also had a profound impact on Israeli society as a whole, reinforcing the realization that the Bible is not just an ancient document, but a living text that reflects the modern chapters of the ongoing history of Hashem’s people.
