After October 7th, “there’s [still] nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The air is still thick with hate and revenge. The water is still murky with distrust and angst. Our hearts are still beating but our breaths are shallow. Though time has moved on, little if anything has changed. Close to home, American Jews are facing ever-rising rates of Jewish hate. Far away, Israelis are facing increasing threats of delegitimization from abroad and political wariness at home. There’s nothing new under the sun, because by many measures, Jews have always had to think hard, create anew, and prepare for the future, despite it all.

Fatigue and disillusionment add to the fog that makes us wonder if it’s already too much. Well, of course it’s too much, but not for us. While much unfinished business remains since October 7th, a top issue is what’s happening at home where future Jewish engagement begins or ends.

After High Holy Days, conversations about the discord between parents and their children on the topic of Israel took up a lot of time and space. By way of some background, some parents grew up and have lived in relatively quiet times. The 1960s-1990s were great decades to be an American child and teen. Though wars and the cessation of wars filled the news, the world tired of war and recouped its strength founded on new terms for peace, including the fall of the Berlin Wall. But it also created casual expectations about what life was going to be even while the globalized world emerged around us. Now, this generation’s children and young adults, who are coming of age after 9/11/2001, the Great Recession, the pandemic, and October 7th, are encountering a world that didn’t prepare well enough for what the second quarter of the 21st century would become.

The handwringing and shouting, not to mention the silent treatment, between parents and children are unacceptable ways of walking away from each other when so much is at stake. We still want peace for all peoples who have struggled for too long without it. But in a world where non-binary and fluid relationships have been prioritized, why should the world’s biggest problems and their solutions be cast only in binary terms—occupied and occupiers, colonized and colonizers, Zionist or anti-Zionist? Nuance is highly underrated, though one of Judaism’s greatest strengths is searching in gray areas for reasoned outcomes.

The Jewish principle, mipnei darkei shalom, “for the sake of peace,” insists that we listen and learn something from each other. We owe it to past generations not to give up on each other or to forego what is still possible even when it’s difficult to see what others see. And younger generations owe it to their elders to listen so that their best work can be emulated and their worst mistakes avoided.

It’s time to adhere to wisdom and truth found in sacred texts and in the best examples set by our finest leaders, secular and religious. At home, lead by example. Set rules for conversation, boundaries around topics, and call time-out when the temperature rises. Online, mind personal boundaries and avoid arguing with bots and hacks. Read widely and verify everything. And when you’ve had enough online, read a book on Jewish and Israel history and learn something new. In the community, teach without protest and listen without interrupting. If the temperature rises there, walk away without feeling defeated.

October 7th finally gave way to October 8th, but nothing will change the facts we’ve added to our people’s long history of falling and rising again. As we continue to take new and steady steps together, let’s be careful not to cull the population to walk only with those who agree with us. As Jews and Jewish allies, let’s walk with all those who adhere to Torah, who mind the prophets’ words of faith, and who know that, despite there being nothing new under the sun, we can make a positive difference. In America, which has been a remarkable home for Jews, and in Israel, which for more than 70 years has been a dream fulfilled after 2000 years of exile, it’s every generation’s obligation to prepare the way forward with shared hope and faith.

Am Yisrael Chai!

L’Shalom,