Israel Rising from the Ashes - 75 Years

Holocaust survivors one day after liberation in May 1945.
 Photo: National Archives and Records Administration.

We became polarized around the meaning of “Team Jewish”. Was Jewish a nationality? Did it include all members of Israel our nation? Did the concept sufficiently incorporate all who consider themselves members of the tribe? And what about Jewish continuity? I began to reflect - what does belonging to the Jewish team actually mean for the culturally diverse, some of whom cling to the thinnest of assimilated threads? Notwithstanding attempts by Jewish establishments to accommodate the estranged, orthodox, conservative and reform aggregate their communities under the Jewish banner. However, some follow no religion at all and many don’t know or don’t even admit to being Jewish.

The immediate assumption was that every member of the tribe is a member of the “Jewish Team”, but that convenience didn’t cut it for me. That would make one mighty big unmanageable team and certainly members from the strictly orthodox league would not play on the same field as conservatives, reformers or abstainers. According to their rules some may not even be Jewish! What is it that exists in the annals of Jewish history that had kept this fledgling nation alive and strengthened it through the most difficult challenges to rise and rise again? Something had to fit with the “Team” ideal that would accommodate all its members whether or not they agreed with each others practices.

The notion of automatic player admission to “Team Jewish” simply would not fit. Perhaps a broader “Club Jewish” concept would work, but who would select the team? Unifying Jewish opinions for team selection would be impossible, it would lead to more segmentation and would certainly do more harm than good. For the most part religious Judaism, in its multiple forms through its various organizations is a club open for anyone to qualify and join. Club-Jewish may fit the mold for diversity, but the club constitution and team selection would remain problematic. Many inconsistencies are imbued through different Jewish practices, some are cultural others more religiously technical, but there is one practice that remains stoically entrenched and central to each sub-community:- The Torah scroll at the front of their clubhouses, written in the same millennial tradition.

My search continued deeper and deeper looking for something that could resolve the problem of team selection, then it struck me. At first I thought the idea is so removed from reality, that it just wasn’t possible, but that led me to the exact place that resolved the problem. A mystical idea of Kabbalah that has forever produced selection of “Team Jewish”! Opinions vary about the number of members that constitute the team, but this minor detail should not get in the way of the establishment as most views converge. Team Jewish are the super-Jews, Tzadikim Nistarim (Hebrew: צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים) the "hidden righteous ones". This elite group of 36 Jews are thought to exist in the world at all times, without them the world would fall. Any Jew can be selected for team-Jewish, but no-one ever know whether they’ve been selected for the team - could it be you? You may not know it and neither would anyone else, but “Club-Jewish” can be assured of the presence of these special Team Jewish members at all times.

Despite the occasionally rowdy membership, Club-Jewish has survived because of its magnificent team who blitz the competition in every game. These pillars, on which the world stands silently blaze their brilliance every day, whether in business, science, the arts, religion, charity or politics this team keeps Club-Jewish in business for the benefit of its members. It reminds me of a childhood saying at my non-Jewish school, modified here ever so slightly - ‘Jesus saves, but (Pele) Team-Jewish scores on the rebound!’ Now that's a team any self-respecting club would be proud to support.

75 years after the last devastating attempt to destroy the Jewish Club, the team settles the score to proudly unite its members as they go about their humble business. Everyday they tackle, defend, attack, pass and score. As Club-Jewish members increasingly recognize, respect and regard the diversity of their multitudinous culture they settle back to barrack their team and the home ground advantage of Israel, their Jewish nation state continues to pay handsome dividends.