The Hidden Dangers to the Jewish People

We, the Jewish people always lived in a ghetto. For two thousand years. Wherever we were. And it is not only because the gentiles forced us to live away from the heart of the city. It has to do with our choice as well. We had to be close to the synagogue. We could not drive on Saturdays. Only walk to. Also, there was the fear of assimilation. We would not eat with gentiles. We ate kosher. We had our own schools and if our son or daughter married a gentile, we would cut our shirt, symbolizing that we buried that child, and it is not a member of the family anymore. Physical proximity, socializing with gentiles, was not prohibited but was perceived to be dangerous because it was perceived as a threat to our survivability as a separate nation.  
 
This changed with the birth of Zionism. It bifurcated religion from nationality and some Israelis can be Jewish by the fact that they are Israeli but without being religious or even by being anti the Jewish religion. In some secular schools in Israel, they do not teach anything related to the Jewish religion like the Old Testament or the rituals around the religious holidays.
 
As the crisis in Israel makes some secular people leave the country and establish Israeli settlements somewhere else, having no religious backbone, they are not part of the Jewish community. They do not go to the synagogue, do not participate in the religious celebrations with the rest of the Jewish community. Over time their children or grandchildren assimilate.
 
In the beginning of the 70s I saw a play in an Israeli theater. Two people were on the stage: Herzl , the founder of Zionism, and Shabtai Tzvi, who led the Jews of the Ottoman Empire to believe he is a messiah and will take the Jews back to Zion, the promised land. The Sultan considered him a threat to peace and threatened him with death unless he converted to the Muslim religion which he did, and thousands of his followers did the same. Thus, he was considered a false messiah. In the play, at a certain point, Shabtai Tzvi asks Herzl: "Maybe you too are a false messiah?"

The secular Israelis believe it is enough to be Israeli, speak Hebrew, know about the religious celebrations but not as religious events but as national events. Without the Jewish religious backbone, their children will assimilate and if not them then their grandchildren and the Jewish nation will suffer another big loss which can be prohibitive after the holocaust.
 
I am calling the Jewish community wherever you are, to seek the Israelis and bring them to the fold. It is not going to be easy. Many secular Israelis have a strong antipathy to religion because in Israel the religious are a political force and use that force to obtain resources to promote the Jewish religion  and at the same time refuse to serve and protect the country. They are rejected and called parasites. So, to bring secular Israelis to the fold will not be easy but at the same time if it is not done, we might lose millions of them, after the Holocaust our numbers are small to start with.
 
Why should we survive as a nation? Why not assimilate and stop the dangers of being killed, maimed, shot  and rejected?

We have a role to perform. Tikun olam. We are chosen for a reason. We are the leaders of change. We lead and without us the world will not be as good as it is with us.

We are a multi thousand years old nation who has contributed to the world. I am proud of being Jewish. It will be a sad development if our numbers continue to be reduced. This time by the choices we made.