Musings Of A Shliach From Montana

By: Rabbi Chaim Bruk

Rabbi Chaim Bruk speaking at the October 7 Memorial in Helena

Rabbi Chaim with Rep. Randyn Gregg, Maya Avishai, Israeli Consul General, and members of the Gregg family

The Jewish people are not victims.

We have been victimized, but we aren’t victims.

Tammy Bruce, who was a radio personality when I was younger and is today the U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, once said, “When your victimhood is your empowerment, recovery is the enemy, and working on individual change becomes counterproductive, even dangerous to your identity.” It’s a very true statement and we see it play out all the time. With October 7th being commemorated this past week, both on Simchas Torah and the secular date, I was thinking a lot about victimhood.

Last week, the President of the Montana Senate, Matt Regier, organized a memorial at the capitol rotunda in honor of October 7. It was attended by Montana Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras, Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court Bowen Greenwood, Israel’s Deputy Consul to the Pacific Northwest Maya Avishai, and many legislators, including my dear friend, Montana State Rep. Randyn Gregg. I was asked to share a few words and a prayer and, of course, I accepted. It’s a 90-minute drive from Bozeman, but we do what needs to be done for our people. In my five minute talk, I thanked Montana for being such a beautiful home for Jews, I reminded the crowd that I am a grandson of a Holocaust survivor, my beloved Zayde Reb Shimon Goldman, I said the entireAv Harachaman prayer (in English) that we recite before Mussaf on Shabbos, I said Yizkor for the Israeli soldiers who died in service, I lit a candle in memory of all those who died including my cousin, Shaul Moyal, of Karnei Shomron, who died Al Kiddush Hashem in Lebanon two years ago, and I ended by encouraging everyone to do acts of kindness and to be proud of their goodness.

While I think that I presented well, I also thought a lot about attendance. Sure, we had a great showing for a Montana event when the legislature isn’t even in session, but even among the Jewish community, I don’t see a draw to memorial events for October 7th. It’s curious to me that for Sushi in the Sukkah or any other Chabad event, Baruch Hashem, we get so many people, but memorials don’t do the same. It’s not like the masses aren’t super supportive of Israel and devoted to never forgetting, it’s just that remembering October 7th has shifted away from memorializing and kvetching in grief to Jews becoming stronger in their Jewish identity, more involved in their Jewish faith, and that is their way of remembering. I saw a video this past week of a Torah inauguration at Chabad of Columbia University where students sang in the streets of New York: “It’s Geshmak to be a Yid” and I see that as more of a response than any candle lighting vigil or memorial.

So, while I do think that the formal events must continue, the political leadership and business leadership of our country should still come together to recognize what happened to us on that horrible day and stand with the Jewish community, just like they need to remember the Holocaust, yet our real memorials will be with more people dancing at Simchas Torah, more Jews lighting menorahs on Chanukah, more Jews putting up mezuzahs, and more Jewish women using the mikvah. The Hamas nazis thought that they could destroy our souls, our resolve, our resilience, and we don’t respond to that with tears and mourning. We respond by being more Jewish than ever before. We can take pride in the fact that no Jew ever need hide his face when sharing his views on Israel while our enemies are forced to hide because evil is not fully welcome in America yet.

In this week’s parashah, Noach, we read about the great flood and the few survivors in Noach’s ark. The devastation was universal and Noach’s job in the ark was labor intensive, but we don’t see much complaining; rather, when he exits the ark, he chooses to bring a sacrifice to Hashem.

Interestingly, Hashem gave humanity the rainbow to remind us that He won’t bring another mabul (flood) of that magnitude. I love it when we see a rainbow in Montana, which is quite often, and I get to make the berachah: “Blessed are You, Hashem, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise.” We are grateful that despite humanity’s behavior and the sinfulness that exists, Hashem doesn’t make another flood.

So, we remember the flood each time there’s a rainbow, but we don’t dwell on the flood; we dwell on rebuilding the world. We can spend all our time focused on what life was like before October 7, 2023 or we can focus on the new world post October 7 and do our very best, like Noach, to build a world of goodness and kindness.

Furthermore, Noach had a rough time in the ark, and he didn’t let that define him. The Midrash, quoted in Rashi, tells us that the lion was upset for being served a meal later than usual and he either bit or hit Noach to the point that he was gushing blood. Yet he didn’t kvetch. He didn’t say “G-d, what’s up? Why me? I’m doing my best to take care of the entire animal kingdom and it’s hard enough, why do I need to be injured?” Instead, he accepted his injury as part of the gig, recognizing that he gets to serve Hashem, gets to survive, and didn’t dwell on his “victimhood.” We aren’t meant to live as victims; we are meant to live as warriors. My friend George, who davened on Yom Kippur at Chabad of Miami Beach with Rabbi & Mrs. Zev Katz, shared with me that former Ambassador Ron Dermer prayed there too, and he shared an important vort at the podium after Kol Nidrei: We Jews need to move away from the victimhood mentality and instead remember that we are the resilient Jews who are forging towards a bright future. We aren’t a nebach group of people who need the world’s sympathy, we are rock solid survivors of the flood, the Al-Aqsa Flood, and we are stronger than ever.

My above-mentioned cousin Shaul, who died two years ago, left his wife Smadar and ten children to mourn his loss. Just recently, his son Yehuda was able to enter Lebanon and say Kaddish Yatom with his army platoon at the location of his father’s death. His family is obviously mourning the loss of their amazing father and husband, but they are celebrating life and enjoying every moment of being a Jew in the land of Israel. Yes, they see the rainbow, they remember the hardship and loss, but they are also celebrating their lot in life and bringing offerings of thanksgiving to Hashem.

When I was a yeshiva student and Michael Savage was still on the radio in New York, he would quote Cicero about the enemy within, a quote I really appreciate: “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.”

Today it’s crystal clear that there is a vocal enemy within our country, but instead of living in fear and disappointment, we must celebrate our role in the world, we must celebrate that we are the Noachs who get to establish a world based on the light of Torah and ignore the noise that is loud and annoying. You can focus on the flood, but it will drown you. If you focus on the miracle of survival and live like you appreciate it, Hashem will help you in traffic jams, in hospital wards, and while you’re waiting for a delayed plane to take off. And like we saw with the Flydubai miracle: in the everyday moments and the moments that take your breath away. 

Rabbi Chaim Bruk is co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana and spiritual leader of The Shul of Bozeman. For comments or to partner in our holy work, e-mail [email protected] or visit JewishMontana.com/Donate.