Israel is a nation that has learned how to defend its borders. We have built one of the world’s most sophisticated militaries, one of its strongest economies, and one of its most innovative technology sectors. Yet alongside these remarkable achievements lies a quieter challenge—one that no army can solve and no technological breakthrough alone can repair.

How do we strengthen the bonds between Jews who have grown increasingly distant from one another?

That question was at the heart of my recent podcast (click to see excerpt) conversation with Dr. Raheli Baratz

an Israeli researcher, public intellectual, and leading voice on Jewish identity, Zionism, and Israeli society. Our discussion ranged from Israel’s internal divisions to the relationship between Israelis and the Diaspora, from education to Jewish continuity. Yet every subject eventually returned to one central theme: the future of the Jewish people in Israel and across the globe depends not only on our security but also on our ability to remain one family.

In many ways, that conversation reflected the very purpose of Shabbat Nachamu – Shabbat Achdut, a worldwide initiative, created by Mendy Fensterszaub,

inviting Jews everywhere to perform one simple act on the Shabbat following Tisha B’Av:

Set one more place at the table.

It sounds almost too simple.

Can an extra chair really make a difference?

Dr. Baratz believes it can.

One of the most striking moments in our conversation came when she spoke about “the other.” In today’s Israel and within the Jewish world aboard, the phrase is often used to describe someone outside our own community—the secular Jew, the religious Jew, the settler, the Tel Aviv liberal, the Haredi, the new immigrant, the Diaspora Jew, the Israeli Jew, the Zionist Jew, the non-Zionist Jew. Political discourse encourages us to place people into categories before we ever meet them.

Yet, as Dr. Baratz observed, “the other” is often simply someone we have never taken the time to know.

That........

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