A year ago, I had the privilege of speaking with Tamar Schwarzbard–the former digital diplomacy leader at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs–on behalf of Jewish National Fund-USA. She spent eight years helping shape Israel’s global digital presence, leading high-impact communications during some of the country’s most consequential moments.

We spoke of the overwhelming wave of misinformation and rise of antisemitism across the globe. While we agreed that pro-Israel advocates are now quicker to counter falsehoods and are better at humanizing stories, these gains are overshadowed by the sheer scale and resources of the opposition. As she puts it: “On a good day, there are 16 million Jews in the world, and we’re talking about billions of other people who are sharing a very different narrative.”

Meanwhile, I have come to question whether we have prepared our own Jewish voices to speak on behalf of Israel. 

In my personal Jewish circle, based in “Jew” York City (it’s a joke, laugh), the conversations I’ve had regarding Jewish identity and Israel have alarmed me.

Young American Jews, across all religious dominations, are taught to celebrate Jewish holidays, keep the mitzvot and love Israel. 

However, this has created a disconnect.

Many of these young American Jews don’t understand the depth of their Jewish roots to Israel, nor how to feel connected in the Diaspora. Worse, they don’t even know how to talk about it–some even classifying “Israeli” as an ethnicity or feeling they need to be on Israel’s offensive all the time.

The Jewish-American education system is failing its youth. Left unaddressed, that failure will continue to fuel a lack of objective political discourse and an identity crisis, ultimately resulting in full assimilation.

Before we can expect young American Jews to defend our story to the world, we must ensure they understand it themselves. 

Because before we can answer accusations about who we are, aside from religion, we have to answer a much more important question: Who are we?

Who are the Jewish People?

The Jewish people are an indigenous Levantine people whose origins trace back to the ancient populations of the Land of Canaan. Thousands of years ago, twelve Israelite tribes emerged as a distinct federation........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)