Dear Gen Z and Millennial Jews,

This heart-to-heart comes from a seasoned Boomer, who recently left my pulpit after nearly forty years. This year I’ll be sitting back in the pews; this year of all years, with so much that needs to be said, and with so many of you feeling despondent and let down. So I ask you to indulge me and let me speak to you, in the best way that I can right now.

I feel for what you’ve been through and the innocence you’ve lost. My parents endured Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust, but Millennials and Gen Z have been pummeled by the equivalent of three Pearl Harbors: Sept. 11, COVID and Oct.7. As for my generation, I was too young to be drafted for Vietnam, so my formative events were the Six Day War, Soviet Jewry and Watergate. I grew up believing in the ultimate triumph of justice, the surprising resilience of the Jewish people and the power of the Jewish message. I was truly fortunate. You are not.

Some have described this as a “break glass moment” for the world. For America, Israel and her neighbors, Ukraine, refugees and immigration, economic insecurity, crime, racism, antisemitism, AI, gun violence, and hate.

And to top it off, the worst haters on the far left and right have libeled us and have ostracized and chased you, subjecting some of you to unspeakable violence. Many of you feel vulnerable at your own synagogues, workplaces and classrooms.

While no one can ever excuse the hate directed against us, we simultaneously find ourselves having to bear the brunt of horrific actions taken by leaders claiming to represent us, both in Israel and here who have enabled one another through corruption and cowardice.

I don’t blame you for coming to see Judaism and the Jewish people through the prism of these actions. But I also want to say: You can be proud of who you are and of the precious legacy you’ve inherited. focusing on three priceless and deeply rooted Jewish values: peace, hope and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)