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Should We Hide Our Tsitsit or Kippot to Protect Us from the Anti-Jewish Mob?
Demonstrators wearing kippot in solidarity with the Jewish community at a Berlin demonstration against antisemitism in April 2018. Photo: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch.
This week’s Torah reading is mainly concerned with the 12 men sent by Moses to tour the land of Israel before entering it. On their return, 10 of them stated that although the land was fruitful, the inhabitants were too much of a military challenge. The two dissenters, Joshua and Kalev, were shouted down. Thus, the Jewish people were sent back into the wilderness for another 40 years, until a new generation with a different mental state would be ready to enter.
Mental fortitude is the theme of this week’s reading — and a very relevant one for all of us.
This week’s reading also talks about the fringes — Tsitsit — that many Jews wear, sometimes over their clothes and sometimes underneath:
God said to Moses speak to the children of Israel and tell them that they should make these fringes on the corners of their garments for all future generations and included in the fringes should be a thread of blue and when you look at them you will remember all the commandments which God has given and you will carry them out and you should not allow your eyes and you should not be seduced after your heart and your eyes which so easily seduce you. (Numbers, Chapter 15:37-40).
Archaeologically we know that in the ancient Middle East, aristocrats and priests wore distinctive clothes, including girdles with fringes as a symbol of superiority. The Israelites adopted these fringes to remind everyone of the laws.
The general clothing of the Israelites were square garments with a hole in the middle for the head, falling down at the sides with four corners. That was where the fringes were attached. When the style of clothing changed to be togas or skirts during the Greek and Roman period, which didn’t have four corners, some gave up the law, while others had specific garments made in order to keep the tradition. Of course, this identified Jews as being different in the Graeco-Roman world. Some flaunted it, and others hid or abandoned Judaism.
In the 19th century, after the Enlightenment, Jews began to mix more freely and generally in non-Jewish society, and tried to avoid looking different. It became a pretty widespread custom to make special four-cornered garments that would be worn underneath one’s shirt, and therefore not necessarily visible. The only place that one saw the garment with fringes was in the synagogue, where we have what is called the Talit Gadol, which is much bigger than the smaller Talit Katan, the little one worn underneath.
In the less civilized world that we live in, I have been asked several times whether it would be better if we didn’t wear our Tsitsit, out of fear of being attacked. Some people have even asked me whether they are allowed to take down their Mezuzah because they fear that if their house would be recognized as a Jewish house, it would be vandalized.
This is not a new problem. It has been with us throughout our period of exile, whether in the Christian or Muslim world. Particularly toward the end of the 19th century, as Jews spread out beyond the ghettos, and Jews were attacked, assimilated Jews like Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust withdrew even more.
Wearing Tsitsit in public (and/or kippot for that matter) can take courage. And not all of us have the fortitude to assert our identity openly. And it’s up to us as to how we deal with it. For me, it is a matter of pride and taking a stand — as well as passing on to the next generations that being proud to be a Jew may very often subject you either to ridicule or even attack, but it defines one as a person.
It was so impressive and reassuring during the recent parade for Israel in New York to see hundreds of youngsters and adults walking down Fifth Avenue happily wearing the Magen David, kippot, and flaunting their Tsitsit.
We all make choices as to how much of our tradition we adhere to, and to what degree, but this is a very important test case of who we are and where we stand. This too is about mental fortitude.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”
His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.
On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.
An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.
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Nonprofit Ship Sets Sail for Gaza After Drone Attack Setback
Police officers detain Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, during an Oily Money Out and Fossil Free London protest in London, Britain, October 17, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville
International nonprofit organization Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said one of its vessels left the Italian port of Catania on Sunday, heading for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, after a previous attempt failed due to a drone attack on a separate ship in the Mediterranean.
The crew of volunteers, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Irish actor Liam Cunningham, set sail on the Madleen, carrying barrels of what the group called “limited amounts, though symbolic,” of relief supplies.
Another vessel operated by the group, the Conscience, was hit by two drones just outside Maltese territorial waters in early May. FFC said Israel was to blame for the incident. Israel has not responded to requests for comment.
“We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” Thunberg told reporters at a conference before the departure.
She added that “no matter how dangerous this mission is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the lives being genocised”.
FFC said the trip “is not charity. This is a non-violent, direct action to challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes.”
The situation in Gaza is the worst since the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists began 19 months ago, the United Nations said on Friday, despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave.
Under growing global pressure, Israel ended an 11-week blockade on Gaza, allowing limited U.N.-led operations to resume.
On Monday, a new avenue for aid distribution was also launched – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – backed by the United States and Israel, but with which the U.N. and international aid groups have refused to work, saying it is not neutral and has a distribution model that forces the displacement of Palestinians.
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