What's Maccabee Nation all about?

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What's Maccabee Nation All About?

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Since October 7th, 2023, many Jews around the world have felt like we’re trapped in a bad episode of The Twilight Zone, in fact, 75% of us feel less safe now then before the attack. The Jew hatred began almost immediately, even before Israel counterattacked Hamas after their particularly barbaric attack against predominantly civilians, what we used to call terrorism.

We’ve all seen (and many of us have unfortunately experienced antisemitism), but seeing the blood libels and propaganda reemerge globally on the scale we’re seeing today does feel reminiscent of the run up to the Holocaust. It feels pretty shitty, especially if you have kids, to wonder what the world will be like as this younger and easily manipulatable generation begins to take power throughout the western world.

Although the world seems to love us when we’re being slaughtered, nations are also quick to line up against us when we protect ourselves and our right to self determination. The good news is, today we are not victims (despite the fact that one out of every four HR managers readily admitting to discriminating against Jews). We now have our own nation with our own army in our indigenous homeland, Israel.

As the only Jewish state on Earth, we are uniquely held to an impossible standard that no other country must adhere to. While the hypocrisy can be enraging, at least we now we can forge our own destiny. Today, in Israel, Jews have the greatest opportunity to persevere and flourish since ancient times. Zionism 1.0 has been achieved, and now we have to figure out what Zionism 2.0 looks like so we can secure a strong Jewish future for the next generation. That’s what Maccabee Nation is all about.

As Golda Meir, the first female Prime Minister of Israel, reminds us, “we cannot erase the past merely because it does not fit the present..” The world wants to erase our past so they can erase our future. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, there we only 15 million people, 0.2% of the world population, how can we fight back? Another way to look at it is, wow, there are 15 million of us. Imagine what we can accomplish if we were united and motivated to achieve common goals?

So what are some of the goals of the Maccabee Nation?

(1) Create stronger bridges between Jewish communities, and our allies around the world, so we can better support each other.

Yes, there is a lot we disagree on, but we need to work through our differences so we can unite against bigger threats. The most heinous protests, like the ones going on now on elite university campuses, should be met with strong counterprotests. We cannot abandon young Jewish students simply because we are busy with work. More recently, Jews were also attacked outside their synagogue in LA. Defeating or at least mitigating the negative impacts of antisemitism is too big a task for any one individual to to impact alone.

(2) To prepare Jews globally, especially diaspora Jews outside of Israel, for potentially violent conflict so they can keep themselves and their families safe.

This includes education about gun safety, security at community events, and escape planning in the event our home countries become unsafe. It may seem far-fetched now, but many of our ancestors likely thought the same and history has a way of repeating itself. It is better to have a plan and not need it, then need it and not have it.

(3) Articulate a clear vision for a thriving Zionist future that equally inspires Israelis, diaspora Jews, our allies, and even our enemies.

Let’s be honest, we are not good at articulating our long term vision. Past Zionist leaders had a clear plan, which is what enabled them to achieve it. Now that we are approaching our first century of Israel as a modern nation state, we need to plan ambitious goals for the next 100 years. If we don’t have clear goals to work toward, we will never reach our immense potential.

There is room in this tent for everyone who cares about Israel and a strong Jewish diaspora to feel at home building Maccabee Nation into a thriving community. Together, I believe we can turn our vision of a prosperous and safe future for our people into a reality.

Let’s go!

Am Yisrael Chai

Sources:

Jews feel less safe after Oct. 7th https://www.thejc.com/news/usa/more-than-75-of-us-jews-feel-less-safe-after-october-7-attacks-caqnmigp

Antisemitism reaches highest level since 1970 ( before Oct 7th attacks) https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/us/antisemitism-report-unprecedented-rise-dg/index.html

Lots of HR Managers hate Jews (paraphrased) https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/diversity-inclusion/disturbing-1-in-4-recruiters-unlikely-to-accept-jewish-applicants/428846

Some good Golda Quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/223411.Golda_Meir

Jewish counter protestors blowing shofars https://forward.com/news/448404/jewish-protesters-blast-shofar-at-rallies-across-the-country/