(RNS) Let me tell you about a married couple. They have been together for many years. Their marriage has had some good moments, but there have also been periods of verbal and physical abuse. Finally, the wife tells her husband that she is considering leaving the marriage. She knows she has options. She can go to a shelter for battered wives, and even find her own place to live in safety and security.
As she starts her car in the garage, her husband runs after her. He drops to his knees and begs: “Please don’t go. I won’t be ‘me’ without you!”
A Jewish bakery in Paris.
Does she put her foot on the brake, shut off the engine and go back into the house? Does she stay in what has become a very troubled marriage?
That is precisely the question that many Jews in Europe have been asking themselves. More than 7,000 French Jews have moved to Israel in the last year, and there are clear signs others will follow. This is huge. France has the third-largest Jewish community in the world.
The end of French Jewry would be the end of a history that includes (short list) the famous biblical explicator Rashi (whose commentaries contain the oldest French words in historical memory), wrongly accused artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus, philosopher and Christian convert Simone Weil and two prime ministers, Leon Blum and Pierre Mendes-France. (While the closest that American Jews ever got to having a Jewish president was Joe Lieberman.)
“Please don’t go. I won’t be ‘me’ without you!” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared: “If 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be France. The French Republic will be judged a failure.”
And it’s not just France. Take Great Britain. In London alone, police figures indicate that anti-Semitic crimes have doubled over the past year. No wonder that many British Jews (according to a recent poll, 58 percent) wonder whether they have a future in England.
“Please don’t go. I won’t be ‘me’ without you!” William Hague, the former British foreign secretary, declared: “There is a real will among the population, I believe, of this country, the people of France and many other European countries to defeat these mindless murderers of innocent people.”
Is Prime Minister Valls right? Yes. Modern French history began when the Jews were emancipated in 1789. If French Jews leave, it calls the very meaning of France into question. No wonder he wants the Jews to stay.
Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, N.J., and the author of numerous books on Jewish spirituality. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Salkin
What about William Hague? Perhaps he knows that every country that has lost its Jews has lived to regret it. Perhaps he knows Benjamin Disraeli’s favorite quip: “The Lord deals with the nations as the nations deal with the Jews.” Translation: If a nation loses its Jews, that is a preamble to societal decline.
It was the Clash who first posed the musical question: “Should I stay or should I go?” Only the Jews of France and Britain — or any other place — can answer that question. There is a strong argument that it is in the Jews’ best interests to maintain strong and vibrant Diaspora communities, precisely so that they can continue to influence the world outside of Israel.
When elements within a host country start harming Jews, then the “marriage” becomes abusive and toxic.
So why does there need to be an Israel?
Because Israel is the Jewish “battered wives’ shelter.”
(Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am of Bayonne, N.J., and the author of “The Gods Are Broken! The Hidden Legacy of Abraham,” published by the Jewish Publication Society.)
YS/MG END SALKIN
