Baruch Hashem, here's what happened.
A few weeks ago, someone I respect as a hero of our people posted a message calling on "all Americans" to express our "outrage" towards New York State Assemblymember Charles D. Lavine for defending the comments of Hofstra University President Susan Poser following the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel.
I don't enjoy confrontation but I believe no one can sit on the sidelines during times like this. So I called and, miraculously, I got through. I demanded he reconsider his position. He refused. Then our conversation moved to email and I declared,"…Israel is in the indigenous homeland of our people since the Creator gave it to our grandparents more than 3,000 years ago. Stop. End of Story."
And here’s where this story starts to get magical.
Not only did Chuck Lavine respond to my random emails but one thing led to another and the next thing I knew we were having lunch in a Kosher restaurant. We sat across the table from one another and learned about each other's family & backgrounds.
And don't think we tip-toed around the issue at hand. I continued to criticize President Poser and he continued to defend her. I told him how the word "Jew" comes from our indigenous homeland "Judea" and he told me how he not only publicly condemns Hamas now but even stood up against the Obama administration when Israel needed support during the flotilla crisis of 2010.
In other words, we continued to disagree agreeably.
And, right there in the restaurant, he put on Tefillin and did a Mizvah (good deed). I can think of no better way to fight the recent scourge of antisemitism than standing up even more proudly to be a Jew.
And I walked away inspired.
Because this is the politician our country so desperately needs. Not someone who rallies only to their base but someone willing to engage with any of their fellow Americans. We sat face to face, not divided by our computer screens or our ideologies. Rather, we looked into each other's eyes and did that thing that is just so American. We spoke our minds freely and left each other as friends.
Too often, I see people demonizing and hating on each other as if their fellow American is the root cause of all the troubles our nation faces. And I try my best to engage and not cancel. To build and not to destroy. I often feel so alone.
But not on this day. On this day, I felt proud.
Proud to be an American.
Proud to be a Jew.
Proud to sit with a great leader who took the time to show me, and not tell me, that we can be united. Despite our political differences. Because there are some things, some values, that run deeper than what divides us and instead unite us all.
And that’s the America I love.