Steal This Idea: Why Judaism Says No to Microlooting
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Assimilation is quietly doing more damage to our people than any external enemy ever could. But the good news is that the answer to both threats is the same.
When Bob Kraft purchased 30 seconds of Super Bowl airtime to address antisemitism, I had nothing but admiration for him. His commitment to the Jewish people is genuine and his generosity is extraordinary. His ad got me thinking: if I had a hundred million eyeballs and 30 seconds to say anything, what would my message be?
Would I talk about hate? About the Holocaust? About bullying and marginalization?
I wouldn't. And here's why.
Antisemitism is real, dangerous, and demands our vigilance. We must elect leaders who stand with Israel, pass legislation that protects Jewish students on campuses, and ensure our institutions have the security funding they need. I don't minimize it by a single iota.
There is a threat far more pernicious than antisemitism, one that is causing greater damage to our people at a faster pace than any external enemy ever could. It's called assimilation.
But the only people who love talking about antisemitism are antisemites. Every time we make it the centerpiece of our communal conversation, we shine a spotlight on our enemies, amplify their microphone, and fuel their fire. Worse, we allow them to write our agenda.
There is a threat far more pernicious than antisemitism, one that is causing greater damage to our people at a faster pace than any external enemy ever could. It's called assimilation.
All the antisemites on the planet, if they coordinated their efforts in a grand conference, could not cause the disappearance of our people at the rate we are doing it to ourselves. Until the mid-20th century, the Jewish intermarriage rate never rose above 3%. By 1964 it had reached 7% — considered alarming at the time. Today, among secular Jews in the United States, the intermarriage rate is 70%. In Europe, it's 50%.
Antisemitism threatens us from without. Assimilation is consuming us from within.
The response to antisemitism and the response to assimilation are one and the same. It is not to talk more about either one. It is to ignite Jewish pride, deepen Jewish practice, and unleash Jewish passion.
The solution to both is to ignite Jewish pride, deepen Jewish practice, and unleash Jewish passion.
In a striking metaphor, the Midrash discusses a person cast into the sea — he’s flailing, drowning, desperate. The Coast Guard throws him a rope and says: “Hold on, and you will survive. Let go, and the waves will sweep you away.”
The tzitzit fringes, says the Midrash, is that rope. And tzitzit is a metaphor for all the mitzvot — for the entirety of Jewish life and practice. For 3,300 years, since we stood together at Sinai, our Torah has been the rope. Our job is to hold on and to throw it to others who are drowning.
A Harvard study found that 60% of young adults reported experiencing little or no purpose or meaning in their lives in the previous month. Half said their mental health was negatively affected by "not knowing what to do with my life." Young adults without a sense of meaning suffered anxiety and depression at twice the rate of those who had it. And notably, those who belonged to a religious community reported dramatically higher levels of meaning and purpose.
We live in the most prosperous, comfortable, and convenient era in human history, and yet anxiety, depression, and misery are at epidemic levels. The marketplace is telling people to "obey your thirst" and "just do it," and it isn't working. It's making people feel emptier.
We have the antidote. We’ve had it for 3,300 years.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto opens The Path of the Just telling us that the foundation of all foundations is to wake up every day and ask: what is my duty, my mission, my purpose in this world? Not what are my rights and entitlements, but what are my responsibilities? Who can I help? Who can I love? What difference can I make?
That question — and the life it generates — is our gift to ourselves, and our gift to the world.
Soon we will celebrate Purim. When Haman approached Achashverosh with his genocidal plan, the king initially hesitated. He'd heard about the God of the Jews. But Haman reassured him with a single phrase: Yeshno am echad — there is a certain people.
The Talmud offers a devastating re-reading: don't read it as yeshno (there is), read it as yoshnu — they are asleep. The Jewish people, said Haman, are fast asleep. Negligent of mitzvot, fractured, distracted, fighting among themselves. They won't even notice what's coming.
We were on the brink of extinction because we were asleep.
Mordechai woke up. And here's the remarkable thing about Mordechai: he could have bowed to Haman. According to Jewish law, to save lives, there is a case to be made. He could have gotten a ruling. He could have laid low. Instead, he refused — stubbornly, publicly, unapologetically. And when the king sought to honor him, Mordechai didn't shrink from the spotlight.
Mordechai understood that the answer to both antisemitism and assimilation is never to bow down. It is to stand taller. To be prouder. To be more visibly, joyfully, unashamedly Jewish.
Why? Because Mordechai understood that the answer to both antisemitism and assimilation is never to bow down. It is to stand taller. To be prouder. To be more visibly, joyfully, unashamedly Jewish.
And that is exactly how the Scroll of Esther remembers him. Shushan had plenty of Jews — minyanim, kosher restaurants, the works. Yet the Megillah calls him simply Ish Yehudi — the Jew. Singular. Because Mordechai was the Jew who refused to disappear, who refused to apologize, who refused to be distracted. He put Jewish identity on full display, and he earned the respect and fear of the entire world.
So will we.
If I had the opportunity to broadcast a commercial to the world, here’s what I would say — not to the hundred million watching, but to the small fraction of Jews among them, while the others listened in:
Know where you come from. Be proud of who you are. You carry 3,300 years of DNA and a destiny that is still unfolding.
You are not a 19-year-old on a college campus — you are 3,300 years old, and you look pretty good for it. Stop hiding. Step into the light. You are part of a people with a mission to repair and redeem this world.
Don’t apologize for who you are. Don’t define yourself by your enemies. Define yourself by your mission.
Rise up. Partner with the Almighty. He's counting on you.
And here's the practical application: send a mezuzah to every Jewish student willing to put one on their dorm room door. Send a Magen David to every Jew willing to wear one. Send a kippah, tefillin, Shabbat candles, matzah. Arm our people not just with technology and knowledge, but with the physical symbols of pride and belonging.
Stop apologizing. Stop hiding. Stop being distracted by those who want to slow us down.
Antisemitism throws speed bumps in our path. Assimilation threatens to pull us off the road entirely. Our response to both is the same: step on the gas.
The world is drowning in meaninglessness. We are holding the rope. Throw it.
Based on a talk Rabbi Goldberg delivered at the Aish Legacy Summit in Bal Harbour on February 11, 2026
I am not a Jew - I am a Christian - but I deeply honour the Jewish people! Jesus was a Jew (within his Humanity) - And the Jews are honoured by the one True God! - True; they are not 'Perfect' - but NO Human Being is! - But they are loved by God; and they are loved by me, at the simple Human Level!
The best way to fight assimilation is to have a lot of kosher kids that want to have lots of kosher grandchildren.
There's another Big 'A' that's WAY up there as a threat to the Jewish people: ABUSE. Sexual Abuse & Sexual Impropriety. I could start listing the cases I'm aware of, but I'd never finish.
The laws of yichud* just ain't cuttin' it, they ain't cuttin' it.
Sure, we can say that "We Have What the World Is Desperately Searching For," but what we need to ask ourselves is, "Do our own kind - those growing up in Torah Observant homes - want what they are getting?"
*laws of yichud: the Torah prohibition of a male & female who are forbidden to each other to be alone together in a secluded place.
This has now gone beyond the old school assimilation where Jews were tempted to surrender their heritage in order to blend with their hosts and be treated to the same opportunities. Now, insidious elements within the host countries, some sponsored indirectly by the Iranian terror network and others acting on their own Islamic or anti-Semitic beliefs, have co-opted our youth into protesting against the Jewish state and turning their backs on our longest held belief as a people - that our homeland is Israel to which we all wish to return. It is unbearably sad to see young Jews stand shoulder to shoulder with those who would murder them in a heartbeat and malign the memory of the 6 million by invoking phrases such as “Not in Our Name” and “From the River to the Sea”. Return to Israel!
I am not Jewish, but I find many of the teachings very helpful when I’m trying to answer the question “why am I still here.”. ( I am 91 years old.) but I understand the conversion process is long and hard, and you don’t want converts
The article contains many truths, but for Jews who grow up and live in areas where very few Jews live, it can be difficult if not downright impossible to meet and get to know members of the opposite sex...who also happen to be Jewish. For obvious reasons, the odds of then falling in love and marrying such a person...are long indeed. Certainly, there are large urban areas where it's feasible, but our roughly 2% representation in America is highly concentrated in relatively few, large urban centers. Outside these places, it's extraordinarily difficult for young Jewish adults of "marrying age" to wage a personal war against assimilation. Personally, I tried to buck the trend, but despite my best efforts, ended up marrying "outside the tribe."
Antisemitism may be the greatest immediate threat as dead Jews reproduce even less Jews than those who marry out. Aish and other outreach organizations are doing heroic work. That said it seems to me the Jewish future is in Israel as the American ideal of a melting pot doesn't lend itself to a chosen people
where marriage to someone outside the faith is not permitted.Some Jewish denominations do allow it but Aish and all Orthodox Organizations consider those denominations to be in error. The God of Israel is the God of all humanity but the religion of Israel is intended only for Jews. Universalism is today the seeming ideal and while Judaism states no need to be Jewish to attain heavenly rewards and welcomes sincere converts it's not intended to be the religion of all humanity.
Repair and redeem this world to what? From what? For what? What is the end goal of a Jewish life? Worldview? Religion? Endless rituals and observance why? So, we come to the point of EVERYONE following Torah. Then what? The Book of Life now has the name of every person in it. And?
With my deepest respect,
Tim
It pains me to read your comment because it express much nihilism. I have compassion for your situation. Perhaps something caused that, or you were never exposed to a greater purpose.
Judaism teaches that life in this world determines our portion in the world to come. That is not taught in the bar mitzvah factory synagogues like the one I grew up at. Only as an adult did I find what was missing, leading me to orthodox Jewish practice and study that complements my secular career. Living in an orthodox Jewish community with others like me taught and gave me a beautiful purpose and simple joy in life that is more enjoyable to me than a secular life of never being happy or grateful, much less confident about my life now and after I pass.
All of the things you mentioned, a Jewish life, world views, observance and rituals, are separate entities. What you do to help others, is not merely for yourself. Yes, you'll get a dopamine rush when you help people, the deeds are for others. There may come a time where you need help. People who can, should help you. It is as much a Mitzvah to receive when you need help, as it is to assist someone when you can. As for world views, an old joke. When you have two Jewish people in a room, you have 3 opinions. That is because Judaism is a faith of questions and answers. Sometimes the answers are not so obvious.
While the book of life does not have the name of every person in it, that is the dilemma. We do not know. Our goal is to leave the world a little better than we found it.
Unfortunately the main religion for many traditional Jews it’s to make it to a prestigious university
I am a descendant of those “assimilated” Jews of Tsarist Russia — the children of the lost ones, the ones forced out of Judaism by violence and coercion. I am the great-granddaughter of one of them. You have no idea what that means.
It does not disappear. It does not fade.
Kashrut was kept at home, taught by my great-grandmother. The women in our family could not tolerate pork or mixing milk and meat — their bodies rejected it. At nine years old, I was taught how to calculate Pesach by the weather patterns. I was taught how to recognize a Jewish household.
“How do you know?” I once asked my grandmother.
“They keep the windows closed,” she said. “Always open your windows.”
These things do not vanish. They travel through blood and memory.
Great message. "Always open your windows". Their resilience carried them through.
Interesting
Thank you, Rabbi Goldberg, for this powerful and timely message.
As a retired university professor, I witnessed this struggle firsthand. Some of my Jewish students confided that they were afraid to say openly that they were Jewish. They wanted to belong, and their identity felt like something they had to hide.
I tried to help them see that being Jewish is not something to conceal, but something meaningful to be proud of. In recent years, especially after October 7 and its aftermath on campuses, your words resonate even more deeply.
Our students are not only learning subjects. They are learning whether to stand tall or to disappear. We must help them choose pride.
Jewish identity is not a burden our students carry — it is a light they are learning to uncover.
cont
to be involved in, sometimes the parents are more worried their kids should get into a Ivy league school instead of worrying about their Jewish heritage, the problem is Jews should be proud of their Jewish heritage, some Israeli say they are Israeli and don't even mention they are Jewish, and as a child of a Holocaust Survivor ( obm) the Jews of Germany that assimilated and intermarried it did not help when the Holocaust happened, Hitler ( Y"S) got these people too even if they were not considered Jewish according to Jewish Orthodox laws, like my grandmother ( obm) that was murdered by the Nazis (Y"S) said" you can't run away from yourself " that means even if you assimilate and intermarry you will be still be different like the x-men comic book
Yes. I am sorry for what happened to your family.
There are organizations that combat assimilation and intermarriage with kituv work, also Yeshivas and Hebrew schools should make like they have in other countries or cities, that, also child's Jewish education should not be so expensive, the reform and conservative Jews are losing their youngsters to assimilation and intermarriage, when traditional Jews from Israel move to America, they have to be their children in Hebrew school or Yeshivas, or Chabad programs to avoid their children to assimilate and intermarry, a long time ago Jews that were not religious had Jewish pride and now they don't, plus in colleges and universities today they brainwash students to be anti Jewish and anti Israel, some don't even admit they are Jewish, and others seek out Jewish areas
I don't know who the intended audience is. Being someone who some might call an "assimilated Jew", perhaps you should spend more time listening to what we have to say. Rather than dismissing us and sometimes insulting us, perhaps you should take our concerns to heart. Maybe by learning how to bridge the gap between us rather than trying to change us, you would also become more effective as "the light of the world". Recognize the universality of the human condition and respond with a Jewish ideology that is equally universal; one that everyone can embrace and wants to be part of. Attract rather than repel and there will be no risk of assimilation.
Repel? Jewish people are among the least repellent. I live in a city where our Jewish population is relatively low. As such, I've worked mainly with non-Jews. I've been subject to misinterpretation, maligned for taking days off for high holy days, funerals where we're asked to "line up" to get "saved". I've walked the beach to have people foist pamphlets in my face. I wear my Star of David and occasionally get mocked in public for various things like "owning all the banks" to "causing Covid". I understand the article made you defensive, but we are not repellant people. We are a small group with many sets of interests and we fall into many categories. One thing is for sure, we have a zest for learning, and often disagree with each other on issues. Do not allow yourself to be repelled.
Of what value is a “universal” ideology if it’s only a hollow shell, emptied of all substance?
I have no idea where this is coming from. Isn't the most fundamental belief of Judaism a belief in universality?
The specifics that the rabbi points out in the article: defining yourself, finding purpose and meaning, feeling that you belong; are all universal. We may have passed a signpost 3300 years ago, but the challenge is never-ending. Others have discovered signposts, too.
ADS - WE - ARE still JEWs today - BECAUSE - if you'll take time to learn from an ORIGINAL HEBREW ORTHODOX Torah - that 4000 Years ago - Abram (Abraham - Isaac & Jacob) accepted the ONE TRUE G-D - including - their descendants - the Jews of Today. And because - 3350 Years ago - G-D - through Moses gave us JEWS - in Badmidbar - HIS Written Torah Commandments & Laws FOREVER - on how we're to LIVE AS JEWS! In G-D's Torah - Deu: Ch-4 1/2 - Ch.13 - 1 - & Proverbs 30 - G-D COMMANDED: "Do not add to - or subtract from what HE said - in this Book Of the Torah. Cont. Below:
Being different from everybody is the way of being for our people, the way to maintain our covenant with G-d and be holy. Our mission is not to attract or defuse ourselves among the other people but to be different so by relating to us those people show what they are made of and bring upon themselves either a blessing or a curse.
You ARE among the intended audience. You would not have visited the Aish website unless you had some attachment to or curiosity about Judaism that is not yet complete. A completely assimilated Jew would not be here. I hope you can start getting exposed to more Judaism, through this site or through a traditional Shabbos meal at the home of a rabbi or other observant Jew. But don’t give up.
Yes! Never give up!
You are correct, of course, that I continue to visit this site out of curiosity and attachment. One thing I haven't said is that I view assimilation in terms of its original meaning of "making similar". This can be a two-way process whereby both the dominant and subordinate cultures adopt customs of the other.
Anything that I discover about Judaism that benefits me should also benefit my non-Jewish neighbors. Doesn't it make sense that we should want non-Jews to "assimilate" the ways of our people if these are so beneficial to mankind? Then, what about the converse? What is this fear of listening to non-Jews?
WHY - are our assimilation rates are so high? We should ask - WHY - we're failing at educating our young - at an EARLY AGE & up - not to assimilate? WHY - are we the people - who hold so many prizes & awards for intelligence - not able to design MORE CLEAR - HONEST VERIFIABLE HISTORICAL educational courses - that will TEACH & EXCITE our children & adults - the importance of our 4000 Year TORAH History? And give EXAMPLES of the miracles & help that - G-D - has performed for us - BECAUSE - of HIS LOVE & PROMISE to & FOR OUR FOREFATHERS? Especially - when it relates to - EVENTS & G-D's HELP - coming together when we've KEPT G-D's TORAH COMMANDMENTS & LAWS. WHY NOT - when the TRUTH WILL SET US FREE & stop the POGROMS!
Having had the pleasure of experiencing Aish HaTorah’s “Discovery!” @ UCLA back in the early 1980s, THAT course was more compelling than anything I’ve taken to date. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
E Shalom - I agree the Aish Discovery programs - were very enlightening. We attended them - for several years. Though - I/we thought that - they could have been given MUCH MORE ADVERTISING EXPOSURE - & been held in an even LARGER facility, Overall - they were an excellent program. Especially the segment on "Torah Codes".
The problem is that most Jews do not believe that the universe has a creator who is apart from it. Given that, the claims of religion seem hollow.
I have to respectfully disagree. "Most" Jews do believe in our creator, apart and as a part. True, we do not mass-produce our beliefs, have "street preachers", nor have several synagogues per every 5 square miles. Rest assured it does not mean we do not believe in G-d. We are a faith of questions and intelligence, and not confirmation bias. And according to wise Orthodox rabbis, G-d can reach even those who do not believe. Wonderous deeds can be committed by people who do not believe. That's among the reasons why G-d judges the hearts.
Great article. Thank you.
B"H
No, Rabbi. This isn’t speculation — it’s stated explicitly in the Torah itself.
In Leviticus 26:38 it says:
וַאֲבַדְתֶּם בַּגּוֹיִם
“You shall be lost/perish among the nations.”
The Torah warns that among the nations where we are scattered, we risk being lost — spiritually, nationally, and culturally.
If that is the consequence of exile, then the response must be the opposite of exile. The reversal of that condition is return.
Jews must make aliyah. Full stop.
Please stop softening or denying what the Torah itself says.
You have a lot of chutzpah to rebuke this highly respected Orthodox rabbi. He writes in a way that he hopes will get through to younger secular audiences. Nowhere does he soften nor deny what the Torah says.
Agree. You stated the curse, for not listening to Torah. As Hebrews we also have collective responsibity. First, we lost Temple-land-exile followed. It was a curse and then, prophecy. G-d knows what he wants. Trust in His word, it's pure. We are undone, as simply human beings, but G-d knows better. That's all, not people, but G-d.
Excellent article. It is very true. Even while spouting "freedom", the quest to make Jews assimilate is always in the foreground and the background. Ironically, this can happen to people quite perniciously. Ironically, when we go along with this, we will find that it is never enough. The more you give in, the more you give away. That is because they'll tell us we are the problem, but we are not. We never have been. The problem is the majority isn't happy with themselves. They've been taught to need validation for their beliefs. Imagine where Jewish people would be if we needed validation from the majority?
Interesting article. However, it avoids one of the major issues confronting our people: the halakhic creation of Jewish orphans through Kiddushin 68b and Yevamoth 98a. This is a great sin of our people. As to the question of assimilation, I want to point out that among 15 million or so halakhic Jews, more than 2 million consider themselves Christians, whereas among 9 million Jews, by father, 6 million consider themselves Jewish.
"Barking at print" or gabbled prayers is incantation not study. Hebrew needs the gamut of language methods & we shall find, as those who revived Welsh in their South, that pupls take to it as a private language against their elders. Something as sensitive as religious identity has to allow the pupil to play safely with it. Rituals have a strength here but adults need far more.
Trust teaching and discussing sources, history, archaeology, intellectuality in the pupils' vernacular while demonstrating the points only clear in the Hebrew or historic context, so discreetly show the need to know Hebrew. Then it invites study. Throwing a foreign language at somebody like panto magic spells is "off side" in a World of evidence and data. Non-Jews are also terrified by lapsed religion.
The inferred question is priority between turnout and practice OR knowledge and the language. There is a teaching methods query when the domestic chain of example has broken in a large sector for lack of credibility.
Remembering the old sports and regimental advice that not all smart teams are good but all good teams and regiments turn out smart, one has to be very careful when teaching practice and avoid enforcment that turns people into reluctant conscripts - which can happen very young. It is one thing to explain a practice and check the pupils know and understand it but another to create an atmosphere that conveys that the practice is the aim of being Jewish, & sufficient and NOT an aid to understanding and learnng a policy, attitude, approach method, to life.
Excellent!
thank you for the inspiration
Education for non orthodox needs to start young, the target audience needs to be the “non frum” with the beauty of Judaism seen at home from a young age. School is one thing seeing at home is needed.
Yes!
Muslims and Christians say the same thing. Don't we need to distinguish education from indoctrination with children when they are vulnerable?
Powerful words. Keep being the light of the world. The Lord is before you always.
Try focusing on positivity. Maybe people will be happier being Jewish.
Aish has a big responsibility in this.