Q & A with Daniel Gordis

Daniel Gordis is the author of “Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End.” He is the senior vice president of the Shalem Center in Israel and has rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Michael Orbach: So how are we doing?

Daniel Gordis: That’s an interesting question. Let’s start with the big picture and then we’ll go to the problematic stuff. If you compare where we are now to where we were in 1946, we’re doing fantastic. If you would have asked any smart, rational, knowledgeable person to talk about the future, I think that a person would say it looks very bleak. Eastern Europe was destroyed, Western Europe was shell-shocked and American Jewry was guilt ridden. The few Jews who had survived in Eastern Europe were living under Soviet rule, which would only get worse before it got much better. If someone asked you in Jan. 1946 you wouldn’t have to be a depressive person to say that it’s pretty bad.

There’s been a revival of Jewish life everywhere you look, and that is a product of Israel. It’s not a coincidence. [Israel] has breathed new life into the Jewish people. Look at where we are now, “Start-up Nation,” an army that can keep us safe (we’ll leave Iran out of this), and a thriving democracy.

We’re doing great, but there are many many causes for concern.

MO: Such as?

DG: Security. The main security issue is Iran. We have been pretty unsuccessful at curbing Iran although here it is a more complicated story. The Stuxnet virus did major damage, a plane crashed in Iran and lots of people in the Iranian nuclear establishment have died strange deaths. The international response has been tepid and Hezbollah in the North and Hamas in the Southwest have weapons that are much more developed. Hezbollah has missiles that can hit to Eilat. Hamas has armor-piercing weapons that put every child in danger.