[Below is Rabbi Alan Green's sermon with gratitude to Bari Weiss for her inspiration and contributions to this sermon]

YOM KIPPUR DAY – SHAAREY ZEDEK – 5785

1.  On Rosh Hashanah, I gave a review of the rough terrain we’ve been navigating since October 7^th, 2023—the anniversary of which we commemorated just a few days ago.  In that talk, I outlined the forces arrayed against Israel and the Jewish people, emerging with unexpected ferocity this past year.
2. These forces include ideas which have taken deep root in our universities. And fueled by a toxic alliance between the Far Left and Radical Islam, these ideas have overflowed the boundaries of the academy, into the media, museums, philanthropy, corporate culture, even our high schools, and elementary schools.
3. Ideas like post-modernism, post-nationalism, and post-colonialism—in which Zionism is portrayed as the oppression of the brown, indigenous Arab population of Palestine by white colonists. Never mind that most of the Jews who came to Israel were themselves refugees--from the Russian Czar, from the Nazis, from the Arab Middle East, and from the Former Soviet Union. Never mind, our ancient roots in the land of Israel.  Never mind that most Israelis are indistinguishable from their Arab neighbors.
4. These ideas are much more than an academic sideshow, or mere wordplay.  They upend the basic ideas of right and wrong, and good and evil—ideas fundamental to Jewish and Western civilization--to be replaced with a new vocabulary: the powerful versus the powerless.
5. And once again, Jews are cast as the villains—the powerful—ignoring the preceding nineteen centuries of Jewish denigration, oppression, massacre, expulsion, and genocide—real genocide--as opposed to the false charge of genocide trumpeted at pro-Hamas rallies and in the media.
6. So—if there’s anything good that has come out of the nightmare that began last October 7^th, it’s this: we’ve all been shaken awake.  Israel has awoken to the fact that it’s fighting a seven-front war of annihilation, funded and coordinated by the Mullahs of Iran.   
7. As for us, we should realize: this is nothing less than a conflict between civilization and barbarism; between the values of Israel and the West, and the values of Hamas and Radical Islam; here, and in the Middle East.  We all should realize the gravity of the stakes of this conflict. They are not merely theoretical.  So, where do we go from here?
8. First, we need to be aware. We need to recover our ability to discern—to look past the propaganda and take a hard look at what’s staring us directly in the face. We need to look first at the barbarism of the October 7^th attack. 
9. And we especially need to look at the reaction to that barbarism; to take stock of how far the lies have travelled; how badly the forces of civilization are faring in this battle; and how it is that the most educated generation in history has become the most morally confused.
10. To see the world as it really is, we must carefully consider distinctions between good and evil; between just and unjust; between friends and enemies. 
11. For example: we shouldn’t need “context” to know that tying up families and burning them alive is evil; just as we shouldn’t need a history lesson to know that the Arab Israelis who saved Jewish lives on October 7^th are righteous.  So—take a look at who our enemies and friends might really be.
12. For many people, friends and enemies might have changed since October 7^th.  Looking at who our friends and enemies are might entail giving up some nice associations and some nice things.
13. But things don’t give value.  We do.  And there’s something far beyond ourselves that creates ultimate value.  Call it God.  Call it the Shechinah—the Divine Presence.  It’s something visible in the faces of the hostages and those we’ve lost since October 7th.  It’s also something visible in the faces of those with us here today.
14. The other thing to discern is the good.  We need to look hard for the good, and not lose sight of it.  New York coffee shop owner Aaron Dahan had all his baristas quit on him when he placed an Israeli flag in the window and began fundraising for Magen David Adom.
15. But his café didn’t close. In fact, the opposite occurred.  Suppliers sent him free shipments of beans and coffee.  Community members picked up work shifts free of charge.  There were lines around the block to buy a cup of coffee.  The café actually made $25,000 in a single day.
16. And this past year, American cowboys from the Rocky Mountains travelled to Israel, to tend the fields and animals of Israeli farmers killed on October 7^th.  This is the essence of the liberal West: free societies standing together.
17. Second on our To-Do List: we must insist that authorities on and off campus enforce the law.  On campus, it means no more tent cities; no more harassment of Jewish students; and no more occupation of university buildings or destruction of property. 
18. Colleges and universities must forbid all conduct that disrupts teaching, learning, and research. That means, no more classroom disruptions, noisy demonstrations, or actions designed to prevent invited speakers from expressing their views.
19. They should establish reasonable limits on the time, place, and manner of public speech. And they should resist any effort to close off campus public spaces for any individuals or groups. 
20. Also, we must insist that there be no more double standards of speech.  In recent months, we’ve seen how for most students microaggressions are prosecuted with vigor.  But for Jewish students, macroaggressions are ignored and go unpunished.  It’s a nasty game, and universities need to be held to account.
21. Off-campus, in the US, it’s turned out that choosing not to enforce the law, far from reducing crime, actually promotes it. So perhaps it’s no coincidence that that some of the activists who worked to “defund the police” are now publicly harassing Jews. In New York City, a pro-Hamas crowd recently intimidated customers at a Kosher deli, yelling insults and chanting racist slogans.  
22. In Brooklyn, for years, there have been violent attacks against Orthodox Jews. These attacks have been correctly identified as hate crimes.  But they’re also crimes which, if the law were actually enforced, would be far less likely to happen. 
23. Masking at a violent political protest is illegal in Canada. But just a casual glance at the pro-Hamas demonstrations over the past year show many—if not most protestors--covering their faces with Covid masks or wrapped up in Kefiyyahs. 
24. These rallies would be far less likely to engage in antisemitic rhetoric or physical violence, if attendees weren’t disguising their faces.  So, the authorities shouldn’t allow selective enforcement of this or any other law.  If white supremacists can’t do it, then neither should Hamas sympathizers.
25. Item Three: we need to accept that we Jews are the last line of defense.  If you look at history; if you examine its treatment of Jews, you can see whether that country or culture is on its way up, or on its way down.
26. Where liberty thrives, Jews thrive.  Where difference is celebrated, Jews are celebrated.  Where freedom of thought, faith, and speech are protected, Jews are protected.  And where these virtues are regarded as threats, Jews are regarded as threats.
27. But there are no guarantees.  The right ideas don’t win on their own.  They require a voice. They require us, to actively defend our values—the values that have made Canada among the freest, most tolerant societies in the world.
28. The author Sidney Hook used to implore those around him, “to always answer an accusation”—never to let a falsehood go unchallenged. In fact, far too many lies have spread because of our own inaction--born of fear, or especially from a desire to be polite.
29. So—no more biting of tongues.  No more fear.  No more going along with the lies.  Lies like “Israel, is an apartheid State.”  Or “Israel, is committing genocide in Gaza.”  Or “Israel is a settler, colonial enterprise.”  We need to speak up, and let no lie go unchallenged.
30. Certainly, the failure of our enemies is not assured.  Moreover, there is no cavalry coming to save us.  In fact, we are the cavalry.  We are the last line of defense.
31. In the Torah portion where Abraham’s wife Sarah passes away, we read, “Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah, and bewail her.” But the very next verse says: “Then Abraham rose from beside his dead and spoke to the Hittites, saying: ‘I’m a resident alien among you.  Sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.’” That’s the first thing Abraham does.  And the second thing is: he finds a wife for Isaac.
32. So Rabbi Jonathan Sacks responds: “Abraham heard the future calling to him.  Sarah was dead.  Isaac was unmarried.  Abraham had neither land nor grandchildren. But he didn’t cry out in anger or anguish.  Instead—he heard the still, small voice within, saying: ‘The next step depends on you. You must create a future that I, God, will fill with My Spirit.’  And that’s how Abraham survived the shock and grief of his loss.” 
33. We too need to listen to that still, small voice within.  We too need to create a future that God willing, will be filled with the spirit of peace and love; and also with the spirit of justice and truth.
34. There is no country on earth like Canada.  And if God forbid this country should fail, there’s no second Canada to run to. The first thing God ever tells Abraham in the book of Genesis is Lech L’cha!  Which means, “Go forth!”
35. Today, we need to take this commandment to heart. This is the struggle of and for our lives, and the lives of the Jewish people everywhere. May we all be worthy to see it through to its completion in this lifetime.
36. Here’s wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tovah, and G’mar Chatimah Tovah—a sealing for a year in which we must be strong like we’ve never been strong before; a year in which God willing, we’ll see the triumph of good over evil; of Israel over its enemies; and civilization over barbarism.  And let us all say, Amen!