We yearn to gain the blessings and praise of our neighbors. The Zionist dream was to be a nation like all other nations. Our longing remains for the Jewish people to no longer be treated as an outcast and to be welcomed into the family of nations.

The only thing that America ever provided my grandparents was a promise. And they fell in love with that American dream. The most important thing my grandparents ever gave me was providing me with that same promise and dream. On this July 4th I pledge to continue fighting for that promise and dream.

We have become Korah. And for this we should ask forgiveness and mend our ways. If we are ever going to make it to our promised land and improve our society, we must stop attacking each other.

Hateful, and yes even murderous, ideologies can never be defeated by military means alone. It’s never just about bunkers and bombs. To think that it will all be cured by bigger bombs and larger planes is fallacy.

That is the lesson of manna. Its secret ingredient was imagination. It was not about whether the chef seasoned the dish properly or arranged it on the plate for the perfect Instagram post. Manna tasted like we wanted it to taste. It was transparent. Each and every Israelite created their own image of it.

Jews respond I am not the kind of Jew who haters hate.  Some renounce Zionism.  Others distance themselves from Jews who do not share their commitments.  But such internal distinctions or philosophical debates are lost on antisemites.  It’s the Jew who antisemites hate not the imagined “those other Jews” or “not my kind of Jew.”