Capture the Flag, Carry the Torch:

The Changing of the Temple Guard

(Israeli Paratroopers return to the Temple’s Western Wall in 1967, almost 1900 years after the destruction.)

In the heart of the San Fernando Valley, just west of where the 101 meets the 405, there is a font of wisdom – a man whose trueness is known by all who have been lucky enough to cross his path. 

That man is Yossi Dressner, Shamash and spiritual guardian of Valley Beth Shalom Temple, paratrooper in the 1956 War, and teacher of thousands. 

Standing no more than 5 feet and 6 inches off the ground, speaking with a thick Israeli accent, Yossi has tutored over 5000 students in his time, of whom I am one. 

And he is the humblest man who ever lived. 

If he knew I wrote this about him, he would be terribly embarrassed – so please don’t tell him. 

But when I think of what it means to be a Tzaddik, a righteous person, I think of Yossi Dressner. 

He has led the daily minyan on time, everyday, since long before anyone could remember. 

As the Talmud teaches in tractate Kiddushin, 30a, “Whoever teaches Torah to children, also teaches their children’s children, and so on, to the end of time.” 

Yossi taught my parents Torah, who taught me Torah, and I have taught students and campers Torah, and even some of my students and campers have taught students and campers of their own Torah. 

So Yossi has, more or less, 4 generations of Torah per student he has taught, and he has taught over 5000 students. 

When I told my old Yeshiva students about him, their eyes lit up – “Mr. Goldstein, do you have any idea how high Yossi’s Mitzvah level is? He’s an S-tier mensch.” (S-tier is a video game term that signifies something that is higher than A-tier. And Yossi is most definitely an S-tier mensch.) 

Yossi is someone whose wisdom I hold in the highest regard, so when he speaks about the situation in Israel, I listen. 

When my mom was talking to him in the immediate aftermath of October 7th, he said, “we have to pick up the flag and carry it forward.” 

That first Shabbos after the attack, he draped an Israeli flag over a chair on the Bima for the hostages, a flag which still remains there to this day. That was a sight I will never forget. 

And when Yossi calls this war Israel’s “Second War for Independence,” I think about what that means. 

On the surface, it matches the 1948 War in both its length and its horror. Not since 1948 has such sexual violence been visited upon the Jewish people, and that, like all of the pogroms before it, is a pain which will never be forgotten.

But, in other ways, it does not make sense. 

What is Israel seeking independence from? Certainly not from Britain. 

As I thought about this more, I realized how profoundly true it was – this is Israel’s second War for Independence – not from the British, but from all the other nations of the world. 

Israel is its own country, but it is by no means independent to act how it chooses. The reality is that Israel has always made strategic and political concessions to the major powers of the world. 

Most recently, the United States. 

Israel, however, is not just the name of the state that was formed in 1948; it is also the name of the Jewish people as a whole.

And is the Jewish nation, as a whole, independent? 

Certainly not, just look at what happened in Amsterdam on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. 

Many Jews, globally speaking most Jews, always knew that the world saw them now as, at best, second-class citizens, and at worst, subhuman. 

However, those of us privileged enough to grow up in America, grew up in an ahistorical time where antisemitism was not prevalent enough to affect our day-to-day lives. 

After October 7th, we woke up and understood that the world had not changed. 

Neither the International Red Cross nor the United Nations Human Rights Council has done anything to free or even check on the hostages who were taken. 

There could be no clearer signal that the world does not care for its Jews. 

We are not like them – no matter how hard we try to assimilate and fit in, we will always be Jews in their eyes. 

And we should be damn proud of that. 

This is Israel’s second War of Independence – Independence from all of the other nations of the world. 

Recently, the U.N. Special Rapporteur said that Israel should leave the U.N., and it was the first reasonable thing she has ever said. 

I have said it once, I will say it again – we never should have trusted an organization called “Goyim United” – it was always in the name.(Although honestly, the “League of Goyim,” may have been worse.) 

It may sound scary to consider the idea of Israel leaving the United Nations, but we should seriously consider, what has the United Nations done for Israel? What does participating in it provide for the Israeli people? 

In many ways, the failures of the U.N. reflect the failures of the nations who it represents. 

For two and a half millennia, the nations of the world have led global affairs while the Jewish people were exiled from their homeland. 

In those two and a half millennia, what has been the state of the world? 

Perpetual war.

Now, for the first time in 2500 years, the Jewish people once again have an opportunity to be sovereign in their homeland, but the nations of the world try to stymy it at every turn. 

The Nation of Israel is a strong nation, a beautiful nation, a transcendent nation. In truth, it does not operate by any of the same functions as the rest of the world. 

It is the only nation who has retained its national character without living in its ancestral land for 2500 years. It produces geniuses at a preposterous rate, and it has gifted the world everything from the bible to Seinfeld.

The Nation of Israel is a nation like no other.

We have passed our glorious tradition down, from generation to generation, never wavering from our conviction that one day we would return to the land and re-establish our sovereignty there. 

It is time for a new generation of Israelites to pick up the flag and carry it forward. 

In truth, the Jewish people were failed twice on October 7th. Once by the nations of the world who failed to care about our plight, and once by our own leaders who failed to keep our people safe, both in Israel and the United States. 

Yossi, Tzaddik that he is, is in his 80s. Benjamin Netanyahu, however you feel about him, is in his 70s. Chuck Schumer, who was been known to refer to himself as “Chuck Shomer,” because he is the guardian of the Jewish people, is 73. 

It is time for a new generation of Jewish leaders to pick up the flag and carry the torch forward, to gird our people with strength, to stand tall against the vicissitudes of the world’s nations, and to rebuild our sovereignty in the land of our forefathers. 

This is what is at stake in this war. 

The United Nations has already declared that it is firmly opposed to the very idea that the Nation of Israel is a nation of human beings.  

That much, they have made abundantly clear. 

But forget the nations of the world for a moment, and forget the failures of Jewish leadership on October 7th and after.

Think about the soldiers – think about the reservists – think about the civilians helping them at every turn. 

Think about yourself and everything you have done for our people in this past year – it’s not nothing. 

Maybe you didn’t give as much as you could have, maybe you didn’t speak out as much as you should have, maybe you only were able to just barely make it out and keep yourself sane — but all of that is a tremendous success. 

The people of Israel have performed miracles beyond measure in this past year. 

I am so proud of my friend in Israel, fighting this horrible war, who have not let anger dominate their lives. Who continue to sing, and celebrate, and live life despite the darkness.

The brave men and women of the IDF, the ones whose names you’ll never know, those people are my friends – and they have somehow managed to wage this war with the fewest civilian casualties of any urban conflict by a large margin. 

Any other nation of the world would have flattened Gaza if October 7th had happened to them– but Israel is a nation like no other. Any other people would have waged a war of vengeance and retribution in response – but Israel is a nation like no other. 

This is Israel’s Second War for Independence, and we will not give up. 

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May this piece be a segulah for Yossi’s health and wellbeing, as well as for the health and wellbeing of everyone who dedicates their life to teaching children. 

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Spread Love, Spread Light, 

Am Yisrael Chai