Sheryl Sandberg addressed the Jewish leaders gathered at the General Assembly in Washington, DC with a simple yet profound experiment. “Everyone, raise your hand as high as you can,” she instructed.
As the audience complied, she added, “Now, raise it an inch higher.” Remarkably, each person managed to lift their hand even further. “See that?” she said. “When we think we’ve done all we can, we realize we can do more — and we do. And we have!”
Sandberg’s message reflects the determination unfolding among Jews worldwide in the wake of recent tragedies. This collective awakening has even been given a name: “The Jews of Oct. 8” — those who rose anew the day after.
A billionaire and former COO of Meta, Sandberg also spearheaded the production of “Screams Before Silence,” a film documenting Hamas’ atrocities against women on Oct. 7.
On stage, she described her shock at the lack of response from women’s organizations and the global community.
“The silence was deafening,” she said on stage. “All the work we did together for years for women, it was as if none of that had ever happened.”
The events of that Simchat Torah fundamentally changed her, but in a profoundly positive way.
“In the past, people would ask me: Are you a Jewish-American or an American-Jew? Which part of your identity comes first? Since Oct. 7, I sit here as a different person. Today, being Jewish is as central to my identity as anything else. I sit here as a proud Zionist and a proud Jew, in a way I couldn’t have imagined a year and a half ago.”
Sandberg urged the audience to focus not solely on anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment, but on the strength and beauty of Jewish identity. Quoting journalist Bari Weiss, she emphasized: “Our identity as Jews has to be more rooted in Sinai than in Auschwitz. That’s true, because being Jewish is a wonderful thing — a tradition of charity, of caring for others, of knowledge, of study, of family and of community.”
She shared a personal story:
“Last January, I asked my daughter what she wanted for her birthday. She wasn’t particularly affiliated but she said she wanted a Jewish star, and she’s worn it every day since then. So have I, and so have my two other daughters. My middle daughter is president of the Jewish affinity club in her school. She wasn’t a member a year and a half ago! I am born again, and that has had some beautiful moments. I am part of this community in a different way.”
Will Oct. 7 be remembered not only as a day of unspeakable tragedy but also as a turning point—a day of global Jewish awakening? Can we all raise our hands just a little higher? Thank you, Sheryl, for inspiring us to try.
Bringing Torah to Bezalel
Last week I received a message about a Torah dedication that took place at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. This was a notable occasion, since it was the first sefer Torah ever brought to this prestigious college.
Established back in 1906, Bezalel once prided itself on its left-leaning, anti-religious agenda. Today, that is slowly changing.
The new sefer Torah represented a joint effort: The parochet (curtain) was designed by Bezalel students; the Torah mantle was donated by the family of fallen soldier St. Sgt. Shilo Amir; and the sefer Torah itself was a gift from Chabad on Campus.
This particular scroll was restored after being damaged during the Simchat Torah massacre in one of the Gaza border communities.
“In a beautiful moment of unity, we all came together to write the final letters of the sefer Torah,” wrote the Bezalel student. “It’s fitting that Bezalel, the academy’s namesake, was the artisan who built the Mishkan for Bnei Yisrael in the desert.”
Word of the year: brain rot
The Oxford Press recently announced its Word of the Year: brain rot. While the meaning may seem self-explanatory, Oxford defines it as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now, particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
This term immediately brought to mind the appellation of the Jewish people as the “People of the Book.” For millennia, our nation has been devoted to learning, with our connection to Torah serving as the foundation of our resilience through every challenge. This commitment to study and action not only shaped our moral character but also sanctified us as a people.
As we read in the Torah portion Deuteronomy:
“Observe them [the laws] faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.”
As “a wise and discerning people,” we recognize the antidote to the threat of brain rot: cultivating a world filled with deeper study, intentional focus, and meaningful connections — to Hashem and to one another.
Let’s talk about it
The famous story of Joseph and the brothers begins in this week’s Torah portion, Vayeishev. Why didn’t the brothers speak to Joseph? Why didn’t they tell him what was bothering them? Joseph has his dreams, wears a coat of many colors, and his brothers are jealous of him: “And they hated him, and they could not speak with him peacefully.”
How did they get into such a mess?
Some commentators claim that the siblings’ feud with its severe outcome resulted from their silence and distance from each other. There are occasions when it is acceptable to sweep certain, small issues under the carpet and not deal with them, but when there is an increasingly serious dispute and the two sides are moving apart, there is no reason to suffer in silence. It is best to speak frankly. Both sides should air their grievances.
The same holds true for the different sectors and tribes within the Jewish people, relationships between siblings, and also between husband and wife. It is no coincidence that in his words of wisdom in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), King Solomon teaches us, “a time to speak,” followed by “a time to love.”
Translated by Yehoshua Siskin, Janine Muller Sherr.
