Olim at War: A Conversation with Rabbi Shai Finkelstein

As Israel went to war following the tragedy of October 7, the experiences of Israelis and those living outside of Israel are often different. Israelis who are not called up to serve in the IDF know many of those serving personally and spend the length of the conflict worried for their friends and relatives fighting on the battlefield—while Jews abroad, though also worried about the soldiers and the hostages, are now facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism on their streets and campuses.

Olim, whether from America, England, Canada, Australia, France and others who have made Aliya, have to contend with both concern for their friends and family abroad and fears for the safety of their children serving in the army.

And for many immigrants, the current war has accelerated the process of acculturation in a way that only a crisis can, says Shai Finkelstein, the Israeli-born rabbi of Kehilat Nitzanim, a largely English-speaking synagogue community in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood.

Born in Israel and educated at Yeshivat Shaalavim, Finkelstein spent 16 years as the Rosh Kollel of Torah Mitzion and the Senior Rabbi of the Baron Hirsch Congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, before returning to Israel in 2016.

When the war broke out on October 7, for the “fresh olim it was definitely, at least in the beginning, a shock,” Finkelstein, who teaches Beit Avi Chai’s weekly online Parashat Hashavua class, recalls. “It’s one thing to support Israel in time of war when you are in the States and it is another when you live here.”

But members of the community quickly rallied, and Finkelstein’s congregants “are always volunteering,” taking care of lone soldiers, working with evacuees from southern Israel and raising money, he says.

“I’m so proud of this community. They all basically joined forces—fresh immigrants, olim who came 30 years ago and Israelis—and the interesting thing is that most of them have if not children, then grandchildren in the army and it brings everyone together.”

“In our community we also unfortunately have soldiers who fell. It’s becoming real and you become a part of a family [of mourning] which is a terrible thing but it’s part of the Israeli DNA,” he continues, adding that multiple congregants’ children have been injured during the fighting as well.

“So to see it and to see their strength and to see the language that they use, the narrative that they create around victory and peace and being a free nation in our land is inspiring.”

There are close to 100 children of the community members, and sometimes even the members themselves, in the army, including a pair of volunteer reservists in their fifties from Australia and England, Finkelstein shares, calling their contributions “really unbelievable.”

“I really think this war brings everyone together and no one cares if you have an accent or you don’t have an accent. Everybody helps each other, making meals for everyone and hosting everyone, giving money to everyone we can. I really think it brought everyone together. Prior to October 7, people barely talked to each other and now no one cares if you are right or left or haredi or religious or secular. You fight for your home. I think there is that sense at the synagogue that I just hope remains forever.”

“We can’t go back in time and be the nation of October 6, we need to be a different nation,” he adds.

Main photo: Gerry Stegmeier Wikipedia