We all know of the sad reality in which we can use artificial intelligence (AI) on our phones, but can’t figure out how to get along with each other. For a people celebrated for intellectual achievement, this may well be our greatest failure.

All my life, I’ve heard about how smart we Jews are, especially Israeli Jews. We’re the Start-Up Nation. We’ve won Nobel prizes far beyond our proportion. We all remember those videos showing how an Israel boycotter couldn’t use most modern technologies because Israelis invented them. There’s even a book titled Why Are Jews So Smart?

But maybe we’re not as smart as we think.

Another Shavuot has passed, and I find myself asking: are we any different today than we were yesterday? When I served as a pulpit rabbi, I would challenge my congregation with that very question. A holiday isn’t just an experience to enjoy or endure. It’s a spiritual opportunity to strive to be better. If we emerge from it unchanged, we’ve missed the point.

In the usual torrent of social media posts, podcasts, and divrei Torah (Torah teachings), we once again heard countless calls for Jewish unity, and while that sounds noble, I often feel these calls are hollow. There’s rarely any concrete plan or action behind the words.

Some 15,000 people take in Acheinu's Day of Jewish Unity at the Western Wall in 2017. (credit: Courtesy)
Some 15,000 people take in Acheinu's Day of Jewish Unity at the Western Wall in 2017. (credit: Courtesy)
Much of the messaging draws from Rashi’s famous comment on Exodus 19:2. The verse says, “They encamped in the wilderness,” using a singular verb, vayichan, despite referring to the entire nation. Rashi, quoting the Midrash Mechilta, explains this oddity: “As one person with one heart.” A beautiful idea: at Sinai, we were unified.

Unity or division?

However, there’s more to that midrash. It continues: “All other encampments were marked by complaint and strife.” In other words, Sinai was the only time we were united. Every other time was marred by division and disunity.

This isn't ancient history; it’s a recurring pattern. How often do we see true Jewish unity that isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction to tragedy? We love to point to external enemies, but too often, we’ve been our own worst enemy.

Take the Second Temple period: many historians argue that internal division doomed us more than the Romans did, or the Warsaw Ghetto, where infighting undermined resistance. Some even suggest that Hamas chose October 7, 2023, for their attack precisely because Israeli society was seemingly torn apart by the judicial reform debate.

Thus, I return to the original question: If we’re so smart, why can’t we figure this out? Why do we keep repeating the same patterns with the same disastrous results? Shouldn’t intelligent people be able to learn from the past?

Ironically, the people who shout the loudest about unity are often the ones behaving in the most divisive ways, especially politicians.

Creating AI, launching satellites, and curing disease – we’ve mastered all of this. We have just never found the answer to the challenge of unity. Why?

My proposal is that instead of endless platitudes about unity, let’s use our Jewish intelligence to develop real strategies for living together better. What’s the business model for unity? 

What can we actually do, as individuals, communities, and schools, to create a different reality?Yes, some organizations might already be working on this, and if they are, they deserve credit. Nonetheless, we need something broader. We need the kind of visionary, systemic thinking that’s usually reserved for start-ups and national defense. A moonshot for Jewish unity.

The tragedy is that this kind of leadership, money, and innovation is mostly reserved for the tech world. The need for unity is far more urgent. It’s not just significant; it’s essential for the continued existence of the Jewish people. If we can win Nobel prizes for economics or medicine, imagine the legacy of those who crack the code of Jewish unity.

Let’s not forget that at Sinai, unity didn’t result from receiving the Torah – it was the precondition. Because we were united, we could receive the Torah. That’s the takeaway. It’s affirmed throughout our sources: unity is a prerequisite for Torah.

So, let’s stop treating unity as a sentimental slogan and start treating it as the most urgent challenge of our time. If we could achieve it even once during our biblical wanderings in the desert, perhaps we can do it again, and maybe, just possibly, that moment will be the beginning of our final redemption.

The writer is the founder and dean of the Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development in Modi’in, training a new generation of communal rabbinic leaders in Israel while mobilizing over four million shekels in humanitarian aid for soldiers, widows, and families affected by the current war.