#achdus

[leahbasavraham]

My husband davened shacharis at home one time when his (reform) mom was there & he sang some of the reform liturgical melodies and I think that’s so cute of him

[leahbasavraham]

I’m rly pleased w this

[lamedbeis770-blog]

Shlucha love♡ @rivkyperl ♡ @colliveofficial #achdus #kinus 5777

[sharonsrose13]

#Repost @rejews ・・・ With #IsraelWeek coming to a close, it's time to say #ShabbatShalom & #GoodShabbos! #TikkunOlam can help elevate our #unity & #achdus, so let's start #recycling #together! #IsraelWeek2016 #Israel68 #Shabbat #Shabbos #sustdev #yomhaatsmaout #yomhaatzmaout #yomhatzmaout #yomhazikron #yomhazikoron #yomhazikron #HappyBirthdayIsrael #paintthetownblue & #gogreen!

[eretzyisrael]

We all have a hand in creating peace

[mosheisaacson]

How to make the achdut/s last

Baruch Hashem there seems to be a lasting truce in Gaza. A refrain I have heard repeatedly during the the conflict Hamas-lead attempted mass murder and ensuing Israeli response (let's call it what is was) was how wonderful the achdus among the Jewish people was. It would be a sad state of affairs if that achdut only appeared in times of danger, so I started to compile a list of behaviors which I myself will aspire to embrace before engaging in dialogue with my fellow Jews online or offline, in the hopes of perpetuating achdus/t. 

Before disagreeing with someone point out at least 3 positive things about their position. And actually take some time to explain why those things are truly positive. 

Be humble and unpretentious when presenting your own side of an argument

Mean your compliments

Reserve strong words for when they are really warranted. The more you use strong words in trivial situations the more meaningless those strong words become (e.g. 'hate' and 'Nazi'). 

Point out where you both have common ground. 

Revel in the success of others. Sure you might vehemently disagree on topic 'X' but when your bar-plugta does something great in area 'Y', acknowledge it. Doing so doesn't automatically mean you endorse everything else that person does/says

Acknowledge nuance. People can hold what may perhaps, to you, seem like inconsistent positions. People do not have to fit into nice clean definitional buckets, and we would do well to stop putting them in. For example, no one is born a Republican or Democrat, nor should anyone have to believe or promote a particular idea simply because they align with a particular party or affiliations. It's not all or nothing. 

Remember that most times the person(s) who you are disagreeing with are actually people. They are not your adversary. They are not a comical one-dimensional bad-guy. 

No matter what the topic is, unless you have received a clear psak from someone who is not as 'fired-up' about the issue under discussion as you are, lashon hara is never ok. If you resort to it you have defeated your own cause by definition.

Think before you speak. It is ok to delete something before, or even after you post it. It is worth trotting out the famous quote from the Kotzer "All that is thought should not be said, all that is said should not be written, all that is written should not be published, and all that is published should not be read."

You can agree to disagree. God loves when his chosen people sincerely wish to understand what his will is and even when they have conversations disagreeing about that truth. God hates (remember what I said about strong words) when his kids fight.

Not every conversation needs to be on the public record. 

You'd be amazed how differently you will speak to someone if you have to do it face-to-face

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

Also if you ever want to see some awesome achdus, go to the Klezmer Festival in Tzfat. Seriously literally every possible type of Jew, all there in the same place watching the same performers.

[eretzyisrael]

A Typical Secular Israeli

by Reb Gutman Locks

       I called out, “Come put on tefillin.”

     “No way!” was his reply.

     He walked around the Kotel area, and then, when he came close by, I called again, “Come, you didn’t come all this way to look at the stones. Come put on tefillin. You’ll have a good time.”

     Nope. Didn’t budge.

     A few minutes later as he was walking out I tried again. With a big smile I called out, “Chabibalah” (Sweetie pie) come do a mitzvah.

     He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Okay, I’ll do it for you.”

     After he read the Shema, I told him that the door to Heaven was open for him, “Pray for everything you want. You did a great thing just now and Hashem is listening.”

     He prayed for a brief moment and then turned for me to take off the tefillin.

     I asked, “Did you pray for everything that you need?”

     “I prayed for everyone,” he said, as he moved his arms in a large circle.

     I asked, “What about all of your needs.”

     “We are all one,” he answered.

     Here is a guy who hasn’t put on tefillin since his bar mitzvah 36 years ago. As far as I know he is totally secular, but still, he has it in his heart to pray for all of us, and he knows that we are all one. A typical secular Israeli.