The latest statistics point to a decline in the overall proportion of North American Jews who belong to or attend synagogues—a pattern especially pronounced if one excludes the Orthodox. Moreover, writes Martin Lockshin, the evidence suggests that various efforts to make synagogues more attractive and dynamic are doing little to stem the tide. These efforts include everything from incorporating musical instruments and lively tunes into services, to welcoming homosexuals and performing intermarriages, to allowing non-Jews to join congregations. At the same time, Reform and Conservative rabbis, and some Orthodox ones, have put ever-greater emphasis on progressive politics, under the rubric of tikkun olam. Lockshin argues that not only have such attempts to revitalize Judaism failed, but they may even be counterproductive:

Rabbis often avoid telling their congregants that Judaism demands anything specifically Jewish of them. . . . In many synagogues, one specific political ideology reigns, and a congregant who does not share that ideology feels uncomfortable. When synagogues do mention Jews’ “obligations,” often they are to causes that are not specifically Jewish. . . . Many rabbis report adjusting what they preach about. Some hesitate to talk about God. Twenty percent of rabbis fear “some kind of sanction or retribution from their congregants for voicing their honest opinions about Israel.”

In a culture that values autonomy, synagogues often promote Judaism as a way to reach personal fulfilment and add meaning to life. . . . It’s hard to be optimistic about the current approach of synagogues as a long-term strategy. Jews whose Judaism consists primarily of advocating for gay rights and fighting against gun violence and human trafficking are likely to discover that these causes can be more effectively promoted outside the synagogue. Even Jews who go to a synagogue because they like the music or meditation it offers are likely to discover that moving music, even spiritual music, may be more easily found outside of synagogues.

What synagogues have to offer that cannot be found anywhere else is instruction and exhortation on living a Jewish life. When they emphasize core Jewish values, they create a sense of solidarity, community, and even exclusivity that cannot be rivaled. When they discuss Jewish texts and teachings, they get people to consider their own values and behavior and maybe even try to improve their lives. Some of that still goes on in every synagogue, but perhaps it’s time to make it more front and center.

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.