Most of the Bible deals with experiences very different from those of Jews living in the Diaspora, who must struggle to uphold their religious obligations in the face of persecution and/or social pressure. But the figures of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon stand out as archetypes of piety in exile. Phillip J. Long writes:

In both stories the hero is described as committed to the Law and therefore as successful. Both Joseph and Daniel experience the blessings of the covenant and rise to powerful positions in the administration of a foreign government.

Joseph and Daniel [each confront] a crisis when they are pressured to do something that is against Torah. In Genesis 39, Joseph resists adultery; in Daniel 1, the issue is unclean food; in Daniel 3 and 6, it’s prayer to an idol. The hero is then persecuted and stripped of his position, yet nonetheless remains faithful. Because of their continued faith, they are restored once again to a state of blessing.

This pattern appears yet again in the apocryphal book of Tobit, which was written by Jews, most likely in the 2nd century BCE. Although Jews included the book in the ancient translation of the Bible into Greek known as the Septuagint, and it remains in the scripture of some Christian denominations, the rabbis eventually rejected it from the canon. But its themes are familiar to Jews today:

The book begins with Tobit in captivity in Assyria. Tobit claims to do all that the “everlasting covenant” requires, and to be the only Jew in the Diaspora who attends festivals in Jerusalem. He makes all of the appropriate tithes and offerings required by the Torah. . . . He marries within [his extended] family rather than marrying either outside the clan or outside of the people of Israel.

Like Daniel, Tobit states he has kept himself from Gentile food, despite the fact that many Jews ate this potentially unclean food. Because he was “mindful of God” with all his heart, the Lord gives him favor and good standing in the government of Shalmaneser. Tobit [also] does “acts of charity.” . . . Like both Joseph and Daniel, Tobit’s commitment to core elements of his Jewish faith result in real-world prosperity despite suffering as a result of his commitment.

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.