The Universality Of Jewish Ethics

Why then does this reference to Pirke Avoth surprise me and urge me to write? 

1. The world does not know that this is Jewish ethics and that much of Western ethics, including the Ten Commandments, stems directly from Judaism.
2. Jews don’t take the ethics of Pirke Avoth seriously.
3. The question of “if not now”, was answered by Israel in 1948 at a cost of 1% of its population and continues to be a vital question relating to the defence of Israel.
4. As antisemitism and anti-Israel propaganda increases in the diaspora, Jews should be asking themselves when they will speak up if they don’t speak up and act now. Many Jewish organizations are beginning to challenge antisemitism wherever they find it, which is often in our schools, from kindergarten to graduate schools, and in the media.
5. Despite the support of Israel, most Jewish individuals and our rabbis and synagogues remain relatively silent. They remember the Holocaust but forget the Jewish silence that  preceded it.

There is no reason for Canadian and American Jews to remain silent. It is time we became courageous and spoke out directly against those who lie and criticize Israel and the Jewish Diaspora.