Babylon, not Egypt: Israel is running on the wrong story about Diaspora Jews - opinion

David Zalik argues that Israel misreads Diaspora Jewry through the lens of Egypt—Jews who stayed and disappeared—rather than Babylon, where a committed minority built the Talmud. He contends that declining numbers mask a serious, choosing community that sustains Jewish civilization voluntarily, a test Israel cannot replicate. Zalik calls for mutual learning between Israeli sovereignty and Diaspora choice.

David Zalik argues that Israel's approach to Diaspora Jews is based on the wrong historical analogy. Instead of seeing the Diaspora through the story of Egypt—where Jews who stayed behind disappeared—Israel should look to Babylon, where a committed minority chose to remain in exile and produced the Talmud, the operating system of Jewish civilization for 1,500 years. Zalik contends that declining affiliation numbers in the Diaspora mask a serious and expanding collective of Jews who actively choose Jewish life when nothing requires it, a test Israel cannot replicate. He cites a JPPI survey showing increased Diaspora identification with Israel and Jewish activity. Zalik calls for mutual learning: Israel restored sovereignty and self-defense, while American Jews built the habit of choosing Jewish life and translating Jewish particularism into universal values. Neither capacity is sufficient alone, and the opportunity of this generation is to use them together.