August 27, 2024 • 27 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Dara Horn is an accomplished American writer, winning accolades and prizes for her fiction and non-fiction alike. She was approached to give a graduation speech to Jewish cadets at West Point in 2023. Here is Dara to tell the story of how her speech came to be—and the recorded copy of the speech she delivered. It's one of the most beautiful ever given at any graduation at any college—at any time. The subject: being uncomfortable and uncool.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is Lee Habee with our American Stories, the show
where America is the star and the American people. Up next,
you're going to hear from Darah Horn. She gave a
commencement speech to the West Point graduates who happen to
be Jewish in twenty twenty three, and I came across
(00:32):
this from a friend and the story came to life.
Here's Darron, who she is and how she came to
write this speech.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
My name is Darah Horn, and I'm a writer. I've
published six books. My first five books were novels that
all deal very deeply with Jewish history, culture, belief texts,
but incorporate those sort of ancient stories into modern contexts.
And my most recent book is a nonfiction book with
(01:03):
the rather provocative title People Love Dead Jews. It's a
collection of essays about the role that Jews play in
a non Jewish society. And I also have a spinoff
podcast from this book called Adventures with Dead Jews that
tells a bunch of stories that aren't in the book
because it's a bottomless topic, the role that Jews play
(01:25):
in a non Jewish society, and so, and you know,
I tend to approach these things with a little bit
of an off kilter kind of tone, as you can
sort of maybe tell by the title. So the invitation
to West Point, though, was quite unexpected. What happened was
there was a cadet there, which is you know, undergraduates
there are called cadets. There was a cadet there named
(01:45):
Jacob Foster, and he was listening to my podcast and
really enjoyed it and then went and read my book
People Love Dead Jews, and then approached the Jewish chaplain
at West Point and asked if I could be invited
to be their backl speaker at the Jewish Baccalariate service
as part of their commencement at West Point.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And I got this invitation.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I was very honored, but also very intimidated because I thought,
you know, people Love Dead Jews not really a great
fit for commencement inspirational speech at West Point. You know,
it was like sort of a mismatch there, and I
was sort of, you know, I was flattered that they
invited me, but I was a little bit confused what
they wanted because I think there's a lot of expectations
(02:27):
when you speak at a graduation that you're really speaking
to the graduates, and you're supposed to give them some
kind of message. And I just thought, you know, all
of the platitudes that people say to graduates at you know,
typical colleges and universities kind of don't apply here, because
you know, the cadets at West Point, they graduate, they're
(02:48):
commissioned as second lieutenants, and then they they're serving the
country for you know, and they all have a requirements
of how many years they're going to serve. These are
people who made this decision of what they were going
to do essentially with their lives and career at a
very young age. They don't need me to tell them
here's my advice for life. You know, what should you do?
What should you do with yourself? Like they've already decided.
(03:10):
And so I thought, what am I going to say
to these people? You know, in the United States and
in most Western democracies, our whole system is based on
a concept of rights. What's interesting about Jewish civilization is
that it does have this parallel to American civilization, and
that it's a culture that's based on a shared system
(03:31):
of laws and a shared text that we're all interpreting.
Right for in the United states. Of course, it's the constitution.
In Judaism, traditionally it's the Torah, right, it's the Hebrew Bible.
But what's different about the Jewish premise of civilization is
that it's not based on this idea of rights. Instead,
it's based on an idea of obligation, or what we
call in Judaism commandment. And that was the point where
(03:55):
I saw some a parallel with what these young people
were doing at least point. And I realized very quickly
that this date was the day before the Jewish holiday
of Shavuote, and the Jewish holiday of Shavuote is the
holiday where we celebrate the giving.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Of the Torah at Mount SINAI. So this is really
a moment in.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Jewish life of accepting obligations from God and accepting the
commandments from God. And I saw in these graduates at
West Point, in a sense, we're meeting that moment in
the same way, they're also standing at their own kind
of SIGNI where they're accepting their obligations, like in this
case in a similar in a ceremony where they were
(04:35):
going to be commission as officers a few days later.
And when I realized that, I thought that this is
perhaps a good way to speak to these American Jewish
graduates at West Point without any further ado. This is
the speech that I gave at the Jewish Baccalaureate service
for the graduating Jewish Cadets of the class of twenty
twenty three at the United States and Military Academy at
(04:57):
West Point on May twenty four, twenty twenty three. Normally,
a graduation speaker is supposed to offer the new graduates
a dose of wisdom and guidance. I'm probably supposed to
advise all of you to wear sunscreen and make mistiqus
and live life to the fullest. But the truth is
(05:21):
that looking at all of you, and all of you
everywhere in this room, graduates, alumni, veterans, officers, faculty, and
of course also the family and friends who have poured
their hearts into supporting all of you during these challenging
years and the even more challenging years ahead, during which
(05:41):
you've all dedicated your lives to defending our democracy, I
honestly feel outclassed by every single person in this room.
What can I possibly say to you that you don't
already know, You're already all deep aware of what many
(06:02):
other college graduates only.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Weren't after years of.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Beamlessly stumbling through life, which is that a life of
meaning only comes from service to others. Compared to your
peers graduating from other colleges around the country, you have
all spent the last four years being extremely driven and
extremely devoted, and to say something slightly less graduation worthy,
(06:29):
you've also spent these years being extremely uncomfortable and also
extremely uncool. I cannot pretend to understand your experience, but
I do know the profound value of being uncool and uncomfortable,
and so does every Jew who has ever lived for
(06:50):
the last three thousand years.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And you're listening to Darrel Horn's commencement to the West
Point Cadets graduating class of twenty twenty three, the Jewish Cadets,
and talking about being uncool and uncomfortable, and how Jews
throughout history have known something about both. When we come
back more of this remarkable story and this remarkable speech,
(07:17):
Darren Horn's speech to the West Point class of twenty
twenty three, the Jewish Cadets. Here on Our American Stories, Liehbibi,
here the host of our American Stories. Every day on
this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country,
(07:40):
stories from our big cities and small towns. But we
truly can't do the show without you. Our stories are
free to listen to, but they're not free to make.
If you love what you hear, go to Ouramericanstories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot. Go to auramericanstories dot com and give. And
(08:10):
we continue with our American Stories and with Darrah Horne's
speech to the Jewish Cadets, the graduating Cadets and class
of twenty twenty three at West Point.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Let's pick up where we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Growing up in our corealistic American society, many of us
were taught a kind of clunky lesson by very well
meaning people who wanted to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Teach us how to respect our neighbors.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
The way we were often taught this important value is
by someone essentially telling us, see this group of people
over here, who you might be inclined to be prejudiced against.
You shouldn't hate those people because they're just like you
and me. They're just like everyone else. But the problem
is that Jews have spent the past three thousand years
(09:06):
not being like everyone else. Un coolness is Judaism's brand,
going all the way back to the ancient Near East,
where everyone else was worshiping a marvel cinematic universe of
sexy deities, and the Jews were sort of like the
losers in the school cafeteria, praying to their bossy and
(09:29):
very unsexy.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Invisible god.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And in the many centuries as a minority in places
around the world, Jews have made this choice over and
over again to remain uncomfortable, to distinguish themselves from their
neighbors in any number of ways.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
To cling to those distinctions, and over the course of
their lives, to learn and understand what those distinctions really mean.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
They made that choice even when they had easier options,
and even when it meant risking their lives. One of
the things I've learned in my work as a writer,
and especially most recently is the writer of a book
with the somewhat provocative title People Love Dead Jews, is
(10:17):
the profound value of being uncomfortable. I think that the
uncomfortable moments are always where the story is, because those
are the moments when you're about to learn something that.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You might have gone through your entire life not knowing.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
The only way that people ever learn and change is
by being uncomfortable, by choosing to put themselves in situations
that push them to the very edge of what they
think they understand.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And that's a choice that all of you know very well.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You've all chosen at a really young age to dedicate
yourselves completely to defending our nation and without any way
of predicting where that.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Commitment might take you.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And you've chosen not only to commit to that uncomfortable
and uncertain future, but to lead others through. Major Frommer
pointed out to me that Judaism actually has many unexpected
similarities with cadet life at West Point. Both are governed
by these extremely complex rituals and rules of daily living,
(11:23):
the determined details of things like what you wear, how
you cut your hair, what you eat, how you walk,
how you talk, and basically how you spend every hour
of every day. But military life and Jewish life are
also similar in a much more fundamental way. They're both
based on the ideal of obligation, or what we call
(11:45):
in Judaism commandment. Tomorrow night is shovel Out, the holiday
where we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount
Sinni thousands of years ago, and Jewish legend teaches us
that it wasn't only the Jews of that generation who
stood at Sinai, but that all future Jews were also
(12:05):
physically present at that moment, standing at Sinai to receive
the Torah from God. As an American Jew, I used
to be very uncomfortable and troubled by that legend because
it seemed to directly contradict the American view of our
place in history.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
In the United States, one of our foundational ideas is
that it shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Ever matter who your parents or grandparents or great grandparents were.
It doesn't matter where you come from or what your
background is. What matters is what you do with the
opportunities this country gives us. Of course, that's what we
call the American dream in Jewish culture. This foundational legend
we have of all of us standing at Sinai seemed
to me like the exact opposite of the American dream,
(12:51):
because that legend suggests that actually, it does matter who
your parents are, who your grandparents and great great grandparents are,
and that the most important event in your life happened
thousands of years before you were born, and there's nothing
you can.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Do about it. But chafu is also when we celebrate.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
The biblical story of Ruth, the first convert to Judaism,
who rejected all the easier options open to her and
instead chose to join the Jewish people.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
The reality is.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That today all Jews are Jews by choice, free to
decide whether and how we will engage.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
With this tradition.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
The Facidic master Nachmano Brotslov taught that the Torah is
actually given not just at one point in history, but.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
At every moment, in every hour of every day.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Whether or not we believe that we all once stood
at Sinai, we are all constantly choosing what this tradition
means to us and whether we want to stand at
Sinai again. Judaism isn't really a religion the way that
some of our neighbors might understand that word, as a
set of abstract beliefs. Instead, it's a radical idea about
(14:06):
freedom and responsibility. The core idea of Judaism is monotheism
and the rejection of idolatry. Today, we think that idolatry
in the ancient world meant something like praying to a statue,
but that is not what idolatry was then or now.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
In the ancient Near East.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Many nations had many, many gods, and one of those gods.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Was the dictator.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
In ancient Egypt, where the Jews ancestors were enslaved, the
pharaoh was considered one.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Of the gods.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
So when the Jewish people said that they don't bow
to idols, what they actually meant was that they don't
bow to tyrants. People have often wondered how the Jews
have endured for so many thousands of years as one
of the only ancient peoples who still exist today. I
think the answers more to America's endurance as now one
(15:03):
of the longest lasting democracies in the modern world. I
think in both cases it lies in the refusal to
bow to tyrants. The Jewish people almost three thousand years ago,
like the American people almost three hundred years ago, had
to create a model of human leadership that was the
antidote to tyranny. The generation of freed slaves who accepted
(15:29):
the Torah discovered that freedom actually requires hard work, because
it turns out that societies that are not run by
tyrants require constant cooperation, compromises, decision making problem solving, dedication,
and vigilance to sustain them. We all know the famous
(15:49):
words from the Torah that God tells to the Egyptian
Pharaoh through Moses, let my people go. But in the Torah,
every time that phrase let my people goes, let my
people go appears, it's followed by another phrase, let my
people go.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
So they may serve me in the wilderness.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
The purpose of freedom is to allow the people to
willingly accept the commandments.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Laws about how to create a just society.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Human dignity only comes from choosing to take on those
responsibilities and accepting those obligations to others. Today, at West Point,
you are all now standing once more at a kind
of sini, recognizing your obligations.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
And a few days from now.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You are going to be commissioned as officers, and not
long after that you are all going out to serve
in the wilderness.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And you've been listening to Darrel Horn's speech to the
class of twenty twenty three at West Point, the Jewish
cadets were assembled, and she told them one heck of
a story, Because this is beautiful storytelling via a speech.
And we've spent a lot of time on great speeches,
quite a few from Churchill Roosevelt's beautiful prayer on the
(17:10):
Night of d Day to one hundred million Americans, and
even to Anne Frank all the way in Holland Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address of Beauty, and we have a Lincoln impersonator
do that. And Darrin's speech I think stands up with
all of them. It's just so beautiful. All Jews, she said,
are Jews by choice and so true as all Christians are.
(17:34):
And she talked about on coolness being Judaism's brand, and
talked about the profound value of being uncomfortable. Last that Jews,
like Americans and like Christians too, don't bow to tyrants.
When we come back more of Dara Horne's remarkable speech
(17:55):
here on our American Story, and we continue with Zarah
Horn here on our American Stories and her remarkable speech
to the Jewish Cadets graduating class at West Point twenty
(18:18):
twenty three. Let's return to the final part.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Our American forebears of all backgrounds saw this country as
a wilderness, an open place of both fear and possibility.
And I think that the future itself for all of
us is also a kind of wilderness, full of uncertainty,
but also full of promise. All of you have committed
to a future that you can't possibly imagine, and.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So did your parents when they raised you. Not so long.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Ago, when the Jewish people accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai,
they said, not sevenischma will do it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
And then we will listen to it.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
They accepted the Torrest laws before even hearing what those
laws were, and without regard to where those obligations might
lead them. And only later did they listen to those laws,
learn them, and discover what they might mean. All of
you have responded to that call in your lives as
Americans to defend this country with everything that you have
(19:26):
and to use your talents to lead others in its defense.
And by being here today and in all of your
many roles in this Jewish community here at West Point,
all of you are also responding to that call in
your lives as American Jews. For some of you, the
power and beauty of Judaism is something that has always
(19:47):
been part of your life. For some of you, it's
something that you either discovered or deepened here in this
place that you entered while instinctively knowing what it means.
To live a life of commitment. But all of you
are about to go out into the wilderness. Your lives
(20:07):
as American military leaders in the coming years will be
well structured, with many challenging but apparent paths in front
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
But how you continue to lead and deepen.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Your Jewish lives and what paths you'll take as Jewish leaders,
is still entirely up to you. That freedom and responsibility
will be very uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You will be making those choices in many places where you.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Might not have a Jewish community to support you, and
at a moment in history where a a resurgence of
hatred might tempt you to make the more comfortable choice
of not being quickly Jewish at all. But you also
have the courage of many generations of Jews behind you
who have made the uncomfortable choice, generations going back to Sinai,
(21:02):
the more recent generations who escaped the persecutions of other
places to come to this country, and also the thousand
plus Jewish graduates of West Point who to whose names
we've just added yours. This country is one of the
few places in the world where Jews has had the
opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Serve as military leaders.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But in every place that Jews have had that opportunity,
they have seized it.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Even in the nine.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Hundreds, the Hebrew poets Mulhana Gid was the chief general
of Spain's Empire, leading Ernies into battle.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
In the ancient world, Jews.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Were so renowned for being elite warriors that they were
actively recruited by Persian and other imperial forces, who manned
their most dangerous outposts.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Entirely with Jewish commanders. And as all of you.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Know, we have had Jewish graduates from West Point from
the very beginning. These were all people who deeply understood
the call to a life of service. You have spent
the past four years learning from the many military leaders
around you, and maybe sometimes learning from them how you
don't want to.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Lead, and I think you have that in common with
all West Point.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Graduates from the past two hundred years. But allow me
to take a moment to prepare you for your future
with some advice given to the very first Jewish military leader,
long before West Point existed. When Moses died in the wilderness,
the leadership of the Jewish people passed to Joshua, a
(22:41):
man with whom to these graduates share much in common.
Joshua was born into a people who had endured great
oppression in the past in a foreign land, but whose
new generation was born free from the sufferings of their elders.
Their challenge was different, to build tech to society that
(23:01):
allowed for many different tribes and perspectives to live together
and flourish.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Like many of our graduates today.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Joshua was different from his own parents, and even from
his predecessor Moses, because, unlike his civilian predecessors, Joshua was
a warrior, a military leader tasked with entering enemy territory
and defending a nation. Joshua had already engaged in covert operations,
(23:30):
sneaking into the Promised Land to collect intelligence on how
to conquer it. Nearly all of the other spies who
had entered the Promised Land with him told Moses that
the land was unconquerable. Only Joshua and his deputy were
unafraid of the daunting military task that lay ahead of them,
(23:51):
and so when Moses died, God gave Joshua a commencement
speech at what is essentially Joshua's commissionings.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Enemy.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
God said to Joshua the famous Hebrew words Kazakh, the
Amats be strong and courageous. But the way God continued
this commencement speech is very revealing. God did not give
Joshua military advice or tell him to respect his elders
or to wear sunstream. Instead, God told Joshua to keep warning.
(24:28):
God said to Joshua, you should keep the book of
the Torah always on your lips.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
You should recite from it night and day.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
For God, Kazakh the Amats, to be strong and courageous
meant being brave enough to always continue learning, to keep
going back to that uncomfortable place, to be curious and
humble enough to learn what you don't yet know, not
just about the battlefield and not just about life, but
(24:59):
about this time, this Jewish civilization, this powerful antidote to tyranny,
that has brought us to this moment, and that now
relies upon you to sustain it. So on this momentous day,
I am not going to tell you to wear sunscreen,
(25:19):
because I think that you have all of the rules
and regulations you need that are going to tell you
exactly what you're supposed to wear. You're also already you
also already know that you will make mistakes and you
already can teach the rest of us about how to
live life to the fullest. Instead, I want to offer
(25:40):
you the words of the God of our ancestors, Kazakh
the Amats.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Be strong and courageous.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Be strong and courageous enough to lead people into battle.
Be strong and courageous enough to learn again and again
what is worth defending. Be strong and courageous enough to
stand at Sinai at every hour of every day. Be
strong and courageous as you carry forth with you the
(26:09):
antidote to tyranny. Borrow atta atter nilo Heinu melafalam chef yanu.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
The kiyamanu vihigiyanu was Manhase.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Blessed you, order, God, Ruler of the universe, who has
kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to
this moment. And I'm saying this blessing just for myself,
for the honor of being in your presence today. May
God bless all of you graduates. May God bless America
and all of its defenders.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Mazzeltov and you've been listening to Darrel Horne, an award
winning author, recipient of three National Jewish Book Awards, And
you can see your work in The New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, The Smithsonian, The Atlantic.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
This one appeared in the tablet. This speech. I cried
reading it on an airplane. Again.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I'm not Jewish, but these ideas, these words, they're just
so beautiful. Be strong and courageous, he said, to lead
people into battle and to learn what's worth defending. Be
strong and courageous and carry forth with you. The Antidote
to Tyranny. The story of Darrew Horne's commencement speech at
(27:18):
West Point to the Jewish Cadets graduating class of twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
How it came to be here on Our American Stories
This is Lee Habee with our American Stories, the show
where America is the star and the American people. Up next,
you're going to hear from Darah Horn. She gave a
commencement speech to the West Point graduates who happen to
be Jewish in twenty twenty three, and I came across
(00:32):
this from a friend and the story came to life.
Here's Darron, who she is and how she came to
write this speech.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
My name is Darah Horn, and I'm a writer. I've
published six books. My first five books were novels that
all deal very deeply with Jewish history, culture, belief texts,
but incorporate those sort of ancient stories into modern contexts.
And my most recent book is a nonfiction book with
(01:03):
the rather provocative title People Love Dead Jews. It's a
collection of essays about the role that Jews play in
a non Jewish society. And I also have a spinoff
podcast from this book called Adventures with Dead Jews that
tells a bunch of stories that aren't in the book
because it's a bottomless topic, the role that Jews play
(01:25):
in a non Jewish society, and so, and you know,
I tend to approach these things with a little bit
of an off kilter kind of tone, as you can
sort of maybe tell by the title. So the invitation
to West Point, though, was quite unexpected. What happened was
there was a cadet there, which is you know, undergraduates
there are called cadets. There was a cadet there named
(01:45):
Jacob Foster, and he was listening to my podcast and
really enjoyed it and then went and read my book
People Love Dead Jews, and then approached the Jewish chaplain
at West Point and asked if I could be invited
to be their backl speaker at the Jewish Baccalariate service
as part of their commencement at West Point.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And I got this invitation.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I was very honored, but also very intimidated because I thought,
you know, people Love Dead Jews not really a great
fit for commencement inspirational speech at West Point. You know,
it was like sort of a mismatch there, and I
was sort of, you know, I was flattered that they
invited me, but I was a little bit confused what
they wanted because I think there's a lot of expectations
(02:27):
when you speak at a graduation that you're really speaking
to the graduates, and you're supposed to give them some
kind of message. And I just thought, you know, all
of the platitudes that people say to graduates at you know,
typical colleges and universities kind of don't apply here, because
you know, the cadets at West Point, they graduate, they're
(02:48):
commissioned as second lieutenants, and then they they're serving the
country for you know, and they all have a requirements
of how many years they're going to serve. These are
people who made this decision of what they were going
to do essentially with their lives and career at a
very young age. They don't need me to tell them
here's my advice for life. You know, what should you do?
What should you do with yourself? Like they've already decided.
(03:10):
And so I thought, what am I going to say
to these people? You know, in the United States and
in most Western democracies, our whole system is based on
a concept of rights. What's interesting about Jewish civilization is
that it does have this parallel to American civilization, and
that it's a culture that's based on a shared system
(03:31):
of laws and a shared text that we're all interpreting.
Right for in the United states. Of course, it's the constitution.
In Judaism, traditionally it's the Torah, right, it's the Hebrew Bible.
But what's different about the Jewish premise of civilization is
that it's not based on this idea of rights. Instead,
it's based on an idea of obligation, or what we
call in Judaism commandment. And that was the point where
(03:55):
I saw some a parallel with what these young people
were doing at least point. And I realized very quickly
that this date was the day before the Jewish holiday
of Shavuote, and the Jewish holiday of Shavuote is the
holiday where we celebrate the giving.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Of the Torah at Mount SINAI. So this is really
a moment in.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Jewish life of accepting obligations from God and accepting the
commandments from God. And I saw in these graduates at
West Point, in a sense, we're meeting that moment in
the same way, they're also standing at their own kind
of SIGNI where they're accepting their obligations, like in this
case in a similar in a ceremony where they were
(04:35):
going to be commission as officers a few days later.
And when I realized that, I thought that this is
perhaps a good way to speak to these American Jewish
graduates at West Point without any further ado. This is
the speech that I gave at the Jewish Baccalaureate service
for the graduating Jewish Cadets of the class of twenty
twenty three at the United States and Military Academy at
(04:57):
West Point on May twenty four, twenty twenty three. Normally,
a graduation speaker is supposed to offer the new graduates
a dose of wisdom and guidance. I'm probably supposed to
advise all of you to wear sunscreen and make mistiqus
and live life to the fullest. But the truth is
(05:21):
that looking at all of you, and all of you
everywhere in this room, graduates, alumni, veterans, officers, faculty, and
of course also the family and friends who have poured
their hearts into supporting all of you during these challenging
years and the even more challenging years ahead, during which
(05:41):
you've all dedicated your lives to defending our democracy, I
honestly feel outclassed by every single person in this room.
What can I possibly say to you that you don't
already know, You're already all deep aware of what many
(06:02):
other college graduates only.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Weren't after years of.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Beamlessly stumbling through life, which is that a life of
meaning only comes from service to others. Compared to your
peers graduating from other colleges around the country, you have
all spent the last four years being extremely driven and
extremely devoted, and to say something slightly less graduation worthy,
(06:29):
you've also spent these years being extremely uncomfortable and also
extremely uncool. I cannot pretend to understand your experience, but
I do know the profound value of being uncool and uncomfortable,
and so does every Jew who has ever lived for
(06:50):
the last three thousand years.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And you're listening to Darrel Horn's commencement to the West
Point Cadets graduating class of twenty twenty three, the Jewish Cadets,
and talking about being uncool and uncomfortable, and how Jews
throughout history have known something about both. When we come
back more of this remarkable story and this remarkable speech,
(07:17):
Darren Horn's speech to the West Point class of twenty
twenty three, the Jewish Cadets. Here on Our American Stories, Liehbibi,
here the host of our American Stories. Every day on
this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country,
(07:40):
stories from our big cities and small towns. But we
truly can't do the show without you. Our stories are
free to listen to, but they're not free to make.
If you love what you hear, go to Ouramericanstories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot. Go to auramericanstories dot com and give. And
(08:10):
we continue with our American Stories and with Darrah Horne's
speech to the Jewish Cadets, the graduating Cadets and class
of twenty twenty three at West Point.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Let's pick up where we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Growing up in our corealistic American society, many of us
were taught a kind of clunky lesson by very well
meaning people who wanted to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Teach us how to respect our neighbors.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
The way we were often taught this important value is
by someone essentially telling us, see this group of people
over here, who you might be inclined to be prejudiced against.
You shouldn't hate those people because they're just like you
and me. They're just like everyone else. But the problem
is that Jews have spent the past three thousand years
(09:06):
not being like everyone else. Un coolness is Judaism's brand,
going all the way back to the ancient Near East,
where everyone else was worshiping a marvel cinematic universe of
sexy deities, and the Jews were sort of like the
losers in the school cafeteria, praying to their bossy and
(09:29):
very unsexy.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Invisible god.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And in the many centuries as a minority in places
around the world, Jews have made this choice over and
over again to remain uncomfortable, to distinguish themselves from their
neighbors in any number of ways.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
To cling to those distinctions, and over the course of
their lives, to learn and understand what those distinctions really mean.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
They made that choice even when they had easier options,
and even when it meant risking their lives. One of
the things I've learned in my work as a writer,
and especially most recently is the writer of a book
with the somewhat provocative title People Love Dead Jews, is
(10:17):
the profound value of being uncomfortable. I think that the
uncomfortable moments are always where the story is, because those
are the moments when you're about to learn something that.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You might have gone through your entire life not knowing.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
The only way that people ever learn and change is
by being uncomfortable, by choosing to put themselves in situations
that push them to the very edge of what they
think they understand.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And that's a choice that all of you know very well.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You've all chosen at a really young age to dedicate
yourselves completely to defending our nation and without any way
of predicting where that.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Commitment might take you.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And you've chosen not only to commit to that uncomfortable
and uncertain future, but to lead others through. Major Frommer
pointed out to me that Judaism actually has many unexpected
similarities with cadet life at West Point. Both are governed
by these extremely complex rituals and rules of daily living,
(11:23):
the determined details of things like what you wear, how
you cut your hair, what you eat, how you walk,
how you talk, and basically how you spend every hour
of every day. But military life and Jewish life are
also similar in a much more fundamental way. They're both
based on the ideal of obligation, or what we call
(11:45):
in Judaism commandment. Tomorrow night is shovel Out, the holiday
where we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount
Sinni thousands of years ago, and Jewish legend teaches us
that it wasn't only the Jews of that generation who
stood at Sinai, but that all future Jews were also
(12:05):
physically present at that moment, standing at Sinai to receive
the Torah from God. As an American Jew, I used
to be very uncomfortable and troubled by that legend because
it seemed to directly contradict the American view of our
place in history.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
In the United States, one of our foundational ideas is
that it shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Ever matter who your parents or grandparents or great grandparents were.
It doesn't matter where you come from or what your
background is. What matters is what you do with the
opportunities this country gives us. Of course, that's what we
call the American dream in Jewish culture. This foundational legend
we have of all of us standing at Sinai seemed
to me like the exact opposite of the American dream,
(12:51):
because that legend suggests that actually, it does matter who
your parents are, who your grandparents and great great grandparents are,
and that the most important event in your life happened
thousands of years before you were born, and there's nothing
you can.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Do about it. But chafu is also when we celebrate.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
The biblical story of Ruth, the first convert to Judaism,
who rejected all the easier options open to her and
instead chose to join the Jewish people.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
The reality is.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That today all Jews are Jews by choice, free to
decide whether and how we will engage.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
With this tradition.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
The Facidic master Nachmano Brotslov taught that the Torah is
actually given not just at one point in history, but.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
At every moment, in every hour of every day.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Whether or not we believe that we all once stood
at Sinai, we are all constantly choosing what this tradition
means to us and whether we want to stand at
Sinai again. Judaism isn't really a religion the way that
some of our neighbors might understand that word, as a
set of abstract beliefs. Instead, it's a radical idea about
(14:06):
freedom and responsibility. The core idea of Judaism is monotheism
and the rejection of idolatry. Today, we think that idolatry
in the ancient world meant something like praying to a statue,
but that is not what idolatry was then or now.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
In the ancient Near East.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Many nations had many, many gods, and one of those gods.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Was the dictator.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
In ancient Egypt, where the Jews ancestors were enslaved, the
pharaoh was considered one.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Of the gods.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
So when the Jewish people said that they don't bow
to idols, what they actually meant was that they don't
bow to tyrants. People have often wondered how the Jews
have endured for so many thousands of years as one
of the only ancient peoples who still exist today. I
think the answers more to America's endurance as now one
(15:03):
of the longest lasting democracies in the modern world. I
think in both cases it lies in the refusal to
bow to tyrants. The Jewish people almost three thousand years ago,
like the American people almost three hundred years ago, had
to create a model of human leadership that was the
antidote to tyranny. The generation of freed slaves who accepted
(15:29):
the Torah discovered that freedom actually requires hard work, because
it turns out that societies that are not run by
tyrants require constant cooperation, compromises, decision making problem solving, dedication,
and vigilance to sustain them. We all know the famous
(15:49):
words from the Torah that God tells to the Egyptian
Pharaoh through Moses, let my people go. But in the Torah,
every time that phrase let my people goes, let my
people go appears, it's followed by another phrase, let my
people go.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
So they may serve me in the wilderness.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
The purpose of freedom is to allow the people to
willingly accept the commandments.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Laws about how to create a just society.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Human dignity only comes from choosing to take on those
responsibilities and accepting those obligations to others. Today, at West Point,
you are all now standing once more at a kind
of sini, recognizing your obligations.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
And a few days from now.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You are going to be commissioned as officers, and not
long after that you are all going out to serve
in the wilderness.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And you've been listening to Darrel Horn's speech to the
class of twenty twenty three at West Point, the Jewish
cadets were assembled, and she told them one heck of
a story, Because this is beautiful storytelling via a speech.
And we've spent a lot of time on great speeches,
quite a few from Churchill Roosevelt's beautiful prayer on the
(17:10):
Night of d Day to one hundred million Americans, and
even to Anne Frank all the way in Holland Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address of Beauty, and we have a Lincoln impersonator
do that. And Darrin's speech I think stands up with
all of them. It's just so beautiful. All Jews, she said,
are Jews by choice and so true as all Christians are.
(17:34):
And she talked about on coolness being Judaism's brand, and
talked about the profound value of being uncomfortable. Last that Jews,
like Americans and like Christians too, don't bow to tyrants.
When we come back more of Dara Horne's remarkable speech
(17:55):
here on our American Story, and we continue with Zarah
Horn here on our American Stories and her remarkable speech
to the Jewish Cadets graduating class at West Point twenty
(18:18):
twenty three. Let's return to the final part.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Our American forebears of all backgrounds saw this country as
a wilderness, an open place of both fear and possibility.
And I think that the future itself for all of
us is also a kind of wilderness, full of uncertainty,
but also full of promise. All of you have committed
to a future that you can't possibly imagine, and.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So did your parents when they raised you. Not so long.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Ago, when the Jewish people accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai,
they said, not sevenischma will do it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
And then we will listen to it.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
They accepted the Torrest laws before even hearing what those
laws were, and without regard to where those obligations might
lead them. And only later did they listen to those laws,
learn them, and discover what they might mean. All of
you have responded to that call in your lives as
Americans to defend this country with everything that you have
(19:26):
and to use your talents to lead others in its defense.
And by being here today and in all of your
many roles in this Jewish community here at West Point,
all of you are also responding to that call in
your lives as American Jews. For some of you, the
power and beauty of Judaism is something that has always
(19:47):
been part of your life. For some of you, it's
something that you either discovered or deepened here in this
place that you entered while instinctively knowing what it means.
To live a life of commitment. But all of you
are about to go out into the wilderness. Your lives
(20:07):
as American military leaders in the coming years will be
well structured, with many challenging but apparent paths in front
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
But how you continue to lead and deepen.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Your Jewish lives and what paths you'll take as Jewish leaders,
is still entirely up to you. That freedom and responsibility
will be very uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You will be making those choices in many places where you.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Might not have a Jewish community to support you, and
at a moment in history where a a resurgence of
hatred might tempt you to make the more comfortable choice
of not being quickly Jewish at all. But you also
have the courage of many generations of Jews behind you
who have made the uncomfortable choice, generations going back to Sinai,
(21:02):
the more recent generations who escaped the persecutions of other
places to come to this country, and also the thousand
plus Jewish graduates of West Point who to whose names
we've just added yours. This country is one of the
few places in the world where Jews has had the
opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Serve as military leaders.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But in every place that Jews have had that opportunity,
they have seized it.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Even in the nine.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Hundreds, the Hebrew poets Mulhana Gid was the chief general
of Spain's Empire, leading Ernies into battle.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
In the ancient world, Jews.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Were so renowned for being elite warriors that they were
actively recruited by Persian and other imperial forces, who manned
their most dangerous outposts.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Entirely with Jewish commanders. And as all of you.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Know, we have had Jewish graduates from West Point from
the very beginning. These were all people who deeply understood
the call to a life of service. You have spent
the past four years learning from the many military leaders
around you, and maybe sometimes learning from them how you
don't want to.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Lead, and I think you have that in common with
all West Point.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Graduates from the past two hundred years. But allow me
to take a moment to prepare you for your future
with some advice given to the very first Jewish military leader,
long before West Point existed. When Moses died in the wilderness,
the leadership of the Jewish people passed to Joshua, a
(22:41):
man with whom to these graduates share much in common.
Joshua was born into a people who had endured great
oppression in the past in a foreign land, but whose
new generation was born free from the sufferings of their elders.
Their challenge was different, to build tech to society that
(23:01):
allowed for many different tribes and perspectives to live together
and flourish.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Like many of our graduates today.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Joshua was different from his own parents, and even from
his predecessor Moses, because, unlike his civilian predecessors, Joshua was
a warrior, a military leader tasked with entering enemy territory
and defending a nation. Joshua had already engaged in covert operations,
(23:30):
sneaking into the Promised Land to collect intelligence on how
to conquer it. Nearly all of the other spies who
had entered the Promised Land with him told Moses that
the land was unconquerable. Only Joshua and his deputy were
unafraid of the daunting military task that lay ahead of them,
(23:51):
and so when Moses died, God gave Joshua a commencement
speech at what is essentially Joshua's commissionings.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Enemy.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
God said to Joshua the famous Hebrew words Kazakh, the
Amats be strong and courageous. But the way God continued
this commencement speech is very revealing. God did not give
Joshua military advice or tell him to respect his elders
or to wear sunstream. Instead, God told Joshua to keep warning.
(24:28):
God said to Joshua, you should keep the book of
the Torah always on your lips.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
You should recite from it night and day.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
For God, Kazakh the Amats, to be strong and courageous
meant being brave enough to always continue learning, to keep
going back to that uncomfortable place, to be curious and
humble enough to learn what you don't yet know, not
just about the battlefield and not just about life, but
(24:59):
about this time, this Jewish civilization, this powerful antidote to tyranny,
that has brought us to this moment, and that now
relies upon you to sustain it. So on this momentous day,
I am not going to tell you to wear sunscreen,
(25:19):
because I think that you have all of the rules
and regulations you need that are going to tell you
exactly what you're supposed to wear. You're also already you
also already know that you will make mistakes and you
already can teach the rest of us about how to
live life to the fullest. Instead, I want to offer
(25:40):
you the words of the God of our ancestors, Kazakh
the Amats.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Be strong and courageous.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Be strong and courageous enough to lead people into battle.
Be strong and courageous enough to learn again and again
what is worth defending. Be strong and courageous enough to
stand at Sinai at every hour of every day. Be
strong and courageous as you carry forth with you the
(26:09):
antidote to tyranny. Borrow atta atter nilo Heinu melafalam chef yanu.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
The kiyamanu vihigiyanu was Manhase.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Blessed you, order, God, Ruler of the universe, who has
kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to
this moment. And I'm saying this blessing just for myself,
for the honor of being in your presence today. May
God bless all of you graduates. May God bless America
and all of its defenders.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Mazzeltov and you've been listening to Darrel Horne, an award
winning author, recipient of three National Jewish Book Awards, And
you can see your work in The New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, The Smithsonian, The Atlantic.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
This one appeared in the tablet. This speech. I cried
reading it on an airplane. Again.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I'm not Jewish, but these ideas, these words, they're just
so beautiful. Be strong and courageous, he said, to lead
people into battle and to learn what's worth defending. Be
strong and courageous and carry forth with you. The Antidote
to Tyranny. The story of Darrew Horne's commencement speech at
(27:18):
West Point to the Jewish Cadets graduating class of twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
How it came to be here on Our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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