The Jewish World Cup

When the World Cup narrowed to four teams—England, France, Spain, and Argentina—Jonah Platt (host of the Being Jewish podcast and brother of Ben Platt) posed an interesting question: Which of the four should Jews be rooting for? He shared his thoughts on X.

He reviewed each country’s unfortunate history with the Jews. England gave us the blood libel. France was the site of the Dreyfus Affair. Spain established the Inquisition. Argentina provided a safe haven for Nazis fleeing Germany after the Holocaust—most famously Adolf Eichmann.

Then he turned to the present. His conclusion was that if you don’t already have an allegiance to one of the four countries, the Jewish choice is Argentina. After all, its current president seems to genuinely love Israel and the Jewish people.

I laughed when I read his post. But the more I thought about it, the sadder it became. Jews are actually having conversations like this—asking which countries in the world are the least antisemitic and where Jews might feel safest. That’s the unfortunate reality of Jewish life in 2026.

It’s no small coincidence that this week’s Torah portion records a similar conversation between Moses and the Israelites. After spending roughly one-third of his life in Egypt and another third in Midian, Moses was determined to prepare the Israelites to enter a land of their own. Yes, he permitted the two-and-a-half tribes to settle east of the Jordan, outside the Promised Land. But before doing so, he required them to pledge that they would stand with their fellow Israelites in conquering and securing the land. Moses clearly understood that the Jewish people needed a homeland where they could live in safety and build a society shaped by Torah.

The parallel to our own day is striking. Jews are not required to live in Israel. About half of the world’s Jewish population lives elsewhere and has no intention of making aliyah. Yet the existence of Israel gives Jews everywhere a sense of security that previous generations could scarcely have imagined. It even allows us the luxury of joking about which World Cup team is the least antisemitic.

Many anti-Israel activists argue that the only reason the State of Israel exists is because of the world’s guilt over the Holocaust. Jews understand it differently. We believe that the Holocaust happened because there was no State of Israel. That is why the overwhelming majority of Jews support the existence of a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland, even when we strongly disagree with the policies of a particular Israeli government.

Well, God must be a listener of Jonah Platt’s podcast, because it took something close to a miracle for Argentina to beat England yesterday. So, it will be Argentina and Spain in the final. While I look forward to the day when I can root for Israel in a World Cup final, I guess I’ll be cheering for Argentina this year.