Why is his comparison so far off? His point was that it wasn’t real achdus, it was a large group sharing a common emotional event.
Because Yankees fans care nothing about each other; they have a shared interest. Sports fandom is an aspect of human nature, competitiveness, channeled to shtusim vahavalim, in the form of vicariously feeling victorious when a random group of athletes defeats another random group of athletes. Yankees fans happen to root for the same random group of athletes.
The shared tefillos of klal Yisroel, however come from ahavas Yisroel, which despite often being buried too deeply under layers of disagreement and misunderstanding, emerges in an eis tzarah. It comes from genuine achdus.
Of course, one can choose to view our unity at that time as a product of competitiveness, and say that we wouldn’t be nearly as concerned about them had it not been “us” (Yidden) vs. “them” (Hamas).
That would be an extraordinarily cynical perspective, though, and I don’t think Suri Feldman or Caleb Jacoby would agree to it.
As for our deeply held beliefs, he’s not suggesting that you give them up.
I disagree. I think the manifestation of achdus described would require a change in hashkafah.
All he’s saying is that we should recognize and respect other opinions, even if we don’t hold of them ourselves. There are 70 different paths all leading to the same place. Let’s recognize the different opinions as the different paths.
And what if one’s hashkafos are that a particular different set of hashkafos are not valid? Is one required, for achdus, to change that hashkafah? Again, I assert that it’s not a reasonable or correct assertion.
What I see as a proper manifestation of achdus is showing mutual respect and love for each other as individuals, as fellow members of klal Yisroel.