On Antisemitism

I feel like I should say something about antisemitism. The rise in incidents both here and abroad is not surprising but frightening, nonetheless. I find myself thinking about what my parents must have been thinking as overt Jewish-hatred escalated in Lodz and Bedzin (Poland), my mother and father’s hometowns. Some of you might immediately be thinking, “oh, there you go again…unfairly comparing anti-Jewish sentiment in the US with far more pernicious antisemitism under Nazi hatred”. To which I respond: bullshit!

Undoubtedly, my Jew-hate antenna is on high alert these days. I just finished reading David Baddiel's cut-to-the-chase book, “Jews Don’t Count” and am hyper-sensitive to dismissal of American antisemitism as a shoulder shrug. In the last week alone, I encountered more than one occasion of presumption of Jewish success as grounds for denial of Jews being oppressed. I live in a southern state, belong to a mostly white, Christian golf club and regularly hear expressions of ignorance wrapped in “admiration” for Jewish achievement. To be clear, I’m proud of the accomplishments of many, many Jews but presumptions of universal Jewish status as over-achievers is an expression of antisemitism.?

And then there’s god and Israel and race.

I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in any kind of god. And, I’m Jewish. My parents were Jewish and as far as I know (the Nazis were good at eradicating ancestry and ancestral records) their parents were Jewish, but I accept anyone who identifies as Jewish regardless of bloodline. If you want to join our company of oft appreciated, more often misunderstood and too often despised mishpacha, welcome! But, as the latest fiasco with Whoopi revealed, most people, including our own Jewish communities (yes, there are more than one) don’t fully understand what identity characteristics define us. Clearly, it’s not just about faith…Nazis wouldn’t have cared if we were ‘believers’ or not. It’s not just about ancestry since we welcome ‘converts’ through various processes depending on one’s denominational preference (https://18doors.org/denominations/). I appear to be ‘white’, based on my obvious skin color, but, to be honest, I don’t feel ‘white’ if defined exclusively by the white, dominant American culture. But, I am proudly a Jew. I share a history, value system and culture that defines me as Jew…even if, as a vegan, I no longer eat Chicken soup.

Then, there’s Israel. There’s much I admire and love about Israel and knowing that I could make aliyah to Israel gives me great comfort though I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave the US. There’s much about Israel’s founding and progress that also makes me uncomfortable (read: https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Palestinian-Neighbor-Yossi-Halevi/dp/0062844911/ref=nodl_). Not all Jews think alike on any subject and especially about Israel. Most (but not all) Israelis are Jewish but American Jews are not Israelis. I used to watch for overt antisemitism from the right (and still do) but I’m even more concerned about subtle (and overt) antisemitism from the left. Read that Baddiel book if you want to fully understand the threats I feel from my progressive colleagues.

People far smarter than me have written eloquently and passionately about antisemitism. Deborah Lipstadt, Bari Weiss and many others offer insightful treatises on the subject with critical reflections on the basis for hatred of Jews as well as valuable suggestions for intervention. I’m just offering personal reflections as a child of Holocaust survivors, a proud but evolving Jew and an American citizen. Our grandchildren and the experiences they will encounter are always on my mind given their complex identities with Jewish and non-Jewish ancestors and families from caucasian and asian identities. But, if they identify as Jews, they will be Jews, with the beauty of our culture and community and the ugliness of antisemitism that has persisted for millennia and will undoubtedly continue in the years ahead.

So, why did I write this piece? Well, partially to just get it out of my head and onto ‘paper’ (so to speak). But, I mostly wrote this as my small contribution to fighting antisemitism and correcting misinformation. The Holocaust may have been decades ago, but the consequences are current and the roots of that atrocity are deep and ever lurking.?