“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

“Global Intifada”

“Genocide”

“Apartheid”

“Students will go back home when Israelis go back to Europe.”

"Zionists don’t deserve to live”

“We are Hamas”

“American Jews are Al-Qassam’s next Target”

These are just some of the chants and placards that have been on full display in many college campuses across the United States and in rallies and marches across the globe.  My daughter-in-law's 93 year old grandmother who survived Auschwitz, stated during Passover that this was reminiscent of 1930s Berlin. Pictures of students forming human chains and preventing Jewish students from passing onto campus mirrored exact pictures of campuses in Germany in the 1930s as well. 

We all know, whether we want to admit it or not, that the behavior against Jews in this country would not be tolerated if the same actions were taken against another minority group. There has been a concerted effort to indoctrinate our young people that the world is binary - there are the oppressed and the oppressor - nothing more. In that view Jews are white, and for that fact, Israelis are white - coming from Europe - and therefore Israel and Jews are the oppressors and the Palestinians, being of color, are the oppressed. No nuance. Israelis/Jews are the colonizers and the Palestinians are the displaced. This of course, demonstrates their utter ignorance, since most Israelis today are not white and more Israelis came from the Arab countries that committed actual ethnic cleansing, than the Jews who came from Europe. (After WWII, approximately 688,000 Jews immigrated from Europe between 1948-1951 and from the late 1940’s to the early 1970’s between 850,000-1 million Jews immigrated from the Arab countries that forced them out).

Of course in the 1930s anti-Semitism was coming from the right, not the left, so in that situation Jews were the other - non-white and non-Aryan. We were not to be trusted and to Hitler we were vermin which was an idea readily accepted by his followers. For Jews, extremism is extremism, whether from the left or right - either way, it ends up in the same place for the Jewish people. 

Anti-Semitism is a unique kind of hatred. A lot has been written about it, but the bottom line is that anti-Semitism is elastic and adapts to the problems of the day. Jews are the eternal scape-goat for the ills of a society in every generation. Some of us had been lulled into believing that kind of hatred was in the past - but our current reality begs otherwise.

In the 1930s, when Hitler came to power he set into motion his plan, which he did not hide, to eradicate the “Jewish problem” and with the outbreak of WWII, the Holocaust began. The official number of Jews slaughtered is 6 million. But there are those who believe it is closer to seven million when you account for all of the mass graves that were uncovered in Ukraine and parts of Russia just in the past several years (Read, Holocaust By Bullets).  This was a true Genocide - as the term was coined specifically as a result of the Jewish Holocaust. To be clear there is no Genocide taking place in Gaza - no matter how tragically horrific conditions presently are. We also must remember that the horrific conditions in Gaza are the direct result of Hamas’ brutal attack against innocent Jews on October 7, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. And we cannot forget Hamas notoriously uses civilians as human shields and uses schools, hospitals and Mosques to launch their attacks. Conveniently, these facts are lost on the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist protesters.

For many these are scary times, or at the very least, very concerning times. Anti-Semitic attacks against Jews are higher than they have been in many years. Many think twice before wearing a kippah in public. Some have taken their Mezuzot off their doors. 

But, we also have to remember this is not pre-WWII Europe. There is a State of Israel and approximately 80-85% of Jews identify as Zionists. The majority of Americans support Israel and its war against Hamas (only the young people are not supportive). And it must be noted that while it seems like chaos on the campuses, as Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL pointed out, the protestors at Columbia represented less than 1% of the school’s population, which he said was the trend at most of the colleges. In addition, it has been established that several of the protestors, and often the most incendiary protestors were not students but infiltrators looking to create tension and chaos. Twenty-five percent of the intruders who took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia were not even affiliated with the University. So even during these difficult times, we need to also keep perspective. While it can feel very lonely, Jews are not as isolated as we once were and we do have our allies, including the Western Democracies, regardless of how critical they can be towards the Israeli government. While we must be concerned and vigilant, there is also reason for hope. 

As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, we must take to heart the post Holocaust clarion call of “Never Again!’ and we all have a part to play to make sure ‘Never Again” is forever! To begin, we must never let anit-semitism define our Judaism. Hate does not get to define us. We must stand Jewish and proud. We must send that Jewish and proud message to our children as well. Now is a time for action:

As members of the Schechter Bergen community you already understand the importance of educating our children to grow into proud, knowledgeable, active Jews connected to their tradition, people, and the State of Israel. We also know that too many Jews today are ignorant when it comes to their own history, values and connections to the Jewish people and Israel.  Jews have always placed education as one of our greatest values because we always have known that knowledge is our gateway to Jewish continuity. We live in a Christian and secular culture. Our children are inundated by the larger culture. If we want our people to survive and thrive we must recommit to intensive Jewish education and engaging Jewish experiences for our children. It is our responsibility to speak passionately about the importance of Jewish education and to try our best to get our families and friends to take another look at day schools, and specifically Schechter Bergen as a great choice for today’s Jewish children. 

We fight hate and defeat our enemies by thriving as a people! We thrive as a people when we know who we are and what our “why” is for existing at all.

From exile, to centuries of pogroms, to the Holocaust - we have endured and we will continue to endure long after Hamas has disappeared from the face of this earth. 

Be unapologetically proud to be a Jew and make sure your children and grandchildren know exactly where you stand as a Jew and why it is so important to you!