Kristallnacht—the Night of Broken Glass is happening again

Comfort Is a Trap: Broken Glass, Rising Hate, and the Will to Fight

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, tradition teaches that only twenty percent possessed the resolve to leave. As Rashi explains on the Plague of Darkness, the remaining eighty percent had grown so entrenched, comfortable, and affluent in Egyptian society that they could not fathom walking away from the status quo. Moses did not dilute his message or compromise the truth to broaden his tent; he marched forward with the resolute fraction ready to claim their destiny, while the rest were tragically absorbed and lost to history. Today, that ancient divide confronts us once again: will we remain paralyzed by the comfortable illusion of diaspora safety, or will we find the clarity and courage of that twenty percent?

The warning signs are no longer subtle whispers—they are blaring sirens across the Western world. How is it possible that the chilling echoes of Kristallnacht are playing out before our eyes? In Brussels, a brick shatters the window of an Orthodox synagogue in Anderlecht just days before the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass. In midtown Manhattan on 47th Street, two Jews are stabbed in the back with a syringe in broad daylight after being interrogated about their identity—and passersby simply look away, going along on their merry way. In Philadelphia, organized mobs target Jewish businesses under banners like “No Business for Zionists,” coordinating boycotts against kosher restaurants. Antisemitism is no longer whispered in shadows; it is out in the open. Just as in 1930s Germany, our enemies make no distinctions between religious or secular, kippah-wearing or bare-headed, liberal, conservative, or feminist. To them, only one thing matters: you are a Jew.

There is no longer room for denial. We cannot afford the fatal blindness of the eighty percent who mistook a temporary exile for an invincible home. It is time to pull our heads out of the sand, stand tall, and embody an unapologetic Jewish pride. That pride must be paired with tangible strength: prepare yourselves, take responsibility for your physical protection, and learn self-defense and firearm safety through organizations like Chai Defense, Guns and Moses, or local training groups in your community. Most critically, recognize that our sovereign homeland, the State of Israel, is more indispensable today than at any point in our history. The choice is squarely before us: succumb to the creeping numbness of an exile turning hostile, or stand among the brave twenty percent who actively defend their people, honor their heritage, and secure the Jewish future.