Wake Up, My Fellow Jews–History is repeating

We Jews have worked tirelessly to provide better lives for our children—more comfort, more security, more opportunity. We’ve embraced education, stability, and prosperity with pride. Yet, in the pursuit of comfort, I fear we have become too complacent. Until recently, it felt like our dedication paid off. Our kids thrived in schools, our communities prospered, and we felt safe in our homes. But now, that comfort is being shaken. The world is shifting, and we must open our eyes before history repeats itself—again.

I grew up in a deeply Jewish, loving household. My father came to the US from Poland after surviving a childhood shadowed by Nazi terror. My mother was a first-generation American born to Russian-Jewish parents who had fled the same deep-rooted antisemitism. Our family knew trauma. My father’s side bore the scars of the Holocaust. And as a child in the 1960s, I constantly asked my parents—and my friends’ parents—the same haunting question: “How did the Holocaust happen? Why didn’t Jews fight back?” The answer was often the same: “We didn’t know what was happening.” They thought it was just another pogrom. Just another wave of persecution. They couldn’t imagine the scale of horror that awaited.

I was raised on American values—love of family, education, and yes, the eternal heartbreak of being a New York Mets fan (and don’t get me started on the Knicks). We believed in the greatness of this country. But now, I look around and realize how easily things can change, and how eerily similar today feels to what my parents once described. Today, in universities across America—not just the Ivy Leagues like Harvard, MIT, or Columbia, but everywhere—open Jew hatred is flourishing. Protests call for our destruction. Professors justify terror. Administrators stay silent. And educated Jews, once respected, now face marginalization again. The same denial my parents heard—“we didn’t know”—is happening again, except this time, we do know.

In the 1970s, a firebrand rabbi named Meir Kahane formed the Jewish Defense League. While not without controversy, its foundation was simple: Jews should never be victims again. I remember seeing their “Chaya Squad”—tough Jews who trained to defend their communities. It filled me with pride. Later, I learned about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Bielski brothers—Jews who resisted, fought, survived. We’ve always had warriors among us. Yes, we are people of the book, but even Joshua had to pick up a sword. There is a time for study, and there is a time for strength. And today, my friends, is a time for strength.

Thankfully, some are stepping up. Organizations like Chai Defense are training Jews in Krav Maga and situational awareness—practical skills for dangerous times. Another powerful example is Guns N Moses NJ, a firearms training group promoting safe and legal gun ownership for Jews. Some people scoff at the idea of Jews learning to shoot or defend themselves. But what’s more taboo—training for survival or trusting history won’t repeat itself? The old saying rings true: better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

I don’t write this to stoke fear. I write this to wake us up. The signs are there—just as they were in pre-war Europe. We cannot say we didn’t see it. We must prepare. We must protect our children, our communities, and our way of life. If we don’t stand up now, we may lose the very freedoms our parents and grandparents sacrificed so much to give us. The time for silence is over. The time for comfort is gone. Wake up, my fellow Jews. The future depends on it.

https://www.chaidefense.com/

https://www.gunsnmosesnj.com/