We are Stronger When We are Together

Just hours ago, the Jewish community once again began collectively mourning the senseless murders of two beautiful souls, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. For many Jews, as heartbreaking and gut-wrenching as their deaths are, the killings were not unforeseeable as the Jewish hate that seemed relegated to the Arab world and the fringes of “civilized” societies have become mainstream. We even have witnessed people, from some of the best and brightest college students to members of Congress and their supporters embrace slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada,” and “From the River to the Sea.” Whatever fallacious nuance they seek to justify this Jewish hate speech, it is tantamount to white supremacists chanting “White Power” or “Seig Heil.” Seig heil literally means “hail victory,” so context, just like Jihad (which means “struggle”) is everything!

The Jew haters have normalized hate in spaces in which we have not been prepared.  Following the defeat of the Axis powers in the Second World War, Jews have felt at home in liberal sanctuaries. Now those same sanctuaries have been turned against us as Jews are facing hate in the academia, the arts, in politics, in our restaurants and on our streets, not to mention in the Fourth Estate – journalism. Whatever we are doing, it is not working. Albert Eisnstein purportedly said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” It is time for a different, consolidated and collaborated approach!

The diaspora and Israel need to work together to fight Jewish hate anywhere and everywhere. We need to fight on college campuses and in the halls of Congress and every state legislature. We need to demand that our elected leaders fight with us, or face ballot box consequences. We need to fight in the courts, on college campuses, in the academia, in the media and on social media. We are accused of using Jewish power to run the world, and as a result, we are reluctant to truly exercise “Jewish power.” We need to follow the lead of some courageous millionaires and billionaires who have publicly shamed their alma maters and have withheld donations. Many have also put their money towards backing groups whose mission is to fight Jewish hate, and others who went farther by taking out Super Bowl Ads featuring high-profile celebrities in this fight! Now that’s power!   

Moreover, we need to work together! We have so many different Jewish groups with different agendas. We need to unite to fight smarter, cohesively, and to win this fight decisively. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, once said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards Justice.” If so, many this country who are moral and want to see justice want to join with us in our fight against Jewish hate.  We need to show them that we are the side that is intent on winning this fight, and we will stand tall against our adversaries. It is time to get organized because b’yachad, we are stronger and G-d’s moral universe is with us!