When the Absurd Isn’t
At 6:00 pm in a Mid-Atlantic State, I stood outside in a parking area near a small park as the temperature dipped into the mid-twenties. I found myself contemplating the near absurdity of what I was doing. I say “near absurdity,” because it turns out, it was not absurd at all.
I am a sixty-something year old man, who should be home catching up on Daf Yomi. Instead, I am standing in the travel lane of a parking lot as part of a volunteer community security group, helping to make sure those who came to a Chanukah event, for a shul not my own, did not become victims of another senseless killing of Jews. Less than 72 hours after the horrors of Bondi Beach, I, and several others are in this nearly absurd circumstance.
As my nose begins to run from the cold, I think about a political commentator on a popular news and opinion program I saw earlier in the day. He was on a segment with the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League discussing the events in Australia. I am purposely not naming the network, the program or the commentator, because I don’t want to get caught in the back and forth of right versus left, blah blah blah. I will say that while I am not a huge admirer of this particular commentator, I find his views on hatred and calls for greater humanity and understanding very close to my own.
Discussing the horrors of Bondi Beach and the pervasiveness of antisemitism, this commentator said that hate, whether antisemitic, racist, or Islamophobic, comes from an unholy place and that the resulting violence all stems from that same unholiness. I believe this commentator recognizes the horror of Bondi Beach. I believe this commentator knows that there is real antisemitism and stands against it. But wait! He just “All Lives Matter”ed Jew hate. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, “All Lives Matter” became a sort of counter slogan to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The critique, and in my view a proper one, was that while “All Lives Matter” recognizes the sanctity of life and that racial violence cannot be tolerated, it failed to take into account the special circumstances of the Black American experience, including systemic racism and targeted racial violence. He just did the same to Jew hate.
As my feet start to sting from the cold and my knees stiffened, I realized that my current physical discomfort was the proof that Jew hate and antisemitism are different. Jew hate is not part of “all lives matter.” Antisemitism is different. Jew hate is different for one simple reason. No other forms of violent hate seek the eradication of an entire people.
History has shown that racist, those disgusting hate-mongering idiots, use violence to try and achieve the horrendous goal of riding their communities of other races. The Ku Klux Klan, seeks to rid “White America” of the “mongrel” races from its shores. But the Klan has never has never trained assassins in another country to go to a third country to kill Black people. Neo-Nazi Skinheads don’t travel to Africa and kill Black people for the glory of the white power.
There is no group, organization or government that calls for eradication of all Muslims. Granted, there are horribly Islamophobic people and political parties in America and Europe, that want to prevent Muslims or Arabs (even if they aren’t followers of Islam) from immigrating, creating a political base, or even worshiping. But no one advocates destroying Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, and every other Muslim country because a mosque is proposed for downtown New York.
As the cold stiffness my hands because I can’t wear gloves and effectively operate my radio, I am evidence that Jew hate is different. Australia – inspired by a terrorist, travelled internationally to train. They circumvented some of the strictest gun laws in the world and they planned. The plan- to kills Jews. A “drive by” shooting at a display of Chanukah lights in California – get the Jews. Attack on a New York Subway – Jew. Manchester – attack a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Washington DC – shoot two young people for going to a museum. October 7th – October 7th– October 7th – October 7th……….. On October 8 there were Pro-Hamas rallies in Europe where people chanted “Kill the Jews.” They didn’t chant for a war that had yet to begin. They didn’t chant against a political enemy. They chanted to kill the Jews. And yes, not all criticism of Israeli politics is antisemitism. However, if that criticism even touches on a Jew’s right exist, a Jew’s right to self-determination, or a Jew’s right to self-defense, it is based in Jew hate and antisemitism no matter how benignly it may be stated. Because Jews are targets everywhere.
A Jew is a target everywhere for one simple reason, because the Jew exists. The threat is so pervasive, so ubiquitous, that a non-Jewish commentator on the same program that spurred this article stated that he worried that the horrific murders of Rob and Michelle Reiner might have been the product of antisemitism. Why, because they were Jewish. I had the same thought. The commentator then breathed a sigh of relief to learn that the murders were merely a family nightmare. Me, too.
As I count down the minutes until the crowd dissipates and I can get warm, an older couple, obviously not Jewish, exits their car in the public parking lot. They see me in my security gear and ask if the music and celebration was part of a Christmas tree lighting. I inform them it is a menorah lighting for Chanukah. The man responds, “Yeah, you should have security here.”
Even those outside the Jewish Community know that Jew hate and antisemitism are different. Even in Brentwood. Even in Potomac. Even in London. Even in Paris. Even in……the Intifada is globalized, and it has been for years.
My fingers are too stiff to respond to the text from my frightened wife, who is angry that I may be in harm’s way. Then I see a dark pickup truck that has seen better days, with a lone male driver. The truck makes its third pass in the parking area. It stops in the middle of the travel lane. The driver gets out wearing a big bulky coat. He doesn’t close his door. He moves slowly toward the crowd. The security volunteers do exactly what we were trained to do, and the brave police officer takes the lead. Thank G-d it was nothing. Once everything is confirmed, we all looked at each other with a grin of relief.
It is nearly absurd that I, and others, are doing this. No, it isn’t.
