Yes, yes, of course: Palestinians, refugees at our southern border, people in Ukraine, Blacks killed by cops live in true physical fear -- but so did Jews at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, for just one example among more than a few anti-Jewish attacks in recent times. The ADL tracks anti-Jewish incidents and says they're steadily rising. As I see it, a big, real and crucial difference between those groups who have experienced harm, including murder, at the hands of American white nationalists, and Jews is that so far as I know, no one goes after and kills white nationalists under a Jewish or Palestinian or Black banner.
One thing that comes to my mind about this view of anti-Semitism is that for many, being Jewish in America isn't a siloed identity -- it crosses over with many other identities that are fighting their own additional battles, including POC and/or LGBTQ Jewish folks; there are Jewish disability advocacy orgs, and Jewish women can face harassment that Jewish men might not. So it really is true that until we're all free, nobody is, and it's very true that we need to ditch the idea that the present moment is a culmination of history.
The world of false equivalencies lurks out there, waiting to pounce.
Statistics, as you know, can be used for any purpose whatever, but statistics don't mean a thing when I feel threatened by whatever. It's probably true, in a purely statistical world, that Jews are no more threatened than other groups, as you suggest. But knowing this doesn't necessarily translate into my feeling safe and secure as I walk or drive to my neighborhood shul -- or as I sit in that shul during an event, wondering if I'm going to make it home alive.
The threat is amplified and accelerated by the internet. Without it we would not know who Trump was dining with or what Kanye West said. If we stopped reading unimportant internet posts we might feel less threatened. I am spending more time reading books and less on the internet. I feel better already.
In temple Friday night, we had the pleasure of having David Harris as speaker. Twenty minutes without notes...mostly about the historically rocky relationship between Ukraine and the Jewish community. Terrific. And our rabbi spoke about The Day of Hate. Hard to believe that such a named day can happen here.
Yes, yes, of course: Palestinians, refugees at our southern border, people in Ukraine, Blacks killed by cops live in true physical fear -- but so did Jews at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, for just one example among more than a few anti-Jewish attacks in recent times. The ADL tracks anti-Jewish incidents and says they're steadily rising. As I see it, a big, real and crucial difference between those groups who have experienced harm, including murder, at the hands of American white nationalists, and Jews is that so far as I know, no one goes after and kills white nationalists under a Jewish or Palestinian or Black banner.
One thing that comes to my mind about this view of anti-Semitism is that for many, being Jewish in America isn't a siloed identity -- it crosses over with many other identities that are fighting their own additional battles, including POC and/or LGBTQ Jewish folks; there are Jewish disability advocacy orgs, and Jewish women can face harassment that Jewish men might not. So it really is true that until we're all free, nobody is, and it's very true that we need to ditch the idea that the present moment is a culmination of history.
The world of false equivalencies lurks out there, waiting to pounce.
Statistics, as you know, can be used for any purpose whatever, but statistics don't mean a thing when I feel threatened by whatever. It's probably true, in a purely statistical world, that Jews are no more threatened than other groups, as you suggest. But knowing this doesn't necessarily translate into my feeling safe and secure as I walk or drive to my neighborhood shul -- or as I sit in that shul during an event, wondering if I'm going to make it home alive.
The threat is amplified and accelerated by the internet. Without it we would not know who Trump was dining with or what Kanye West said. If we stopped reading unimportant internet posts we might feel less threatened. I am spending more time reading books and less on the internet. I feel better already.
In temple Friday night, we had the pleasure of having David Harris as speaker. Twenty minutes without notes...mostly about the historically rocky relationship between Ukraine and the Jewish community. Terrific. And our rabbi spoke about The Day of Hate. Hard to believe that such a named day can happen here.