Again, a poignant perspective that gives me pause. If our goal is assimilation or at least acceptance in a community but the blockade to that end is anti-semitism what would be the strategy?
I agree what we are doing isn’t working so best to rethink things. But what is it that turns this around.
The jihadists have spent decades laying this plan of changing the narrative and we didn’t catch on until it was too late. And now we have generations that has been feed this propaganda and believe it to be true.
What is that message that will turn the tide of what now several generations hold to be true?
I am afraid we have a generational problem that will take generations to change. But we do need to look out for the future and start work now.
I appreciate your thoughts. Really gets me thinking.
This is the best response I have seen anywhere and applies to so many other situations. It is easy to be against something. This is not just being for something, but an offering of service to reach a better way.
Truth. In order to garner allies, we need to stop complaining and explain how what we believe to be the best way forward is good for the US. Constantly harping on Mamdani being an antisemite and supporter of Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood etc will do nothing to move the needle.
Explain to people how his socialist/communist policies will destroy NYC. How we need a rational person who understands how to govern, who has experience in the real world of dealing with the complexities of running a City that has more people and a budget larger than 39 US states. Someone with a background in negotiations/compromises and has shown they know how to govern. How his policies of vilifying the very people that help build the platform from which all jobs spring in NYC will ultimately impoverish everyone. Go after his policies and find rational alternatives to tell people this is how it should be done to ensure a fairer City. And then also point out that he is a 33 year old man-child who has never actually had a real job, never built or created anything and never even showed up for a large amount of the votes he was supposed to take when he was in the state legislature.
In reality though, the other choices are awful for a different variety of reason. Cuomo, Adams and Sliwa. None of whom actually have the class to bow out in order to support the other and try to save the City. It's as if hashem is punishing us for some unforeseen slight.
From the year before October 7th I felt the intensification of anti-zionism around our region in northern New Hampshire. There are few Jews here . There were Zionism is Racism protests in the Dartmouth College area. People in towns around me started applying the words colonization and genocide exclusively to Israel.
I grew up in an intellectually curious but assimilating Jewish family, rich in American values that mirror Judaism's best values. Today I am a deeply committed Jew and Zionist but my primary experiences were very grounded in American institutions and culture.
So I created a 2 hour program for our rural area, churches and other venues called "What do Zionism and To Kill A Mockingbird have in common? Both Jews and non-Jews attended, some on Zoom.
In Part first I shared why this book was so important to me as a guide to understanding the world around me. That I have an older brother with autism who I love dearly but saw was thoroughly shunned by society because of difference. I then compared the demonization of Boo Radley to Jews which led into a history of Zionism that included facts I was sure would surprise people such how Jews have always lived in Jerusalem. Part 2 was Show and Tell: prayer books with circled references to Zion, and candlesticks brought over from the old country by my ancestors, Haggadot with Next Year in Jerusalem circled in each one. I talked about my father's mother from Trochenbrod who missed the Titanic and my mother's grandfather who fought in the Civil War, whose family came from Portugal. Part 3 was a break for Jewish food. Part 4 was a question and answer about Zionism. I used a lot of info from Unpacking Jewish history, especially from Haviv Rettig Gur. People wrote questions and I collected them and answered them best I could.
The project succeeded because I started with a commonality, a classic in American Lit and also a banned book, controversial in many places. I reached out to where the audience could have a starting place to relate to Israel. The connection seemed crazy but I had peoples' attention.
And it was just a start. A mere beginning. I know it succeeded though because more than one person left saying they had more questions now than when they came in. And I knew the negativity around Zionism shifted.
But there are so many Jews in this country who have stories that can connect in ways that integrate Jewish and American experience toward an appreciation of Israel.
Because the people who need to get the message here are not rural or right-wing Christians, they are urban/suburban leftists and related social justice activists with an extensively developed anti-Israel position that holds Jews to be categorically white and Israel a categorical "oppressor." Not a few of them are Jews themselves and active in our local synagogues.
So the question to ask is, what do you think that you can bring from your personal experience and stories that might touch on common ground with this particular group and what venue is best for engagement? Most may have their script calcified but some may not. Even shifting a few is worth trying. This is not to convince but the goal I'd to share and connect
I absolutely love this. And I agree, we need to be smarter. I'd also add we need to be careful of who claims to be our friends and who actually are. If we will be left "holding the bag" so to speak.
Any group whose messaging is not working should change its message rather than just shout louder.
But let me add another reason why people have stopped listening.
It's not just that Israel is no longer the underdog and is punching down. Jews are seen as always taking a maximalist rhetorical position that equates any disagreement with antisemitism, while Israel sees any opposition as terrorism that must be eliminated with deadly force.
People who are not solely focused on the issues of Jewish identity and security would rather not always be yelled at about antisemitism. Even people who understand the threats Israel faces, that many of its enemies are acting in bad faith, and that antisemitism is in fact rising don't want to concede these points when they are made by people angrily defending Israel while acknowledging none of its faults.
Both the message and the way it's delivered matters, and getting this wrong alienates people who would normally be in your corner.
You spend this entire long article discussing how emphasizing antisemitism won’t work — an idea which is plausible but by no means obvious. We need to make a course correction. We need to be smarter. But other than vague gestures you provide little idea of what this “smarter” approach would look like in practice. I think the onus is on you to describe how fighting prejudice against Jews (i.e. antisemitism) can be accomplished without naming — or without foregrounding — the prejudice itself.
Absolutely spot on, and said so clearly - thank you! It reminds me of what I feel is important to emphasize about the hostages to try to get all people to rally behind the fight for their freedom: Yes most of the hostages are Israelis, and they were taken hostage because they have some connection to Israel (live there, work there, etc), but first and foremost they are human beings just like everyone else.
Israel's war against Gaza is not 'inescapably brutal', but most of what you have written is refreshing and points in a good direction. Hazaqah ubrukhah.
Again, a poignant perspective that gives me pause. If our goal is assimilation or at least acceptance in a community but the blockade to that end is anti-semitism what would be the strategy?
I agree what we are doing isn’t working so best to rethink things. But what is it that turns this around.
The jihadists have spent decades laying this plan of changing the narrative and we didn’t catch on until it was too late. And now we have generations that has been feed this propaganda and believe it to be true.
What is that message that will turn the tide of what now several generations hold to be true?
I am afraid we have a generational problem that will take generations to change. But we do need to look out for the future and start work now.
I appreciate your thoughts. Really gets me thinking.
Yes.
The best strategy against antisemitism is more semitism. Our best response isn't to explain ourselves, it's to offer ourselves.
To make Judaism visible not as a problem or a project, but as a practice:
A practice that helps people grieve and adapt.
A practice that builds bridges between inner and outer life.
A practice that belongs in the hands of educators, caregivers, tech professionals, spiritual seekers, and community builders across the country.
At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, the most powerful response is not defense—it is visibility through value.
Let people encounter Judaism not as ideology, but as a practice that helps.
This is the best response I have seen anywhere and applies to so many other situations. It is easy to be against something. This is not just being for something, but an offering of service to reach a better way.
Truth. In order to garner allies, we need to stop complaining and explain how what we believe to be the best way forward is good for the US. Constantly harping on Mamdani being an antisemite and supporter of Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood etc will do nothing to move the needle.
Explain to people how his socialist/communist policies will destroy NYC. How we need a rational person who understands how to govern, who has experience in the real world of dealing with the complexities of running a City that has more people and a budget larger than 39 US states. Someone with a background in negotiations/compromises and has shown they know how to govern. How his policies of vilifying the very people that help build the platform from which all jobs spring in NYC will ultimately impoverish everyone. Go after his policies and find rational alternatives to tell people this is how it should be done to ensure a fairer City. And then also point out that he is a 33 year old man-child who has never actually had a real job, never built or created anything and never even showed up for a large amount of the votes he was supposed to take when he was in the state legislature.
In reality though, the other choices are awful for a different variety of reason. Cuomo, Adams and Sliwa. None of whom actually have the class to bow out in order to support the other and try to save the City. It's as if hashem is punishing us for some unforeseen slight.
From the year before October 7th I felt the intensification of anti-zionism around our region in northern New Hampshire. There are few Jews here . There were Zionism is Racism protests in the Dartmouth College area. People in towns around me started applying the words colonization and genocide exclusively to Israel.
I grew up in an intellectually curious but assimilating Jewish family, rich in American values that mirror Judaism's best values. Today I am a deeply committed Jew and Zionist but my primary experiences were very grounded in American institutions and culture.
So I created a 2 hour program for our rural area, churches and other venues called "What do Zionism and To Kill A Mockingbird have in common? Both Jews and non-Jews attended, some on Zoom.
In Part first I shared why this book was so important to me as a guide to understanding the world around me. That I have an older brother with autism who I love dearly but saw was thoroughly shunned by society because of difference. I then compared the demonization of Boo Radley to Jews which led into a history of Zionism that included facts I was sure would surprise people such how Jews have always lived in Jerusalem. Part 2 was Show and Tell: prayer books with circled references to Zion, and candlesticks brought over from the old country by my ancestors, Haggadot with Next Year in Jerusalem circled in each one. I talked about my father's mother from Trochenbrod who missed the Titanic and my mother's grandfather who fought in the Civil War, whose family came from Portugal. Part 3 was a break for Jewish food. Part 4 was a question and answer about Zionism. I used a lot of info from Unpacking Jewish history, especially from Haviv Rettig Gur. People wrote questions and I collected them and answered them best I could.
The project succeeded because I started with a commonality, a classic in American Lit and also a banned book, controversial in many places. I reached out to where the audience could have a starting place to relate to Israel. The connection seemed crazy but I had peoples' attention.
And it was just a start. A mere beginning. I know it succeeded though because more than one person left saying they had more questions now than when they came in. And I knew the negativity around Zionism shifted.
But there are so many Jews in this country who have stories that can connect in ways that integrate Jewish and American experience toward an appreciation of Israel.
Excellent strategy, right resources. We could use a program like yours in my community, but I expect it would be sabotaged.
Sabotaged? Why in your community ?
Because the people who need to get the message here are not rural or right-wing Christians, they are urban/suburban leftists and related social justice activists with an extensively developed anti-Israel position that holds Jews to be categorically white and Israel a categorical "oppressor." Not a few of them are Jews themselves and active in our local synagogues.
So the question to ask is, what do you think that you can bring from your personal experience and stories that might touch on common ground with this particular group and what venue is best for engagement? Most may have their script calcified but some may not. Even shifting a few is worth trying. This is not to convince but the goal I'd to share and connect
I absolutely love this. And I agree, we need to be smarter. I'd also add we need to be careful of who claims to be our friends and who actually are. If we will be left "holding the bag" so to speak.
Good, practical piece. Good tie to the parsha, as well
Dear Mijal
I agree that fighting antisemitism is not a powerful strategy these days. However you do not offer much of an alternative strategy either.
Any group whose messaging is not working should change its message rather than just shout louder.
But let me add another reason why people have stopped listening.
It's not just that Israel is no longer the underdog and is punching down. Jews are seen as always taking a maximalist rhetorical position that equates any disagreement with antisemitism, while Israel sees any opposition as terrorism that must be eliminated with deadly force.
People who are not solely focused on the issues of Jewish identity and security would rather not always be yelled at about antisemitism. Even people who understand the threats Israel faces, that many of its enemies are acting in bad faith, and that antisemitism is in fact rising don't want to concede these points when they are made by people angrily defending Israel while acknowledging none of its faults.
Both the message and the way it's delivered matters, and getting this wrong alienates people who would normally be in your corner.
Well said!
You spend this entire long article discussing how emphasizing antisemitism won’t work — an idea which is plausible but by no means obvious. We need to make a course correction. We need to be smarter. But other than vague gestures you provide little idea of what this “smarter” approach would look like in practice. I think the onus is on you to describe how fighting prejudice against Jews (i.e. antisemitism) can be accomplished without naming — or without foregrounding — the prejudice itself.
Hey, we all support being tired of the DEIs and their constant claims of "racism," amirite?
"An antisemite used to mean someone who dislikes Jews. Today, it means someone Jews dislike." - Dr. Hajo Meyer.
So....good luck with that!
Makes a lot of sense in the political strategy context. I’m still going to call out antisemitism when I see it.
Absolutely spot on, and said so clearly - thank you! It reminds me of what I feel is important to emphasize about the hostages to try to get all people to rally behind the fight for their freedom: Yes most of the hostages are Israelis, and they were taken hostage because they have some connection to Israel (live there, work there, etc), but first and foremost they are human beings just like everyone else.
Interesting perspective. Willing to try this out as what we are doing presently is not working.
Really loved this. Thank you.
Israel's war against Gaza is not 'inescapably brutal', but most of what you have written is refreshing and points in a good direction. Hazaqah ubrukhah.