Chabad of Poway, Calif. Photo: Chabad of Poway.
JNS.org – Facing ever-growing antisemitism in the decades following the Holocaust, the Diaspora Jewish community’s common response has been to cry “Never Again” and describe ourselves as the “canary in the coal mine,” which implies that whatever begins with the Jews never ends with the Jews.
While these ideas are echoed by millions, words are not enough. Jewish leaders fail to realize that action is required to prevent this violent hatred from becoming “again and again.” We cannot allow ourselves to be helpless, expendable canaries any longer.
Rabbi Hillel said: “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am just for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14).
It is upon us to act — now.
We know antisemitism is on the rise, and it is likely to get much worse. A perfect storm of circumstances is significantly increasing the danger. Jew-haters are taking advantage of the cracks in our society. They amplify their hateful rhetoric on mainstream and social media and incite violence toward our communities in frightening ways without suffering any consequences.
From medieval Europe to 20th century Nazi Germany, Jews were the scapegoat for all problems. Similarly, the COVID-19 crisis has unleashed a new global antisemitic campaign blaming Israel and the Jewish people for spreading the coronavirus, orchestrating the economic turmoil, and profiting from the pandemic.
In an age of rampant conspiracy theories and polarized politics, the new antisemitism, fueled by the terror-linked Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, promotes Jew-hatred and violence globally, harboring the support of other radical movements in America: the far-right, the far-left, and radical Islam.
The spread and prevalence of this hatred today threatens to destroy our American religious freedom and our ability to exercise our rights to liberty, prosperity, and security. We must do everything in our power to stop this enormous storm before it swallows America whole.
Now is the time to protect our loved ones and our communities and safeguard American values. We need to change our approach from defense to offense, get personally involved, and deploy out-of-the-box strategies.
We, as a community, must adopt several principles to win this critical battle. First, embrace and support the State of Israel without any preconditions. Second, harness our community’s leadership, financial resources, and influence to protect ourselves. Third, build a broad coalition with our allies to fight antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.
Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem; it’s an American problem that we must fight together.
Financial resources are needed to support and expand existing projects and platforms that fight back and put Jew-haters on defense. Additional resources must be invested in research and technology that enable us to combat antisemitism by exposing antisemites and their illegal activities, violent plans, and networks, while promptly alerting authorities, media, and the public about these threats.
Though a perfect storm of antisemitism is looming, we should not be seeking shelter. When it comes to Jew-hatred, we can’t afford to be passive and risk-averse any longer.
Join me to make sure that “Never Again” is in fact never again and that we are no longer helpless, expendable canaries in the coal mine. Let’s think outside the box and use our resources to secure the future of Jews in America. Let’s make an impact together.
Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropreneur. He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.