Public Jew Hate in Kislev

Shabbat Shalom. 

One of the hardest parts of crafting my words to you is finding a way out of my head and into prose that will allow someone to follow my thoughts. With emotionally charged issues, that task is particularly hard. I am mindful not only about what I should say about current affairs, but also, how honest I should be about our history. 

My heart has been quite heavy over the last few weeks. Perhaps some of you have experienced it as well. The constant mainstream media discussion of Jew hatred and pro-Nazi celebrities dims the light of Kislev a bit. And yet, it also is a reminder of why we have held onto our second Sukkot so fiercely. 

Sukkot, the festival that follows Yom Kippur is in part about dedicating our daily lives in service to our highest ideals. The Maccabees created Hanukkah as a second Sukkot, both because they were re-dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem and because they had a particular vision for what it meant to be Jewish within a non-Jewish world. 

What does it mean to rededicate ourselves to Judaism in a non-Jewish world? How do we explain to people that words matter? That ignoring the hate of culturally influential people means ignoring the very real danger they create for the target of their hate?

I kept trying to hide from this topic. Leaving our synagogue on Wednesday, NPR All Things Considered teased a segment on the rise in anti-Jewish rhetoric. Like most people, they used the term coined by a Jew hater to explain it. It’s odd to me how much I recoil at the word antisemitism. First, most people don’t know its origins. Second, it's laughable to me to think that there’s something super different about modern Jew hatred that it should use a different term than ancient Jew hatred. Third, though I love big words, I hate when they cover up what’s really going on. 

See, “semitic” was a term for a group of languages before a Jew hater used it to put a pseudo-scientific sheen on his Jew hatred. The term antisemitism has always referred to being against Jews and Judaism. The intent of the term has nothing to do with the cluster of semitic languages. It’s also one word, no hyphen and no capitalization. And so, we Jews, always polite in mixed company, allow fear of us and hate of us to be covered over with a term that has nothing to do with us and confuses us. 

Anti-Jewish rhetoric is everywhere. Kislev is generally a time when young Jews begin to experience it. Or at the very least, they experience their Otherness. So it’s particularly concerning that anti-Jewish conspiracy theories have become mainstream again and that Jew-hating politicians are being elected to the United States Congress. 

I can’t wave away remarks claiming Hitler was a good guy or that the Nazis had something right. If for no other reason than my personal safety, I cannot be an apologist for hate. I’m one of the most visible Jewish people on our island and I am so thrilled to be part of this community. Yet, I also know that internet trolls aren’t the only ones who believe conspiracy theories about us. We are The Other in everyone’s imagination. We are the gatekeepers of Difference. We are the harbingers of change. 

Of course, we are obligated to lean into the joy of Shabbat. We choose to celebrate Hanukkah, a holiday that early rabbis were wary of, because it is Jewish pride that we are celebrating. The political choice to be overtly Jewish. The spiritual choice to choose Jewish values of welcoming the stranger and being a light unto the nations. The social choice to make our synagogue part of our lives. And to encourage our Jewish friends to join us in making this space meaningful to all of us, regardless of how we do Jewish. 

Dara Horn wrote an incredibly important book – People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present. I highly encourage you to give a copy to a non-Jewish friend this month. Whether or not you read it yourself – give it to a non-Jew. It is hard for people to understand how engrained anti-Jewish bias is in society. I constantly found myself putting it down because my heart became too heavy. The prose is beautiful. So much easier to read than a history book. Though if you want an even more devastating book, pick up Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg. 

And then, remember what the rabbis decreed in the Talmud. They debated how to display light in a menorah for Hanukkah. Since the story goes that they only had enough oil for one day and it lasted for eight days, surely we should light all eight candles the first day and take light away each night, to re-enact the miracle of oil. That was Beit Shammai’s position. Beit Hillel declared that we never decrease light, we always increase it. Therefore, light one candle for the first night and increase as the days go on. As with most things, we follow Hillel’s decision. And, because we’re Jewish, we honor the losing argument by recording it faithfully and giving it the honor of being heard first, so as to allow it to shine on its own merits.

There is much space available in our community. We understand that some of our interfaith families will not be able to celebrate Hanukkah with us because they will be traveling to celebrate Christmas. We know that we don’t all agree politically or spiritually. That’s okay. We are not a dogmatic community. Our connection is built on love and respect. 

And so, we will have the uncomfortable conversations about the rise in anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Jewish hate crimes. We have formed an ad hoc committee to apply next Spring for a federal grant to increase our physical security and will be coordinating our efforts with the Jewish Federation’s Community Security Program. 

Most importantly, we will never stop enjoying our lives. We will raise our voices in praise and joy. We will laugh and learn together. And we will shop locally at the Holiday Fest this Sunday in the social hall, 11am to 4pm. Jews might confuse the world, but we know who we are: human beings living into the fullness of our lives. We know that our lives are deepened through our Temple Israel community. 

We are facing particular challenges today, both online and in our physical lives. By facing these challenges head on, girded by our history and wrapped in our love of our wisdom tradition, we will thrive. Shabbat shalom.