Will fear prevail?

(Originally published in The Times of Israel)

American Jews have adapted to—pretty much to the point of resignation and acting like its “normal”—the fact that to do almost anything connected with being Jewish—go to synagogue, drop a child at day school or pre-school, work out at a Jewish community center, look around a Jewish museum, go to a meeting of any kind, go to a music or art show, in short, just about anything Jewish—they are going to face one sort of security measure or another, or several.

Jews know that to be a connected Jew in the U.S. today means being beeped in, showing identification, putting in a code, going through a metal detector, signing in, reserving prior to being told the location, and/ or being swept by a wand.

It is part of being a Jew in America in the 21^st century.  Jews do it without a second thought.  Few if anyone, Jew or non-Jew says “Hey, wait a minute.  This isn’t normal.  This is not the way it is supposed to be.  This is unacceptable.”  Because they’ve essentially accepted it.

Jews have also accepted the fact that there are streets and neighborhoods and many campuses across America where it is dangerous to publicly identify as a Jew.  There are places where Jews are afraid to wear a kippah (head covering), to speak Hebrew, to wear a Jewish star.

And displaying an Israeli flag or a sign expressing support for Israel, or putting a pro-Israel sticker on your car, or putting a pro-Israel button on your jacket, or putting a picture of a hostage on your lawn or in your window—the types of behavior that should be, and are for most people in America, accepted as just what you can do in a free country—they are very often considered ill-advised if not downright stupid. There has been no debate over it for quite a few years.

Then came the arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion.  Then the murder of two young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.  And then the Molotov cocktails at the Boulder walk for the hostages that caused 12 injuries, some severe.

Now Jews are wondering if it is even safe for them to gather in public spaces—to protest, or to walk, or to sing, or to pray, or simply to talk.  Many Jewish institutions and organizations—who already spend inordinate resources and time on security—are “reevaluating” their security measures.

Many have temporarily halted public gatherings while they “assess” the situation and decide whether it is safe to have Jews coming together in public.  The national organization that sponsors the walks like the one in Boulder recommended that communities stop them until they could determine if and how walks can continue safely.

American citizens debating whether they can appear in the public space.  When Americans were doing something good, President Biden was fond of saying “This is who we are.”  Well, this is what America has become for Jews and it is not good.

It was heartening to hear that the Boulder walkers decided to continue walking.  I hope that the organizations and institutions quickly decide to continue to encourage public gatherings, and I hope that Jews keep walking, and running, and meeting, and singing, and praying.  Loudly, frequently, and in public.

This is not to minimize the legitimate fears and concerns for safety, or to argue that Jews and Jewish organizations should not assess the dangers and take whatever measures are possible to ensure that they are safe.

But I will argue that there is no alternative to continuing to being Jews in public.  Withdrawing, succumbing to fear, even legitimate fear, is to concede defeat to this odious behavior and to give victory to the low-lifes who engage in it.

Vacating the public space and retreating behind walls and barriers will embolden the perpetrators and encourage more frequent and more vicious attacks. And it will send a very sad, damaging message to Jewish kids about their identity and their place in America.

It will also put an exclamation point on what many consider to be the end of the Golden Age of Jews in America.  It will be the end of what many of our grandparents and great-grandparents called "Di goldene medine" (The Golden Land) because it gave them a life different than the fear-fed, second-class lives from which they fled .

I hope America’s Jews do not withdraw.  I hope they decide to be very public, very proud, and very forceful Jews.  I hope they do not give victory to the bigots and haters.  I hope they live lives that confirm the faith that caused their grandparents and -great-grandparents to make the journey to America and to call it Di goldene medine.

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The contrast between Colorado Governor Polis’ statement condemning the Boulder attack and that of the two Democratic senators was striking.  Governor Polis, who is Jewish, specifically mentioned that the attack was on Jews who were walking for the hostages that were taken in a terrorist attack by Hamas.

The statements of the two senators were virtually generic.  No mention of Hamas, Jews, the hostages.  Just the predictable, off-the-shelf condemnation of all “hate and acts of violence” that have “no place” in society.

Is this the result of lazy staff?  My suspicion is that it is something more. When it comes to hateful acts against Jews, public figures and even many Jews appear to have a difficult time recognizing that these violent acts are specifically targeting Jews, and that Jew-hatred is wrong in and of itself.

There often appears to be a need to broaden the reach to “all hate and violence” in the community, the state, or the country.  And often there seems to be a need to throw in a concern about Islamophobia even if the slur or the violence in no way targeted members of the Muslim community.

Not everything is about the whole community.  Not everything calls for invoking universalistic concerns and values.  Jews are a particular people.  They are attacked for being Jews in particular.  If there is any hope in curbing violence against Jews, the violence that specifically targets Jews must be acknowledged head on.

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Many of the statements and reports on the Boulder attack seemed to emphasize that the victims were not taking a political stand, not expressing support for Israel, but simply walking to call attention to the hostages.

The frequent mention of the non-political, non-pro-Israel character of the walk seemed to infer that, had the walkers been showing support for Israel, the violence would have been justified or, at least, understandable.

It is deeply disturbing to think that this is America today, that violence against Jews is somehow more understandable or acceptable because of the view they express, particularly a view in support of their homeland.