There is an indelible bond connecting all Jews no matter where they fall on the spectrum of tradition and observance. Hamas terrorists perversely recognized this when they attacked men, women, and children on October 7th simply because they had Jewish blood, not because of what they believed or how they worshiped. And Hamas’s progressive cheerleaders in the US recognized this when they began targeting Jews and their businesses indiscriminately, vandalizing Jewish property, and publicly calling for their genocide.
American Jews initially responded by showing strength in their shared heritage and presenting a united front. In recent months, however, cracks have begun to appear in the façade, with assorted voices questioning Israel’s actions in defending herself or legitimizing her enemies.
This is especially apparent on the Jewish left, where many now rationalize Hamas’s atrocities as "resistance," condemn Israel, and demand that Joe Biden force a ceasefire to prevent the IDF from completely routing the terrorists. And also in Congress, where Senate Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer called for the ouster of Israel’s duly elected government and pushed a two-state “solution” that most Israelis reject. Though such voices were outliers in the beginning, they have since become more numerous and vocal in their criticisms of Israel, denial of Jewish sovereignty, and/or validation of a revisionist Palestinian mythology that denies Jewish history.
It is all the more ironic and disgraceful when progressives who mock religious observance now invoke Jewish rituals (e.g., fasting, public mourning, and the recitation of Kaddish) on behalf of the people of Gaza – without any empathy for dead, wounded, or captive Israelis.
How many progressives know anything about the laws of mourning anyway, let alone any other aspects of Halakha? Where is their outrage over the murder of civilians, rape of women, and decapitation of babies – all Jews? How can those claiming to be feminists ignore the horrific sex crimes perpetrated against Jewish women and girls by Hamas?
What chutzpah.
By publicly espousing such nonsense, useful idiots on the left weaponize Jewish identity to delegitimize Israel, besmirch her supporters, and empower progressive and Islamist antisemites who preach jihad and genocide. Politics and self-hatred certainly make strange bedfellows, but the disdain that leftists express for Israel and traditional Judaism will not save them in the event of a new world order. If they had any historical sense, they would know that even those who joined the “Jewish Section” of the Communist Party and enthusiastically led the assault against Jewish culture in the former Soviet Union were ultimately purged by Stalin. As it turned out, being loyal communists and turning against their own did not save them from being executed as Jews.
Though Israel may have her share of political radicals, the same self-destructive impulse does not seem so pronounced there, and in fact, the spirit of unity seems to be holding up except for a vociferous few.
Indeed, when my wife and I were in Israel recently visiting family, I was struck by the sense of achdut (oneness) among the people we encountered. It was especially noticeable on our Shabbat walks to our son’s shul, when the most secular appearing of Israelis – some with tattoos, multicolored hair, and multiple body piercings – wished us Shabbat Shalom as we passed each other on the street. Such greetings seemed genuine and bespoke the recognition of common heritage; and the spontaneous acknowledgment of this connectedness was indicative of the power of Jewish identity and enduring potential for teshuva (return) – no matter how far removed from observance one might appear.
Nothing illustrated this better than a tent erected in Jerusalem and dedicated to those kidnapped on October 7th, where captives’ photos were displayed, and people came to show strength through solidarity. The day we stopped in we were greeted by their friends, relatives, and supporters, who were welcoming to all regardless of background or appearance; and the place was crowded with a mix of people from across the spectrum, including a rabbi who was doling out hot soup and words of Torah. The warm sense of community helped ameliorate any differences that might have separated us before the war.
The atmosphere was quite unlike the toxic environment seen in universities and cities throughout the US, where posters of Israeli hostages are torn down by antisemitic students, leftists, and Islamists, and where Jews are subject to intimidation, harassment, and abuse.
The ugliness of anti-Israel hatred was illustrated recently at the University of California, Berkeley, where a violent mob shut down a program featuring Israeli attorney Ran Bar-Yoshafat and terrorized Jewish students. In a written statement addressing the fiasco, university spokesmen said it was not possible both to let Mr. Bar-Yoshafat speak and assure student safety; but Jewish students were threatened and abused even though the program was cancelled. So, if the university’s premise was that cancelling the event was necessary to protect the safety of its Jewish students, it seems to have failed miserably.
Of course, one could argue that if American colleges and universities were truly concerned about protecting Jewish students, they never would have permitted or fostered campus antisemitism in the first place. However, they did just that by (a) enshrining “diversity, equity, and inclusion” propaganda that falsely portrays Israel as colonial and Jews as oppressors; (b) ignoring the fears of Jewish students who are routinely harassed and bullied; and (c) permitting the dissemination of classical anti-Jewish tropes and conspiracy theories (in and out of the classroom) under the pretense of free speech and academic freedom, while simultaneously stifling opinions, views, and facts with which they disagree.
Unfortunately, one reason antisemitism is flourishing in academia and the public square is that Jewish establishment leaders have failed to confront it effectively, particularly when it comes from liberal ideologues they have long regarded as political allies or identity communities they have traditionally coddled and endorsed. Although progressive and minority antisemitism has been escalating for decades, the liberal establishment has swept it under the rug because acknowledging it would contradict their preferred narrative that Jew-hatred comes primarily from white supremacists and the political right. Conceding the existence of liberal antisemitism would also expose the incongruity of their disingenuous (or ill-informed) conflation of progressive and Jewish values.
The establishment’s reluctance to acknowledge progressive Jew-hatred follows decades of delusional support for parties, movements, and agendas that delegitimize Jewish history and national claims. Furthermore, the blanket endorsement of political liberalism as synonymous with Torah betrays a fundamental ignorance of normative tradition, whether reflected by dialogue with Islamists masquerading as moderates, the failure to refute leftist claims that Jews are colonial oppressors, or unwavering devotion to a Democratic Party that has grown hostile to Jewish interests under the influence of anti-Israel and, yes, antisemitic progressives. Whereas the establishment claims to be guided by tradition, its political priorities are often incompatible with traditional Jewish concerns.
The problem is that many communal leaders do not understand the traditions they claim to honor, and their naiveté is enabled by non-Orthodox movements that have replaced halakhic observance and Torah priorities with secular political ideologies and faux tikkun olam. The sacralization of politics, however, cannot fill the inevitable spiritual void created when Jews abandon the laws, traditions, and history of their ancestors.
Yet, it does not stop secular leaders from falsely claiming that progressivism is an intrinsically Jewish value system.
Many in leadership positions have embraced progressivism, globalism, wokeism, or a host of other “isms” as innately Jewish, though such ideologies are purely secular and often extraneous or antithetical to authentic Judaism. Those who endorse these agendas have relegated Jewish identity to the status of adjective rather than noun. That is, they use the adjective “Jewish” when identifying first and foremost as liberals, Democrats, or even Americans, instead of the noun “Jew” preceded by a mutable descriptor – thereby deracinating their ancestral identity and suppressing its ethnoreligious uniqueness.
This is exactly what the early reform movement did by proclaiming its adherents to be Germans or Americans of the “Mosaic persuasion” to cannily suggest common roots with their Gentile host societies rather than communal descent from an ancient nation with unique moral, ethical, and covenantal obligations handed down from time immemorial.
Redefining Jewish identity in this way leaves little room for true Torah values, genuine spirituality, or the realization of Hashem’s presence in the world. Moreover, it inhibits establishment leaders from viewing the world beyond a narrowly defined Weltanschauung that excludes an authentic Jewish perspective. And when they cease exercising Jewish sensibilities, they become ineffectual at identifying and confronting the threat of antisemitism.
Defeating antisemitism effectively demands Jewish solidarity. True unity, however, will remain elusive until those in leadership start identifying as Jews first and stop equating Jewishness with ideologies and political movements that disparage Israel and contravene Torah law, tradition, and values.