This book seems ominious in its release date given the rise in antisemitism in the US of late.
Some excerpts from his book I enjoyed:
“You were five or six years old when Mom was shopping with you at Delhaize (a Belgian supermarket). Sitting in the cart, you were helping Mom put the groceries into it. You started singing a Hebrew song that you had learned at school, but Mom immediately shut you down. “Shhh, you cannot sing this here in public,” she said. You looked at Mom, totally incredulous, and said, “But Mom, why can’t I sing a song I learned at school?” Then Mom realized the sickness of the situation. How could she be stressed that her own little girl was singing a song in Hebrew in the same supermarket she went to as a child herself?
Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone in thinking like that. One day, you came back from school and told us about a field trip in which your class had to take the tramway. You were singing again in Hebrew, and were kindly told by your teacher not to do so.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of worries like that for Jews in Europe, including the danger of wearing a kippa or a Magen David (Jewish Star) in public. But these are almost insignificant compared to all the crimes I described earlier. The bottom line is that we couldn’t live totally freely in Belgium anymore. That is properly unacceptable in a democracy.”
This is probably a question – and issue which face any Jew in Diaspora. Its scary for those of us living in America to realize that at one point as well Jews felt safe in France, in Belgium in all of Europe. Today, in 2022, are Jews safe in Europe? Are Jews safe in Ukraine? Are Jews safe in Russia? Will Jews be safe in the U.S.? Are they safe now?
And then of course, politics in Europe which Rozenberg describes,
“At my next dinner with Jaures, I wanted to understand. So I said to him, “I don’t get it. Your boss is the current Prime Minister. He is openly gay and you know that I’m definitely a straight ally but, if it was up to the Islamists alone, he would be thrown alive off the top of a building or hanged publicly like in Iran. So, why on Earth, with all the power he has as the Prime Minister, is he not doing anything about the Islamists?”
Jaures’ only response was, “Eric, my job is to keep the Socialist Party in power.”
That’s it! That was his only response. It was said in cold blood, with no shame, no regrets and no morals. Forget about the poor, forget about blue-collar workers, forget about the employees, forget about the underprivileged, forget about economic development, forget about the country, forget about values, forget about principles, forget about decades of lies told while holding a red rose in hand and singing “L’Internationale” every first of May. Forget about minorities. Forget about freedom of speech. Forget about racism. Forget about fascism. Forget about the real fascists to whom the party is rolling out the red carpet. Forget about Belgians and forget about Belgium.
Power at any cost.
And, also forget about the Jews. Socialism has never worked. It never worked in Belgium. It never worked in Venezuela. It never worked in the Soviet Union. It never worked in Cuba. It never worked and will never work anywhere. Why? Because its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery … by everyone except its elites.”
And of course, socialism – the far left – is something which those of us in New York City openly see in the City Council and those of us all over America see in Congressional representatives in the United States.
Rozenberg’s book is deeply personal on so many levels. His book is a necessary read for all caring and proud Jews and for non-Jews concerned about antisemitism, hatred and bigotry. It’s the call of a proud Jew to his children, his people and the world to stand up for the right thing.
“Before It’s Too Late – A Love Letter to my daughters and America” is a great book and a great wake-up call.
It’s also a great reminder to the American Jewish community to stand up for the right thing.
And perhaps it is an incentive is to move to Israel, the only real home for the Jewish people.
Ronn Torossianis an entrepreneur, author and philanthropist.