In his latest work, psychiatrist and historian Kenneth Levin identifies a disturbing paradox: as antisemitism in America transitions from a fringe threat to a mainstream institutional force, the organizations tasked with Jewish defense appear to be dismantling their own barricades. Levin’s The Canary on the Couch is a clinical autopsy of this failure, exploring the "communal blindness" that prevents Jewish leadership from recognizing-and confronting-the enmity surfacing in our schools, universities, and political spheres.
Why do so many in the Jewish community overlook the growing hostility in the media and the halls of power? Levin suggests that despite the clear rise in systemic threats, there is a startling and egregious failure to recognize how deeply this hatred has permeated mainstream American life. This lack of awareness persists even as the danger becomes more visible across every segment of society.
The Pathology of Self-Blame and Control
Levin’s central thesis is that "self-defeating responses" to external threats are a common psychological byproduct of being a besieged population. He argues that many Jews seek to feel "in control" of a hostile situation by believing that if they simply "fix" or "reform" their own community, the hostility will cease. Psychologically, those who justify the insults of their attackers usually do so because they want to feel a sense of agency in a situation where they actually have none. They believe that if they change themselves, the attacks will stop.
However, as Levin illustrates through a sweeping historical lens, this belief is a complete delusion; changing the victim never actually satiates the attacker.
Levin draws a chilling historical parallel to the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund (DIGB) in pre-Hitler Germany. Led primarily by Reform Jews, the DIGB distributed essays advising Jews to mitigate antisemitism by avoiding “haughtiness, pretension, [and] superiority." They were even instructed to conduct commerce with such honesty that any deception would be deemed “sacrilegious," and to view their suffering as “Providence"-a divine signal to focus on self-improvement rather than the external threat.
The irony of these strategies is that they validate the very hostility they seek to disarm. By treating the disease of antisemitism as a consequence of Jewish behavior-rather than a “lethal obsession"-groups like the DIGB inadvertently confirmed the claims of their detractors. This pathological shift transforms an entrenched threat into a moral failing, leading the besieged to believe that social acceptance can be bought through self-erasure.
The Institutional Double Standard and the Left
Perhaps Levin’s most biting critique is directed at the "major cadres of communal leadership," specifically the ADL and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (CPA). He documents a persistent double standard: while these organizations are aggressive in confronting far-right extremism, they remain "alarmingly lacking" in their response to animosity from the progressive Left and Islamist circles. This trend is exacerbated by a sociopolitical climate where Jewish success is conflated with "white privilege," leading to the dismissal of Jewish grievances as insignificant.
Levin observes that some within the Jewish community have embraced the "white privilege" indictment as a way to find favor within the modern establishment. He notes that Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, feels compelled to atone and urges other Jews to do the same. Furthermore, the entrenchment of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives has popularized a version of intersectionality that characterizes Israel as a “colonialist entity" and targets American Jews for their perceived complicity. Levin argues that many leaders embrace criticisms of Israel out of a vain and desperate psychological hope that if the Jewish state "reforms," anti-Jewish hostility in America will fade.
Levin highlights the 2020 decision by over 600 Jewish organizations-including the ADL and JCPA-to sign a full-page New York Times advertisement backing the Black Lives Matter movement. This occurred despite clear evidence that prominent leaders within the movement were pushing anti-Israel and anti-Jewish agendas. In a "bizarre reversal," Levin observes these leaders shielding hostile groups from criticism while turning against fellow Jews who attempted to call out the hatred. Even the catastrophic massacre of October 7, 2023, failed to break this cycle; Levin contends that the ADL’s reflexive priority remained targeting the Far Right even as a tidal wave of antisemitism surged from academia and the progressive Left.
The Betrayal of the Campus and Hillel
Levin identifies American academia as the country’s primary engine for antisemitism, fueling intense hostility toward Israel and Jewish students among both faculty and staff. He argues that campus-focused organizations like Hillel have often proven unwilling to confront this environment. Rather than robustly defending students, Hillel leadership has frequently sought to accommodate the hostile climate, withholding support from students who wish to aggressively counter the hatred, this to avoid institutional friction.
By "giving a pass" to these movements, Levin argues these leaders continue to whitewash the very sources of hatred that have successfully infiltrated mainstream American life, leaving the community defenseless against its most pervasive modern threats. He argues that many Jewish leaders clearly recognize these attacks as vicious libels, yet choose to capitulate to the demands of their detractors. This is a desperate psychological ploy to appear "virtuous" in a futile attempt to pacify those who are actively inciting hatred against them.
Conclusion: The Fate of Jewish Well-Being
Ultimately, Levin’s "canary" is not just the Jewish community itself, but the psychological health of its leadership. It remains uncertain whether the surge of antisemitism in the United States will intensify enough to compel those previously reluctant to shift their political priorities to finally address the dangers facing American Jews. It is equally unclear whether any such response, should it come, will be swift enough to "defang the threats."
The resolution of this uncertainty will be the primary factor in determining the future security of the Jewish community in America. For those seeking to understand why traditional advocacy has failed, The Canary on the Couch provides a necessary, if disquieting, diagnostic tool. Disregarding Levin's analysis would be a significant strategic error. To overlook his insights is to ignore the reality that the more a community internalizes the critiques of a hostile Establishment, the more it dismantles its own defenses in a futile bid for acceptance.
The Canary on the Couch (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2025), Kenneth Levin.
Dr. Alex Grobman is the senior resident scholar at the John C. Danforth Society, a member of the Council of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, and on the advisory board of the National Christian Leadership Conference of Israel (NCLCI). He holds an MA and PhD in contemporary Jewish history from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.