GOOD MORNING! Some time ago I received the following message from a Shabbat Shalom reader, “Please remove me from your list; I have discovered the Kalergi Plan and want nothing to with Jews ever again.”

The vile piece of hatred called The Kalergi Plan was written in 2005 by the Neo-Nazi Gerd Honsik. It purports that there was a secret plan to mix white Europeans with other races. Somehow, the fact that Honsik was sentenced to five years in prison for Holocaust denial and other Nazi activities, and is basically a total nut job, is apparently lost on many gullible people.

Recently, I wrote about the outrageous comments made by Kan“Ye” West and his vitriolic statements regarding Jews – and his incomprehensible adoration for Adolph Hitler. It’s particularly unbelievable when one considers what Hitler would have thought of him. Sadly, West is far from being the only prominent figure to make antisemitic comments or promote antisemitic propaganda – the list includes many past and present politicians, athletes, and entertainers.

That such lies about Jews persist in the 21^st century, a time of unprecedented access to knowledge and information gifted to us by the advent of technology, is simply stunning. How can anyone ignore all evidence and persist in their denial? The only explanation that I find plausible is that people will believe what they want to believe – regardless of the truth. Still, why do people choose to believe antisemitic conspiracies when all the available evidence establishes them as false?

Perhaps we need to start at the beginning. Who was the first antisemite? This week’s Torah portion gives us the answer. “A new king arose in Egypt […] he said to his people, ‘Behold the Children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we. Come let us act wisely […]’” (Exodus 1:8-10).

Pharaoh was the first person to identify the descendants of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a nation. Incredibly, IN THE VERY SAME BREATH he also characterizes them as being “a problem.” Thus, we became Egypt’s “Jewish Problem;” a label that has stuck and tragically followed us through three millennia of existence.

Pharaoh’s solution, as we know, was to enslave the Jews. This was the beginning of a horrific trend of persecution, expulsion, and extermination suffered by the Jewish people for thousands of years, culminating in the “Final Solution” to this “Problem” put forth by the evil Adolph Hitler – may his name be eternally blotted out.

In order to understand this issue a little deeper we must examine how the Torah characterizes it. This week’s Torah reading includes a fascinating insight; “And they (the Egyptians) were disgusted because of the Children of Israel” (ibid. 1:12).

The famous Biblical commentator known as Rashi explains this verse to mean: “They (the Egyptians) were disgusted with their lives.” He goes on to explain that the Hebrew word for “disgusted” comes from the Hebrew word “thorn” and the Talmud explains that the Children of Israel were like “thorns in their eyes” (Talmud Sota 11a).

Ostensibly, these seem to be two unrelated issues. Having a thorn in one’s eye would clearly be painful, but what does this have to do with being disgusted with one’s life?

From here we see an incredible insight, one from which we may derive the true root cause of antisemitism. What frustrated the Egyptians about the Jews? The Torah states it very clearly: “The more they oppressed them the greater the Jews grew in number and in strength” (ibid. 1:12).

Watching the Jews ascend to ever greater heights, no matter how poorly they were being treated, was supremely painful to the Egyptians. Why was it so painful to them? Because seeing the Jewish people flourish even under the most difficult circumstances made them “disgusted with their own lives.” The Jews transcending their oppression was like having “a thorn in their eye.”

Perhaps the real reason that Jews have been tortured, exiled, and massacred for thousands of years is because our success in each and every place we have been has made the local population feel terrible about themselves and highlighted their own inadequacies.

The Jewish people – wherever they were – built Jewish communities and social infrastructure. As new immigrants they worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot so that their future, and the futures of their children, would be secure. Coupled with a mentality of being industrious and contributing to the greater good, they also established powerful systems of commerce. Thus, after a couple of generations, they became quite successful and the local populace took notice and began to resent them. (Does this sound like early 1900s China, Eastern Europe before the Holocaust, or present day United States? Today, we hear cries about how “Jews own Hollywood,” yet the industry was built by immigrant Jews who weren’t allowed into other professions. When looking at the pattern, it’s scary to think about what might come next.

But working on oneself, acting selflessly for the greater good, delayed gratification, and hard work are, well, hard work. Instead of the locals being inspired by the Jews and working to improve themselves, they opted for the far easier route – to fabricate lies, conspiracy theories, and sinister reasons for the Jews remarkable successes. This created a “righteous” hatred of Jews and led to their persecution and ultimate expulsion. After all, it’s a lot less effort to just remove the constant reminder of one’s own inadequacies and failures (not to mention seizing the wealth, homes, and businesses built by others).

In 2005, I went on a remarkable known as “The March of the Living,” which includes tours of the concentration camps in Poland and Germany. That year was a big deal as it was the 60^th anniversary of the end of WWII. What made the trip particularly special was the presence and participation of many survivors of those concentration camps as they accompanied us and gave us a firsthand description of their terrifying experiences there.

From the survivors I learned a fascinating fact; in their experience, the biggest antisemites – the ones who were most malevolent and brutal – were the Ukrainians and the Poles. By contrast, the Germans, while far from being kind or humane, treated the whole affair as an impersonal business matter. The Jews simply needed to be exterminated. However, the Ukrainians and Poles were on a mission of hatred.

Seven years ago, I drove through Poland and Ukraine. Outside of the larger cities, people were living the same way they did a hundred years ago: in hovels with a well in the front lawn for water and a single cow and some chickens for basic nutrition.

I understood then why in that part of the world antisemitism is “mother’s milk.” Just as with ancient Egyptians, to the Poles and Ukrainians any success the Jews achieved was a constant reminder of their own miserable lives – because the Jews there had somehow managed to transcend the very same living conditions and become successful. Their solution? To vilify and get rid of the people who made them feel badly about themselves. Unsurprisingly, there are very few Jews left there.

I will leave you with a parting thought on the subject. As we know, everything that happen in this world is ultimately decreed by God. Rabbi Kalman Packouz, of blessed memory, used to approach everything that happened in his life with the following question, “What is God trying to tell me?” We too must ask, what is God trying to teach us by all these recent incidents of antisemitism?

Consider how when a nation gets attacked by an outside force it inevitably draws the people together in unified bond (think of the patriotism following 9/11 or how the war with the Russians has united the Ukrainians). I believe the message that we need to internalize is that we must stop the petty infighting between ourselves, our communities, and our people. Because if we don’t create a unified nation, God will surely send an enemy to attack us that will inexorably unite us – but it will likely come at a high cost.

So let us make the effort on our own to end all the petty arguments and divisiveness within our people, and usher in God’s ultimate redemption of the Jewish people and the entire world.

Shemot, Exodus 1:1 – 6:1

This week's portion tells a story often repeated throughout history: The Jews become prominent and numerous. There arises a new king in Egypt “who did not know Joseph” (meaning he chose not to know Joseph or recognize any debt of gratitude). He proclaims slavery for the Jewish people “lest they may increase so much, that if there is war, they will join our enemies and fight against us, driving (us) from the land.” (Antisemitism can thrive on any excuse; it need not be logical or real; check out Rabbi Akiva Zweig’s Oxford presentation at https://www.shabbatshalom.org/why-the-jews. It’s spectacular!)

Moses is born and immediately hidden because of the decree to kill all male Jewish babies. Moses is saved by Pharaoh’s daughter, grows up in the royal household, and goes out to see the plight of his fellow Jews. He kills an Egyptian who was beating a Jew, escapes to Midian when the deed becomes known, becomes a shepherd, and then is commanded by God at the Burning Bush to “bring My people out of Egypt.” Moses returns to Egypt and confronts Pharaoh who refuses to give permission for the Israelites to leave. God says, “Now you will begin to see what I will do to Pharaoh!”