Passover’s Message of Hope in the Aftermath of Oct. 7
4 min read
A moving documentary about the Tree of Life synagogue massacre reminds us to take hate seriously.
We’re all living in Kanye West’s world now.
Yes, Kanye West might seem disgraced. His former business partners, including his lucrative deal with Adidas, have abandoned him over his odious antisemitic statements. He was unceremoniously thrown out of the corporate headquarters of Skechers on October 26. He declared that he’s lost $2 billion due to the fall out over his anti-Jewish tweets and slurs. Yet his words continue to haunt us - and will for years to come.
Despite the corporate fallout, his music is widely available and popular on Apple and Spotify. His shoes - the coveted Yeezys he produced with Adidas - are more in demand than ever. For millions of people around the world, Kanye’s continuing success seems to vindicate his odious world view. And people are coming to his defense.
On October 23, a group calling themselves the “Goyim Defense League” hung banners over a busy Los Angeles freeway declaring “Kanye is right about the Jews”. Several members stood on a freeway overpass performing Nazi salutes.
A senior official from the Nation of Islam said on TV that “I see him - with very good reason - threatening to go DEFCON 3 on Jewish execs of Hollywood….” Football has-beens Antonio Brown and Dez Bryant have publicly defended Kanye, as did former boxer Jake Shields. Talk show host Candace Owens came to his defense, Tweeting “It’s like you cannot even say the word ‘Jewish’ without people getting upset.”
At a time of increasing anti-Jewish hate crimes in the US and around the world - and on the fourth anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting which claimed the lives of 11 worshippers - Kanye’s West’s words are a stark reminder of the harm words can do. And the sentiment that there might be some truth in Kanye’s vitriolic, hate-filled statements is the sort of poison that led to the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018.
In August 2017, hundreds of activists attending the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia marched through the streets yelling “Jews will not replace us.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, “The slogan is a reference to the popular white supremacist belief that the white race is in danger of extinction by a rising tide of non-whites who are controlled and manipulated by Jews.” It’s a bizarre-sounding thought, but - like Kanye’s rantings - some people take it seriously.
The odd “replacement” idea didn’t sound so farfetched to Robert Bowers. A year later, on Shabbat morning, October 27, 2018, Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue and shot over a dozen Jews as they prayed, killing 11. When he was arrested, Roberts told police officers that Jews “were committing a genocide to (his) people”. The slogans that fringe extremists uttered in Charlottesville suddenly had real-life consequences.
King Solomon wrote, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). He understood something we seem to have forgotten today: words matter. No matter how outlandish or crazy sounding something might seem, the things we say affect others. Who knows how or where our words will reach and how they will influence the world.
As he ponders his lost credibility and lost fortune, Kanye should watch a new documentary that HBO released for the fourth anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre. A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting documents the terrible day that 11 worshippers lost their lives, the culmination of anti-Jewish slurs that were allowed to fester, polluting the online discourse and the atmosphere of America today.
In the film, director Trish Adelsic interviews survivors, as well as Jews’ whose lives have been torn apart by the crime. In one affecting scene, Magali Fienberg, the daughter-in-law of victim Joyce Fienberg, describes speaking with her nine-year-old son Adam. “Do you think someone can come and kill us?” he asked his mother. Magali explains “I said, ‘Yes.’”
Kanye West’s odious anti-Jewish statements have added to this ever-present threat of violence all Jews face. His continuing popularity, his music - and the people who are flocking to defend him and double down on his antisemitism - are increasing hatred and danger.
We must stand up and not tolerate anti-Jewish hate, or any other racism or threats. It’s crucial we object loudly and continually, and resist the temptation to look the other way. As the Tree of Life synagogue shooting shows us, we can’t afford not to.
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