This Is Every Jew’s Fight

I never believed that I’d see the day when the greatest amount of Jews since the Holocaust would be murdered.

I never believed that I would witness the descent of man into beast and then watch the celebration of the slaughter of our people. Babies charred and bullet-ridden bodies, parents and children bound together then shot and burned, bodies mutilated and dismembered, entire families executed and wiped out, girls and women raped, infants, young people, and elderly grandmothers taken away. Can we be talking about a massacre that happened in 2023, and not some pogrom in a European shtetl?

Hamas terrorists weaponized social media as they livestreamed Gali Idan, her husband and two youngest children being terrorized in their home. The 7-year-old boy is shown crying and asking, “Where is my sister?” His father’s hands are stained with blood. Mayan, 18, was later found. She had been shot dead.

This should not be a hard call to make. Murder. Rape. Kidnapping. Dismembering. Torturing. Who cannot recognize this force of evil staring at you in the face?

I study the photos of the beautiful children, their sparkling eyes, their joyous smiles, their childlike innocence, and I wonder how it is possible to snatch babies, kidnap them, shatter their parents’ heart and remain human.

This should not be a hard call to make. Murder. Rape. Kidnapping. Dismembering. Torturing. Are these acts of brutality ever okay? Who cannot recognize this force of evil staring at you in the face?

Antisemitism Rising

As we grieve and ponder the unthinkable, there are those around the world who cheer. Hours after the attacks, thousands gathered in Times Square as if they were partying on New Year’s Eve. Muslims in one Berlin neighborhood were handing out candy celebrating the results of the attacks. Some homes were marked with the Star of David, echoing the ominous rise of Nazism in the 1930’s.

Outside of the Sydney Opera House, the crowd shouted “Gas the Jews!” In Turkey, a widely read newspaper published an op-ed calling on the Turkish government to strip Jews of their citizenship. In London a Jewish school was vandalized, its doors and windows splashed with red paint. In France, 1000 antisemitic incidents occurred in 48 hours. At a rally in Toronto, pro-Hamas demonstrators chanted “Off with their heads.” In NYC subway station, a man punched a woman in the face because “you are Jewish”.

In Tunisia, a mob burned down the el-Hamma synagogue. And over the weekend Samantha Woll, a prominent Jewish activist and synagogue president, was brutally stabbed to death in Detroit. It is too early to know the motive behind the slaying, but the murder is adding even more fear to Jews who have never experienced this level of Jew-hatred in North America.

This war is not about territory, a state or land. It is a battle for the very survival of our people. It is about our breath of life and the life of our children. The future of world Jewry is being threatened and it affects Jews everywhere, not only in Israel.

Every Jew, from every age and every type, from every country, is a target.

When they shout “from the river to the sea” they are proclaiming that there is no room for Jews on the planet. They want to see the destruction of the State of Israel, the only safe haven for Jews in the world. They applaud the death of innocents, saying that Jews are colonists, Israel is an apartheid state, and must therefore be purged “by any means”. You are allowed to rape, murder and kidnap in the name of resistance.

Every Jew, from every age and every type, from every country, is a target. There is no act too cruel. Hamas affects not only Jews, but every person who stands for decency and moral clarity.

Make no mistake about it. This battle has come to your city, to your workplace and to your schools.

Universities Morally Corrupt

Our universities, the seat of education and knowledge, have become hotbeds of radicalism and virulent antisemitism. Instead of marching in protest as they do for every seeming injustice, students and their professors fault Israel for the atrocious atrocities that took place. Blaming the terrorized instead of confronting the terrorist who perpetuated the crimes unlike any that the civilized world has experienced is the ultimate hypocrisy.

A coalition of more than 30 left-wing student groups in Harvard issued an open letter stating that the “Israeli regime was totally responsible for all unfolding violence”. Students of other universities soon followed with statements supporting Hamas terrorists while condemning Israel. NYU. Georgetown. University of Washington. Yale. Columbia. University of California. University of Virginia. Penn. CUNY. Cornell. Baruch. Berkley.

On some campuses vigils were held for the ‘martyrs’ who pillaged, plundered, massacred and brought us back to the horror of pogroms and blood libels. Jewish students wake up to Nazi graffiti, profanities, and “Free Palestine” scrawled on their buildings and doors. A Cornell professor called the attacks “exhilarating” and “energizing”. A Stanford University professor asked Jewish and Israeli students to stand in the corner of a classroom.

College campuses across America are exploding as the sewage of vicious hate overflows, spilling onto campus grounds.

Jewish students are fearful and feel isolated. Classmates are posting antisemitic rhetoric, promoting violence in rallies, screaming “Kill the Jew”, while professors express solidarity with the terrorists and “concern for free speech”.

Columbia Business School Professor Shai Davidai requested that students send his video message to every parent who trusted their children’s safety to colleges across America. “We cannot protect your children from pro-terrorist student organizations because the college presidents refuse to speak out.” You are not safe.

Politicians insist on perpetuating their rabid lies and inciting masses with their disinformation and untruths. A letter signed by more than 2,000 actors, artists and musicians condemned Israel without any mention of the slaughter by Hamas. 70% of American Jews feel a decline in personal safety. The FBI report that Jews faced the most hate crimes of any religious group in 2022.

This Is Your Moment

It is time for all decent human beings who care about truth, kindness and goodness to wake up. Find your courage. This is your moment.

And to the rest of the world, listen up.

You can try to gas us, burn us, shoot us, throw missiles at us, and annihilate us.

You can march against us, despise us, curse at us, and wish us off the face of this earth.

We defy you.

Our nation has endured for thousands of years. Am Yisrael Chai.

And with God’s help, we will continue to live. We stand strong. We are a nation of miracles.

We will fight your evil with goodness. We will counter your darkness with our light. We will stand with Israel. We will rebuild all that you destroyed. We will bring life again to our people and our land.