Ruminations

The West Chester Tea Party’s behavior is only enabled in a context where they perceive the public to be sufficiently ambivalent about antisemitism. To care, perhaps, but not too much. And maybe this Tea Party chapter is right, given how long they have continued their vitriol unchecked.

All through my recent encounter with Lakota Board of Education member Darbi Boddy, I’ve repeated one thing: I would like to meet with Mrs. Boddy, one on one, so we can build trust and better communicate our values/concerns to one another. You might wonder why I think that’s worthwhile or what I think could be gained.

Let’s not let all these signatures go to waste. Let’s get out the vote!

That we have elected officials from our Jewish community at the local, state, and federal levels—all at the same time—underscores just how organized and impactful we are here in Cincinnati.

Even two-plus millennia after its inception, a holiday like Passover can have so much power for Jews worldwide. It reignites our engagement with the metaphorical and ensures we bring our whole history into our present work.

I want to be sure that people who engage in antisemitic activity realize that they are in the minority; that we Jews might be just 2% of the population, but our allies are numerous, diverse, and resolute in standing up to Jewish hate.

In naming and defining the hate we face, we tell our haters that they are no longer anonymous and that they can no longer pretend that their behavior is acceptable.

There have been tensions within the Israeli mainstream about the current coalition’s plan to transfer power from the judiciary to the legislature. There have been concerns amongst those who identify or ally with non-Orthodox Jews, as certain factions within the coalition seek to redefine who counts as Jewish. And, not least significant within this chaos, there have been eruptions of violence between Israelis and Palestinians—recently, this included the heartbreaking murder of two Israeli Jewish brothers who were settlers, then a sickening, large-scale retaliation by settlers against the Palestinian village of Huwara.

Regardless of the exact accuracy of any of these numbers, and I have no reason to doubt them, there are clear trends. Antisemitism is going up. Jews recognize the rise in antisemitism, non-Jews less so. In some striking areas, non-Jewish recognition of “subtle” antisemitism is just as good as Jews’. I think the overarching lesson is as follows. Non-Jews can be excellent allies in the fight against antisemitism–the proof is in the survey, where we see that they already are in many important ways.

When I look at the world today, I sometimes wonder how we’ve fallen so far. In mid-January, the ADL issued a report finding, among other things, that 85% of Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope. That’s a 39% increase from 2019, when the number was “only” 61%. How could the society that created Fox, Good, Washington, and Poling end up here?

The Reform movement has blazed many trails in its history, but here it falls far, far short. If the official seminary of the Reform movement won't ordain people in interfaith marriages, the institutional Reform movement's "acceptance" of interfaith families is more performative than substantive.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, women’s right to abortion in the United States has been tenuous. Were it not for a preliminary injunction, abortion would already be illegal after six weeks in Ohio. In all likelihood, abortion will become functionally inaccessible here before long…

This weekend will be a time for mourning; for many, this Shabbat will be a time for prayer; and for all, it will be a time to share a hope for change and action in the future. The Jewish community stands with its Black allies in a commitment to ending the disproportionate violence perpetrated against people of color.