Anti-Semitism and Hate Crimes

Did any of you see Chicago Tonight on WTTW Channel 11 last Tuesday night? He interviewed two Chicago rabbis, Brant Rosen and Andrea London, about the recent elections in Israel. Rabbi Rosen, who recently resigned from his pulpit at the Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue in Evanston, represented the far left’s opinion on Israel. Rabbi London of Beth Emet Free Synagogue in Evanston represented the opinion of the moderate left. The moderator, Phil Ponce, made it clear, both at the beginning and the end of the interview that none of the rabbis contacted who represented the opinions of the center or the right would agree to sit with Rabbi Rosen on any panel. He said that was “a story in itself”. I thought that was a missed opportunity to educate people in Chicago about the viewpoints of those who support the Netanyahu government.

Rabbi's London and Brant with Phil Ponce on "Chicago Tonight" (Click to watch)

Rabbi Rosen is an advocate of a one state solution – Israelis and Palestinians united in a single state that stretches from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River Valley. He also supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, otherwise known as BDS, that seeks to put pressure on Israel to offer concessions to the Palestinians through the imposition of economic sanctions. To say the least, those positions have not exactly endeared him to mainstream Jewish leaders. This is the reason that no Chicago rabbi who represents that mainstream could be found to share the stage with Rabbi Rosen.  Rabbi Rosen concluded his part of the interview with his contention that although Israel was created to address the issue of anti-Semitism in Europe, Israeli policies toward Palestinians has in fact been the cause of anti-Semitism in Europe in our own time.  This last statement was particularly troubling to me. According to this view, Israel, conceived by Theodore Herzl as the solution to anti-Semitism in Europe, has become, in our own day, the cause of anti-Semitism in Europe!

Theodore Herzl's (above) dream turned
on its head? 

Rabbi Rosen follows in the tradition of a long line of thinkers throughout the centuries, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who held that if only Jews would change their ways, anti-Semitism would disappear.  In other words, it was Jewish behavior that was responsible for anti-Semitism. In our own day, this is reframed to blame Israeli policy for anti-Semitism. Rabbi Rosen, and others like him, do not seem to understand that hatred against Jews, or any minority, NEEDS NO REASON! Hatred of Jews and other minorities is IRRATIONAL.  Hatred toward any group is based on stereotypes, unfounded fears, and distorted assumptions about that particular group. In his book, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, University of Chicago professor David Nirenberg traces the history of anti-Semitism in Western culture and comes to the depressing conclusion that hatred of Jews and Judaism is part of the fabric of Western thought. He shows that anti-Semitism doesn’t even need Jews around to flourish!

Professor David Nirenberg. You can read an interview with him by clicking here.

As a member of a group that has endured thousands of years of hatred I welcomed the invitation to participate in the Hate Crime Awareness Symposium held at Benedictine College this past Wednesday. The program had three goals -- to raise awareness about the increasing rate of reported hate crimes, to show how these hate crimes impact communities, and to promote cooperation and collaboration between different communities towards solutions. The United States Congress has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation”.  To me, a hate crime is particularly pernicious because it singles out its victim based on who they are.   Hate crimes therefore have many victims in addition to the victimized individuals or the damaged property.   All the members of the community of which the victim is a member are also affected by the hate crime.  A gay man is attacked because he is gay, and it shakes the entire gay community to the core. Three Muslim students are shot execution-style because they are a Muslim, and the entire Muslim community feels unsafe. A man stands outside of a Jewish Community Center and guns down three people who he thinks are Jewish. These crimes are directed not only against the individual victims, but against the communities to which these victims belong. They have a ripple effect that tears at the most basic values our country, and Western democracies, hold so dear -- that everyone in a democratic and free society is entitled to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

Raising the awareness of hate crimes in our communities, understanding what they are, and collaborating to prevent them from occurring is critical to our collective wellbeing. Coming together to discuss this problem at a Hate Crime Symposium is one important step in addressing hate crimes. Educating ourselves, our children, and our friends about respecting and valuing differences is another significant way of addressing hatred.  The power of getting to know each other, of sharing a meal, taking a walk, discussing a book or a film can be instrumental in dissolving our assumptions and prejudices about “the other” of which we may not even be aware.  At this gathering I also shared how the entire faith community of our area rose to the challenge of confronting hatred when a hate crime was perpetrated against Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard five months ago. Many of us attended that inspiring rally of solidarity which proclaimed to the community – we are not alone in standing against hatred.

This coming week begins the celebration of the sacred holiday of Passover. We recall those days of slavery in Egypt and our miraculous ascent to freedom. It is precisely that sense of freedom that hate crimes take away, both from the individual and from the community. The most repeated commandment in the Torah is the injunction to be kind to “the other” – “For you were once strangers in the Land of Egypt”. This Passover season, may we reaffirm our commitment to fight against the hatred that we, as Jews, know only too well – that hatred, directed against all minorities, that takes away from the freedom of all of us.

Shabbat Shalom