No More the Safe Haven, no more the Promised Land



In previous years, I was always asked to talk about the Middle East, the challenges facing Israel, the peace process, the “Arab Spring,” Islam, ISIS and similar topics involving the region and how its problems spill over into other countries. The situation in the United States, and especially the subject of US Jewry, almost never came up in my lecture series because, in the audiences’ eyes, the fact that I am an Israeli precludes my having anything to say about American Jewish affairs.


A Reform rabbi once made this feeling abundantly clear when he told me that “exile” is a concept, not a geographical construct. Any country in which Jews can live a secure and full life cannot be considered “exile,” he said, because that word refers to a land where Jews cannot maintain their religious, cultural and physical lives in free and secure fashion.  The hidden message in his words was that Israel is more of an “exile” than is America, because of the security situation prevailing in the Jewish State and the fact that Reform rabbis do not have the freedom to lead their congregations as freely as they do in the United States.

This year, however, the atmosphere greeting me during my lecture tour was entirely different. A good many Jews of all cultural types spoke clearly and openly of their fears with regard to two things: the rise in Jew-hatred and the deteriorating security situation. (I am attempting to avoid the term “anti-Semitism” because Arabs, too, are Semites). The reasons for the rise in anti-Jewish feelings are many and varied: The Christian European legacy that emigrated to the New World; Jews identified as being movers in the establishment as well as in finance, media, politics, academia, arts and film-making; Jews involved in scandals in the movie world (e.g. Harvey Weinstein)  and in financial scams (Bernie Madoff); increased Islamic immigration to the US leading to political clout as seen in the election of three Muslim members of Congress for the first time in US history; identifying Jews with Israel – and more.



Identifying Jews with big money is a widespread phenomenon in the USA, and for many reasons: Prominent investment banks – Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, for example – were founded by Jews and still carry their names. During the 2008-2009 general financial crisis the two were in the epicenter of the period’s  economic, media and public earthquake. Bernie Madoff, the Jewish “investor,” lost the assets of thousands of American citizens.

Jews are the most prominent donors to American charitable causes, such as hospitals, universities and organizations that aid the needy. Jews donate to these causes because they feel a responsibility towards the American society which accepted and included them with unlimited affection.  The donors’ names are up there for all to see on plaques and above the entrances to  these many institutions. The problem is that when the ordinary blue collar American who works hard to put bread on the table sees the Jewish names shining proudly on the entrances to hospitals and universities (many of which charge over $50,000 a year in tuition fees), he associates the Jews with money and so Jewish generosity acts against the donors and the group to which they belong. Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar knew what she was doing when she spoke of the connection between Jews and “Benjamins” – a term for the US $100 bill which has Benjamin Franklin’s portrait printed on it.

Currently, there are two Jewish billionaires clearly seen on the map of US politics, each providing significant financial backing to the party of his choice. One is Sheldon Adelson who supports the “Rght” and the other is George Soros who supports the “Left.”  On opposite sides of the political map, both are the source of furious anger from those opposing the political party to whom each contributes.


1. Two religions, Christianity and Islam, are both daughter religions of Judaism and both developed “replacement theories” according to which both consider themselves the true religions replacing the defunct Judaism whose adherents are to  be subjugated and humiliated under Christian and Muslim rule.

2. Jews lived in both these cultures among the nations and since Jews are “different” by definition, there are always many who hate them. The proof that these two factors – the religious and the realistic – are the basis of Jew-hatred is the fact that in three other cultures – Chinese, Japanese and Indian – who for our purposes can be seen as a control group- there is no Jew-hatred because:


b. Jews did not live among the Chinese, Japanese and Indian peoples. Jews are therefore not seen as the “other who lives among us at our expense”, and therefore are not hated.



Another factor casting a shadow on Jewish life in the USA is the strengthening of anti-capitalist concepts and negative opinions regarding “privileged,” rich, healthy whites held by groups seen as underprivileged: people  of color, the poor and handicapped. Jews are considered privileged and therefore an inseparable part of the  “oppression and exclusion” system operated by the “privileged” against those “discriminated against” and “excluded” from the advantages available to the privileged groups.

More and more, as criticism of the policies it employs for self-defense increases, Israel is considered a burden by many American Jews. The very establishment of the Jewish State at the cost of the “unfortunate Palestinians” is in question. The challenge  to Israel’s right to exist because of it being a “colonialist entity” is  prevalent in US Academic circles where for decades generations  of students have been taught to  believe  with all their hearts that Jews have no right to a national home. Jews identifying with Israel on campus are subjected to criticism and hate speech from lecturers who threaten to affect their grades negatively and from peers who threaten their safety.



A number of Jews have established an organization called Jews Can Shoot. Their kippahs are embroidered with the words: “Norhing Says Never Again Like an Armed Jew.” Printed on the lining of the kippah is a saying by the Jewish Sages: “If someone is coming to kill you, rise against him and kill him first.” There are Jews who come to the synagogue with a firearm, but is that going to solve the problem of Jew-hatred? And what exactly is the armed Jew going to do if the murderer carries an automatic weapon? What is going to happen if a group armed with automatic weapons attacks a synagogue where a single guard carrying a pistol is stationed outside? Is this scenario impossible to imagine?





Reprinted with author’s permission from Israel National News