Stop Feeding Antisemitism

Please think twice before publicly criticizing Israel, "ultra orthodox" Jews, or any other Jews, whether on social media or any other public forum.

Not to say that they are above criticism. But there are unintended and dangerous consequences that we must take into account.

Our criticism gives fodder to, fires up, and lays the groundwork for the anti-Semite. 

What begins as (perhaps) legitimate criticism by well meaning Jews often ends as dangerous hatred by anti Semites.

I'm sure Judge Goldstone, the author of the now infamous Goldstone report condemning Israel, meant well. After all, he was bringing to light certain wrongs that he felt needed to be addressed. But it didn’t stop there. It never does. The anti Israel movements today, such as the BDS movement, are purely anti-Semitic movements dedicated to the complete destruction of Israel.

Recently, there was a negative story in the media pertaining to a so-called “ultra-orthodox” community. Some well meaning Jews shared the article on social media. After all, if the allegations are true, it is a shanda and the community or individuals involved should be exposed and held accountable. The problem is that such posts unfortunately feed the anti-Semites. I was horrified by some of the comments that were posted in response, comments like “All 50,000 of them should be rounded up”!

Obviously I‘m not suggesting that Antisemitism is our fault, the anti-Semite will hate regardless of what we say or do, but in times likes this, when Antisemitism is on the rise around the world, we don’t need to fuel the fire and fan the flames of hatred.

We don’t need to be the ones leading the charge to expose all the skeletons. Our enemies will do a good enough job without our help.  (and by the way, the anti Semite doesn’t differentiate between the Jew living in the West Bank and the Jew in America, or between the Jew living in Monsey and the Jew in Dobbs Ferry)

I’m sure there’s plenty to criticize, but there’s also plenty to praise. Instead of digging up and exposing all the dirt, why not focus and extol the positive, whether at our dinner tables, on Facebook or in the media. 

(And if one feels strongly that there is an issue that must be addressed that will not be addressed without him and there is something practical that he can do about it, deal with directly and privately so as not to cause more harm than good.)

We live in scary times and we need to respond with a unified and strong Jewish community not a fragmented one that points fingers.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Benjy Silverman

PS. Please join us for First Fridays next Friday (April 1st) 6:30 pm. Upbeat services followed by a gourmet Kiddush.