NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Jewish Americans are closely following the recent and actions with a mix of anxiety and resolve 鈥� along with a yearning that a broader swath of Americans, including leaders across the political spectrum, speak out against anti-Jewish hatred.
New Yorker Rizy Horowitz, who runs a program in Brooklyn providing meals and activities for Holocaust survivors, says the widespread vitriol prompts her to ask: 鈥淲hen can I pack up my suitcase and run away?鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very frightening moment. There is no other word,鈥� said Horowitz. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all frightened because we鈥檝e seen the past and we don鈥檛 want to relive it.鈥�
As for those spewing the hate, she says: "Have I done something? No. It鈥檚 just I鈥檓 a Jew.鈥�
Rabbi Seth Adelson of Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh, located near where 11 worshippers were killed in 2018 in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, said anxiety has intensified as anti-Jewish vitriol abounds on social media, embraced by some widely followed celebrities.
The rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview. Former President Donald Basketball star Kyrie Irving was suspended after posting a link to an antisemitic film
鈥淭he antisemitic cat is out of the bag,鈥� said Adelson. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 reached a place where we feel it鈥檚 time to go hide in the basement. But it certainly has increased everybody鈥檚 anxiety.鈥�
鈥淲e feel it whenever we go in and out of buildings, because now we have security in a way that we didn鈥檛 before," he said. 鈥淭here are armed security guards at most, if not all, Jewish buildings and metal detectors and all of those things.鈥�
鈥淧eople who hate Jews want us to cower in fear,鈥� he added. 鈥淲hat I hope for is that Jewish people will understand that the way to respond to antisemitism is to be loudly and proudly Jewish, to be proud of our traditions."
A prominent Los Angeles rabbi, David Wolpe, has wrestled with his response to the antisemitism upsurge.
鈥淲hen I began my career, I thought antisemitism was an issue in my father鈥檚 generation 鈥� it won鈥檛 be in mine,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was sadly and unforgivingly wrong.鈥�
He strives to put the recent events in perspective.
鈥淲e are still 鈥� in America 鈥� as safe and free as Jews have been in all of human history,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so easy to be alarmist, ... to lose perspective, to scare our kids. I don鈥檛 want to do that.鈥�
Asked what makes this moment different, Wolpe was succinct.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the volume, the persistence, the permissibility.鈥�
The expanding use of social media by antisemites is a major concern.
鈥淭his hateful rhetoric is being promoted by people who unfortunately influence hundreds of thousands of people,鈥� said Pat Halper, a community activist in Nashville, Tennessee. 鈥淲e never know if one of those followers, or many of them, will take the next hateful or violent step.鈥�
Yet Halper鈥檚 outlook is resolute.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been in bad places before and found our way," she said. "I have to believe we鈥檒l find our way through this too.鈥�
Texas author Anna Salton Eisen, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has been sharing her late parents鈥� stories for years.
鈥淲hen I started speaking in schools more than 20 years ago, the Holocaust was a history lesson. Now it has become a lesson in current events,鈥� she said. 鈥淪tudents who used to ask me questions about Hitler now want me to address the statements by Kanye that put Hitler in a positive light.鈥�
Eisen, author of two Holocaust memoirs, has undergone active shooter training due to worries over potential threats to synagogues and Holocaust museums she frequently speaks at. Recently she's received antisemitic threats on social media.
Eisen hopes Christian churches show solidarity by inviting Jews into their spaces for Hanukkah. She'll be at the White House for its Hanukkah party, which she says 鈥渇eels like an act of defiance more than just a social event.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 my way of saying, 鈥楬ere I am, a Jew and free to worship God in my chosen faith and I will not live in fear nor be defeated by those who hate me.鈥欌��
In Fort Myers, Florida, Rabbi Nicole Luna of Temple Beth El said antisemitism discussions occur frequently 鈥� in the theology class she teaches and in event planning where extra security measures are considered.
鈥淚 tell my congregants the people who hate 鈥� have no problem putting it out in the open, so we want to put our Jewish joy and our Jewish pride out in the open,鈥� she said.
Amid the recent surge of antisemitism, there have been expressions of outrage 鈥� and vows to combat hate 鈥� from an array of prominent politicians, including President Joe Biden, as well as leaders of major Jewish organizations. Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, hosted a on Wednesday.
However, several Jewish Americans interviewed by The Associated Press said strong statements against antisemitism were needed from a broader range of civic and political leaders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to hope or wish it away,鈥� said Elisia Cohen, director of the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a time for leaders to form coalitions across communities in a very strong movement against hate.鈥�
Diane Brown, a retired pharmacist who moved from Massachusetts to Minnesota鈥檚 Twin Cities a few months ago, is struck by how Jewish communities 1,100 miles apart are troubled by similar anxieties.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 go to temple without being screened 鈥� there are police, plainclothes security," she said.
She鈥檚 appalled at how antisemites use social media 鈥渢o post stuff online that they鈥檇 never say to anyone鈥檚 face.鈥�
Some Jewish college students have reported increasing on-campus antisemitism. At Brandeis University in suburban Boston, which has a substantial Jewish enrollment, rabbi and chaplain Seth Winberg says he feels fortunate to be in a setting where Jewish identity can be celebrated.
鈥淢y students can learn to respond to antisemitism in proactive ways: building relationships, learning how to listen to others, and when necessary, taking action,鈥� he said via email.
Rachel Timoner, senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, sees the surge of hateful rhetoric as a test for America 鈥� 鈥渁 contest between two sets of ideas.鈥�
鈥淲hat white nationalists want is to spread that Hitler was right and Jews are a threat 鈥� that's gaining traction in certain quarters of our society,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ho is going to speak up and say that is unacceptable?"
鈥淚f people are silent, the threat and the danger will only grow,鈥� she added.
鈥淓veryone in every neighborhood has a role. That's the contest we鈥檙e in 鈥� every voice matters.鈥�
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Meyer reported from Nashville. Wardarski reported from Pittsburgh. Associated Press writer Giovanna Dell'Orto in Minneapolis contributed.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
David Crary, Holly Meyer And Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press
