Saturday, October 27th was a Jewish nightmare in America.
I woke up that morning with a plan to finally go to the library and study for my midterms, but my determination quickly wavered. Instead, I found myself in bed, shriveled under my duvet, eyes glued to my phone screen. My friends at Carnegie Mellon University spoke of ambulances and police just a mile away from their homes. My family group chat had exploded. Our worst fears had come true—there had been a shooting in a synagogue during Saturday Shabbat services.
With the initial shock wearing off, I can't help but feel confused by the world's reaction. Eleven Jews are dead, massacred in a place of God, making this the worst incident of anti-Semitism in American history. And yet, I am not surprised by the act of evil itself so much as I am by the people asking "why?"
What does "why" mean? Anti-Semitism should not be such a shock to you. Jews around the globe have been crying out for decades now about the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, so why are you so completely blown aback by the proof that they were right?
A couple of years ago I mentioned to a friend that I did not believe the world took anti-Semitism as seriously as it took racism towards other minority groups. She told me, "I just don't think it's as relevant anymore." I was shocked. Currently, in the world, there exist people who claim the Holocaust did not happen. These people exist everywhere, and they are not limited to one side of the political aisle. In Israel, Jews are gunned down and bombed on a regular basis. Terrorists have raised Nazi flags in the name of murdering my people. Jews are brutally massacred in supermarkets, and their gravestones are violated and vandalized in cemeteries. They are portrayed as greedy, rude, wealthy, snobbish, exclusive, big-nosed, and just about every other negative stereotype, you can think of. The Hamas charter, the foundational document of the terrorist regime in the Gaza strip, openly admits that Hamas will not rest until every Jew in the land of Israel is dead. That's over 6 million Jews. Does that number ring a bell?
So if the world has been so openly anti-Semitic, then why have non-Jews not taken notice until now? Why did the nobody take notice when, in April of 2017, a 65-year-old Jewish woman was beaten and thrown out of her own apartment window in Paris? Or when, just under a year later, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor in the same city was stabbed to death? Why has no one turned an eye towards the Jewish community in the U.K., which protests Jeremy Corbyn for his openly anti-Semitic statements against Israel, support of Hamas, and affiliation with known anti-Semites? Why, when swastikas are drawn on college dorm doors, does news coverage evaporate within a day? Why has no one cared until now?
The truth is, anti-Semitism has been swept under the rug for far too long. Hypocrites in both red and blue scream at one another, laying blame on each other for this tragedy. By doing so, they have shamed themselves and failed the American Jewry. In this time of mourning and loss, playing the game of politics is disgusting. Look at the posts on your feed. Are they about Trump? Are they about gun control? Are they about the "evil" left? Are they about "the hate in this country?" If so, then those posts are simple-minded. Voting out Republicans is not going to "fix" anti-Semitism. Neither, for that matter, is keeping Democrats out of office. Anti-Semitism is deeply rooted, and its rotten stench can be traced to both sides of the political spectrum.
On another note, for those who are on the topic of it, don't conflate the hatred of Jews to the hatred of blacks or gays. All three are different, and all three will require entirely different complex solutions. Those who, in this time, are shifting the conversation from one about Jews to one about other minority groups are being selfish and small-minded. Jews have been silent for too long, let us be visible for once in our great moment of mourning. Let America see what they've been blind to for so long.
At the vigil I attended for the Pittsburgh shooting victims this Monday, a rabbi spoke to us of the intertwining wicks of the Havdalah candle lit to mark the ending of Shabbat. He described their meaning as one of community, of Jews becoming one as a people. I thought about how, on Passover, we do not just say that our ancestors were slaves in Egypt. We say that we ourselves were slaves in Egypt, and God saved us from our plight. In the Pittsburgh shooting, it wasn't just our Jewish brothers and sisters who were assaulted and murdered in cold blood; it was all of us. This was an attack on every Jew living in America, and we must work to make the world see that. Until then, I will hold close the Hamsa pendant hanging around my neck and pray.