Two weeks ago was Valentine's Day, a day which normally involves the trading of cute cards or of some romantic gesture towards one's partner. Not a new thing, but often friends will send other friends cards or images what-have-you to acknowledge the day. So when I woke up on February 14th this year and saw a message in my Tumblr Ask Box, that was what I expected it to be: a fun, jokey card, or perhaps even a nice message from someone. Since I'm writing an article about it, however, you've probably already guessed that I did not receive anything of that kind in my Ask Box.

Instead, what I found was a grotesque image of Hitler standing over ripped apart, bloody, gory bodies, and then the words "I'd put my number on your arm" next to his head. Trying to be objective, I could maybe-kind-of-not-really-at-all see how just an image of Hitler and the caption might somehow be construed as a fun valentine to send to someone. However, once you photoshop in a bunch of horrific, bloody decimated bodies under him, there's no way. At all. Pretending for the moment that I'm not Jewish, this "valentine" if you could even call it that, was disgusting and I immediately felt sick to my stomach upon seeing it; I'm not a squeamish person, but I feel like the image of ripped apart bodies, with limbs disconnected and their guts spilling out of them is enough to make even the strongest stomach turn. Being Jewish, though, while yes I was horrified and disgusted, it was more than that. It felt like a threat and I felt unsafe.

This was not my first time experiencing antisemitism, which for those who do not know is defined as "prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews as an ethnic, religious, or racial group," and it wasn't the most violent, but it's the first time it's happened to me personally since I became an adult. Unlike the instances of my childhood, the onus was on me to act responsibly in the face of this--I had to report it myself, I had to reassure myself of my own safety, and then I also had to defend myself against the questions of "Why would you consider this hateful?" and "Why were you disturbed by this image?" and my favorite "Are you sure that's antisemitism?" from others, including the staff I reported the occurrence to.

In case you, dear reader, were wondering, I am in fact sure. Just as sure as I was that a kid asking me if I had horns (because Jews are demonic, didn't you know?) was antisemitic, or that the time a Synagogue was shot at during a Shul-In I was attending was an instance of antisemitism. Actions mired in hate and prejudice, specifically targeting a Jew, as this Valentine's Day message was and is antisemitism. But then I was told that "the Holocaust ended with World War II, there's no more antisemitism in the US anymore," so I must have misunderstood the intentions behind the "Valentine."

First off, I don't think there was any way to misunderstand the intentions behind a bloody image of dissected and decimated bodies, but what do I know? Second, I'd believe that antisemitism was gone if there weren't still people saying they think we should have a second Holocaust to finish off the Jews, if there weren't people who make jokes about the difference between a Jew and a pizza in the oven, perhaps I'd believe it if my brother hadn't been targeted and accosted in a bookstore for wearing a yamaka, or maybe if the stereotype about Jews being greedy and clutching their pennies over long noses wasn't something that I get reminded of anytime I pass a penny on the sidewalk. In case you're wondering, I stopped picking up pennies when I was in middle school, because I'd gotten tired of the jokes.

Here's hoping that one day the jokes, and the gore-filled Valentine's stop, too. Until then, love and light to all my Jewish friends out there.