We have cried. We have mourned. We have cursed the antisemitic hatred that caused the senseless slaughter of two vital and committed young people whose only crime was enjoying a spring evening by sharing it with other supporters of the state of Israel.
So what do we do now? We will say “Never again.” Again. We will talk about how this massacre was different from Poway and Pittsburgh, while knowing that it was more of the same senseless bile we have faced and will always face. We have vowed to do better and to work harder to protect each other. But we really don’t know how.
A successful movement of any type requires leaders. But while we possess an ample supply of religious mentors and community organizers, there is no individual, group or governance structure who can possibly claim to represent more than 15 million of us in 100 countries across the planet. We are a notoriously individualistic culture, which is a trait that has served us well through centuries of dialectical reasoning, debate and intellectual disagreement. But that means that we have not possessed a traditional leadership structure in modern times – we have no equivalent to a Pope, a Grand Mufti or a Dalai Lama. While the state of Israel is our religious and cultural homeland, we have not had a central gathering place since the destruction of the Second Temple.
All of which leaves us without the conventional infrastructure that can provide leadership to a large mass of people seeking direction. That is a feature of Judaism rather than a bug, but it makes organizing a global movement that much more difficult. We tend to flourish at the local level, through our involvement with synagogues, JCCs and Jewish Federations that provide fellowship, reassurance and support. But if we decided that a more far-reaching campaign was necessary, it’s not clear who would direct it.
The Anti-Defamation League, of course, has done heroic work for over a century. But they are most effective as first responders: their greatest strength is their ability to be on the scene immediately in the wake of an emergency and to lead the fight against the most dangerous and menacing attacks we face. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, under the adroit leadership of William Daroff, does an equally admirable job of coordinating between 50 individual groups that all represent this nation’s Jews in different ways. But what’s also needed is a more proactive entity, one that can work to prevent such atrocities and tragedies from occurring.
In addition to EMTs and specialists, in other words, we need an internist. One of the most difficult realizations of the post-Oct. 7 era has been watching as many of the other underrepresented communities that we had believed were our strongest allies become some of the loudest and harshest anti-Israel critics. American Jews had let these relationships wither over the years and we are now paying the price.
Here in Southern California, the Jewish Federation LA has developed an aggressive and effective set of outreach programs designed to reestablish these critical alliances. But this task cannot be accomplished one zip code at a time: a far broader coordinated effort is necessary.
Ironically, the organization that hosted the event that led to Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky’s heartbreaking deaths may also be the best-positioned to take on this challenge. The American Jewish Committee devoted much of its time during the latter half of the 20th century to U.S.-based work, fighting for civil rights and strengthening Jewish-Christian relations before shifting its focus in the 1990s to international endeavors. But under the leadership of former U.S. Representative Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), who was named the group’s CEO in 2022, it’s become clear that the AJC has commendably reprioritized its work in this country.
Deutch has forcefully engaged in the fight against antisemitism on college campuses and brought a renewed energy to what appears to be a revitalized organization. If he decides to take on this challenge, it could be the AJC’s most vital contribution — and its greatest success.
Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com.
