The fight against antisemitism and antizionism is reaching a fever pitch.
It dominates Jewish conversations across the country. Every new incident, every new political victory for an antisemite, raises the temperature.
No wonder “America is no longer safe for the Jews!” has become a common new mantra.
But this is a trap.
Jew-haters would love nothing more than to turn Jews against America. This would only reinforce the antisemitic trope of Jews as “outsiders” who don’t belong here and whose true loyalties lie elsewhere.
Perhaps without realizing it, we have allowed the rise in hostility toward Jews to undermine our very connection with this country that has given us so much.
Call it the law of unintended consequences.
Our justified anxiety about our community’s safety is validating an inhospitable, disappointing America rather than the welcoming America we’ve come to love and appreciate.
Our fight against Jew-hatred, in other words, is isolating us from our own country.
Can we continue our fight while strengthening our connection to America? We better, because if we can’t meet that challenge, we will further isolate ourselves and make a bad situation that much worse.
We can’t settle for the “canary in the coal mine” cliché of “first they come for us and then they come for you.” As true as that is, it only plays on fear.
We need to aim higher and play on mutual connection and gratitude.
At a time when anti-Americanism has become as alarming as antisemitism and antizionism, the Jewish community must declare that we are unequivocally on the side of America.
We can’t roll our eyes and say, “Of course we’re for America! Why do we need to say it?”
We need to say it because it is no longer obvious.
In the recent book released by The Journal, “250 Reasons to Thank America,” we include 50 reasons why Jews are especially grateful for America.
This sentiment of gratitude must permeate our communal activities — from fighting antisemitism and antizionism to education in our schools, synagogues, community centers and summer camps.
In recent years, it is the fight against antisemitism that has dominated American Jewry. This has conveyed a “Jews for Jews” attitude where we come across as concerned only for our own.
What gets lost is a “Jews for America” attitude, an attitude that can bring out the best in both the Jews and America.
An America that hates Jews is not the real America. It’s not the America of our visionary Founders, the America of Judeo-Christian values, the America of liberty and aspirations.
Helping America live up to those ideals is the Jewish way. This should become a top communal priority. Instead of fighting antisemitism by isolating ourselves, we can fight it by getting closer.
We can fight not just for the Jews but for America.
America today is under threat from the inside, from an insidious movement that has decided America represents everything that is bad with the world. This is not a movement that wants America to progress and live up to its promise. It’s a movement that has rendered its final verdict.
American Jewry should represent the antidote to anti-Americanism. Everything we do — and that includes debunking the lies against Israel — should establish that it is good for America. Strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship, as AIPAC does, is good for America.
Indeed, “good for America” should enter the American Jewish bloodstream. Just as we make lots of noise fighting antisemitism, let’s make lots of noise fighting for America.
A good first step is for our community to craft a “Jews for America” statement that Jewish groups from across the spectrum can endorse. That statement should reiterate that what’s good for America is good for the Jews, and vice versa.
Let that become our new mantra.
