October 29, 2020

The American people are in a strange place this fall, days before election day.

We are living through five crises simultaneously. A health crisis. An economic crisis. A social justice crisis. A climate crisis. And a leadership crisis.

But we are failing at all five, pulling apart rather than together, muddling through without direction, with indecision. We have failed as a nation to rise to the occasion — in fact, we aren’t going higher and higher, but lower and lower.

I simply do not believe that President Donald J. Trump can handle any of these interrelated crises. That alone would disqualify him for another four years.

I keep returning to this one Chasidic Story: A disciple came to his master and said, “Rebbe, the water in our town is poisoned; whoever drinks from the water will go mad. Yet if we do not drink from the water, we shall die. What, Rebbe, are we to do?”

The Rebbe instructed the student to bring some paint and make a mark on his forehead. And then the Rebbe made the same mark on his own forehead. “When you look at me and see the mark, and when I look at you and see the mark, Remember we are mad.”

The worst thing is to accept madness as normalcy and not know it. We, as a Jewish community, should dare not accept our current situation as the “New Normal.”

The worst thing is to accept madness as normalcy and not know it.

We have already lived through enough madness. Witness, for instance, the rise of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic incidents have risen to the highest levels in the four decades since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) started counting them. In the last two years, anti-Jewish killings have been unprecedented for the American Jewish community.

American Jews are rightfully concerned about the growth of anti-Semitism. In a climate in which the expression of hatred is venerated as authenticity in some circles, we are not the only target of this venom — not even the primary target — but we are most certainly a target.

The rise in anti-Semitism has occurred when all sorts of hatreds are on the rise. Those who hate feel empowered to express their hatred. And a society moving from crisis to crisis likely feeds this hatred, as large segments of the population feel insecure. But we have to turn toward one another and not against each other. Polarization divides and excludes. Jews have traditionally thrived in a stable society — but this society, under the leadership of this president, is anything but stable.

And despite not being an anti-Semite personally, President Trump has fueled the flames of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites feel vindicated, empowered, even called upon to act. He has reinforced basic anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews:

• Jews control by their money: In an address to the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015, Trump said: “I don’t want any of your money….This room negotiates perhaps more than any room I’ve spoken to, maybe more.”
• Jews have dual loyalty: In a conversation with American Jews in 2019, he referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as “your prime minister.” That same year, he accused Jews who vote Democrat of “great disloyalty,” although he did not say to whom. Trump did not clarify or double back on any of these comments, causing many to note that Trump was reinforcing the anti-Semitic trope of dual loyalty.
• He has engaged in conspiracy theories singling out Jews. Remember how Trump insinuated that George Soros was funding the caravans of migrants invading the United States just prior to the 2018 midterm election? Do a Google search of QAnon to discover the multiplicity of conspiracy theories.
• On the debate stage, with tens of millions of Americans watching, he said, “sure,” he was “prepared” to call out white supremacy but did not actually say the phrase “I condemn white supremacy.” After asking the moderator “who would you like me to condemn,” Trump stated, “The Proud Boys — stand back and stand by.” (After the debate, on October 2, Trump stated, “I condemn the KKK. I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys.”) The ADL regards white supremacy as the biggest threat to Jewish security in the United States, and the FBI calls it a persistent, pervasive threat facing the United States.

To be fair, President Trump has been an ardent supporter of the Israeli government. Trump’s long overdue proclamation moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem and facilitating diplomatic relations between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan are welcome.

But the United States has become weaker in the region and in the world, with fewer allies and no articulated strategy. And I agree with those who believe that if Israel is to remain a Jewish democratic state, the two-state solution is the only viable path. Were Israel to absorb the territories, the Arab minority would constitute approximately half of the population and they would either be granted citizenship or secondary — and inherently undemocratic — status. The Palestinians have to be brought into the equation. It may not be able to happen with them — their leadership is weak and corrupt — but it cannot happen without them and without American leadership. Israel suspended annexation — which was part of Trump’s original peace plan — as quickly as it embraced it. American policy must clearly embrace a two-state solution, an essential part of Biden’s commitment.

I have known former Vice President Biden for years. He is an honorable, decent, and compassionate man, with empathy for others and the emotional stability that comes with maturity, loss, and perseverance. He knows Jews well and knows Israel well; his record is one of unblemished support for Israel, so I trust him completely to protect Israel’s security and to once again provide stability and strength to America’s relationship with the world. But frankly, that is the minimum I expect and peripheral to what is endangering this country.

More importantly, I trust Biden to handle the multiple crises besetting our nation, turn the American people one toward another, and begin the long process of repairing our nation. Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.”

Why is some semblance of unity essential?

We are in this together and can only grapple with these crises together.

You wearing a mask protects my health, my wearing a mask protects your health. We cannot get out of the health crisis alone; we are responsible for one another, and we need to be responsible for one another.

And if we cannot get out of the health crisis, we cannot get out of the economic crisis.

If a vaccine, please God, is developed, we need to trust the science — apolitical, peer-reviewed science uncompromised by politics — to help us get to a post-COVID-19 world. So any politicizing of science and any muzzling of scientists will only prolong the health crisis.

Without dramatically slowing the spread of the disease, we cannot open up as a society and thus restore some economic normalcy. Children cannot get back to school, parents to work, employees to their stores, people to travel and socialize, Christians to their churches, Muslims to their mosques, Jews to our synagogues.

Joe Biden is committed to national unity. He is committed to reducing the polarization that is tearing our nation apart. He is committed to social justice for all Americans. He is compassionate by instinct. He offers stability, not discord, decency and empathy, not hatred and divisiveness.

Ronald Reagan asked in 1980, “are you better off than you were four years ago?” In 2020, as a Jew, the answer for me is emphatically: No!

Can we see a path going forward under this President?

No!

I have never been as certain of the vote I just cast.

Michael Berenbaum is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute and a professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University.