It's Part of Life, But not All of Life

By Hannah Estrin
KOACH Field Worker

Berlin, April 2004. Leaders of 55 nations, participants in The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), pledge to "intensify efforts to combat anti-Semitism in all its manifestations and to promote and strengthen tolerance and non-discrimination." The following month, on May 7, the US Senate unanimously adopted legislation requiring the State Department to increase awareness of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide and to submit reports on attacks across the globe.

What about on campus? In January, Urban Outfitters pulled from shelves t-shirts that read "Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl" surrounded by dollar signs, after receiving complaints that the t-shirts reinforced a negative association between Jews and money. Did you see them? How did you react? In June, graduating seniors, members of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine, wore green sashes bearing the word shahada, the Arabic word for martyrdom. Are these anti-Semitic acts? Do they promote anti-Semitism?

The Anti Defamation League (ADL) tracks anti-Semitic acts (verbal assaults, harassment, property defacement, vandalism, etc.) across the country. Their statistics show that in 2002 and 2003, the number of anti-Semitic acts held steady at about 1,500. While it is good news that the numbers didn’t rise, it remains a frightening number, one that is far too high. No one should be targeted for his or her religion, ethnicity or racial group.

However, anti-Semitism poses dangers that are not revealed in statistics about targeted fires or verbal assaults. The greater risk is that Jewish identity becomes myopic by focusing only on the perils of being Jewish and not on the richness of our tradition. In a 2003 survey of 1006 college students from Conservative backgrounds, 68% of the respondents stated that their Jewish identity is shaped by their responses to anti-Semitism (Keysar & Kosman report). In universities which offer courses on Jewish history, Jewish philosophy, Hebrew language, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, which courses have the highest enrollment? You may not have even had to think about that question for very long. Why is it that persecution captures our attention so powerfully?

Anti-Semitism is provocative and is news in a way that the weekly Torah portion isn’t. It motivates a call to action that Jewish cultural and religious activity often miss. But we should not succumb to allowing this seductive incitement to dictate the scope of our behavior. Our tradition has so much to offer. When we devote huge amounts of our energy and our identity to reacting to anti-Semitism, it is at the expense of learning about Torah, volunteering in the community or even reading a good Jewish book. Don’t misunderstand -- we must not stand idly by or close our eyes to these acts. But our response to them should be a part of our Judaism, not the basis upon which our identity is formed.

Ask yourself on what your Judaism is based. How do you express that Judaism? Do community and connecting with other Jews make your list? How about a good Jewish education, participation in Jewish life, observance of halakhah (Jewish law) or visiting Israel? We must make sure that these are critical components of our identities and our Jewish lives as well. We must find a balance among the myriad of ways to build our Jewish identities. That is the surest way to battle anti-Semitism.

[Posted 8/15/04]