It allows the Jewish people to transcend the vicissitudes of time and the temptations of victimhood.
A few paradoxes now attend to Jewish life in America. The most puzzling is that we are both loved and hated. Americans have “warmer” feelings for Jews than for any other religious group. Yet Jews are also the group most likely to be attacked because of our identity. Like the old joke about antisemites and philosemites believing all the same conspiracy theories and only disagreeing over whether it’s for the better or the worse, the only consistency to be observed is that our compatriots have strong feelings about us. But the paradox is only new for reasons that deserve celebration. Historically, those strong feelings toward Jews have been overwhelmingly negative. Only in America has Jewish survival been tested primarily by our bonds of affection with our fellow countrymen. I think I speak for my community when I say we are much happier fending off complete assimilation than annihilation.
Yet — and this raises another paradox — things seem to be trending in the wrong direction for American Jews, and indeed Jews worldwide. Violence against Jews has spiked since the October 7 attacks, after which one would’ve expected heightened sympathy for the Jewish people. Some young Americans, following the hard left and embracing some classic tenets of Marxist antisemitism, aren’t quite as keen on the Jews as they once were. For them, Jews are consummate exploiters, whether as capitalists here or imperialists in the Middle East. More concerning is the uptick in antisemitic conspiracy theories advanced by popular right-wing podcasters. They cry that no one is allowed to criticize Israel or the Jews — a violation of our sacred right to free speech — while advancing crackpot theories about Mossad plots and Jewish indifference to gentile welfare. All of this at a time when Jews seem less omnipotent than ever.
Continue reading the entire piece here at The National Review (paywall)
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Tal Fortgang is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He was a 2023 Sapir Fellow.
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