I’ve been having trouble writing lately. My spidey senses warned me that October was going to be a brutal month, but my inability started long before the world as I knew it blew up. After a challenging year, I had lost my sense of self. The words that I connected to were no longer flowing freely. I became determined to find a way to recapture what I had always considered my gift, expecting that a glimmer of light would eventually lift my creative darkness. Instead, I was shocked to find a spark of evil igniting my breakthrough.

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading and seeing things that have taken me some time to process. Now my emotions have settled in as a calling to write. My identity as a writer has returned along with one that feels even more important at this time in history. I am a Jewish American.  And until a month ago, I was able to walk around forgetting about a malignancy that has been lurking in the shadows of that identity for decades. A hatred every Jew is aware of, but hoped would never land on their front doorstep.

I have heard people make the argument that antisemitism is not the same thing as taking a stand against Israel. Before October 7th, I might have been swayed. But by the end of the day on that gruesome Saturday, every Jew became one and the same.

I’m not going to pretend to know every detail of a history that goes back centuries in time, and I wish others would join me in being so honest. Because the unaware who are now speaking up for a cause they don’t fully understand have chosen to link arms with centuries of people who are taught at birth that the Jews have no right to exist. Too many supported the cold-blooded annihilation of six million Jews during World War II. How can it be that in 2023 we are seeing masses of new faces cheering on the prospect of another Jewish genocide?

Here are some facts that cannot be disputed. The Jewish population has recently been calculated to stand at roughly sixteen million people. With eight billion people in the world, that means we account for 0.2% of the world’s population. The largest portion of the those sixteen million live in the United States and Israel, two places that felt safe to migrate to when our families were being murdered in Russia and Eastern Europe. Genocide is a concept we understand all too well.

There is no way to explain the connection that many American Jews feel toward Israel. It is our homeland, even if we have never lived there. And for those who have friends and family there, that feeling is even stronger. The thought of fourteen hundred people being slaughtered in unimaginable ways for simply being Jewish is devastating and sickening to us. We are scared for the two-hundred plus Israelis and Americans who were dragged off to become useful hostages. What started off as empathetic pain is now growing into massive fear. A country the size of New Jersey is being targeted as a hateful nation that has no right to defend itself because its residents are Jewish. In what alternate universe would this not be called antisemitism?

A recent video posted by the actress Mayim Bialik touched me so much that I had to dig deeper into my own thoughts and feelings. While others are simply re-posting or picking a side, I think everyone should take a hard look at this issue from both sides. It’s a complicated one with plenty of suffering and death to go around. People are not their governments, but at this point in history, there is a big difference between a democratic state and a terrorist regime.

In June of 2007 after Israel withdrew troops and disengaged from Gaza, Hamas took over the government. Hamas is a terrorist organization that is being trained and funded by Iran, the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism. Hating Jews and wiping Israel off the map is their top priority. If you don’t believe me, ask them. They tell everyone. Hamas does not work for the people of Gaza and they don’t put value into any human life (not even their own). They store weapons in schools and hospitals and use their own people as human shields. They feed the blood-thirsty antisemites with anti-Israel propaganda and the world listens and believes. There is nothing good to root for here. They will never help the Palestinian people and they will never stop going after Israel.  The world needs to understand that their goal will never be peace, so the time has come for them to be eradicated. For further proof, look up the meaning of the word Hamas in Hebrew. It translates to violence. 

Two things can always be true at the same time. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace, safety and security. While I sit and question why no Arab nations are stepping up in any way to help the Palestinians, it’s important to remember that many Palestinians had jobs in Israel and were crossing back and forth to make a living. Sick Palestinians were being treated in Israeli hospitals. In Jerusalem, Temple Mount is as prominent a structure as the Western Wall. The Dome of the Rock remains a place for Muslim worship with no Jews allowed. There are tensions at times, but for the most part, the Muslims and Jews have found a way to live side by side. That could never happen in Gaza because of Hamas. 

It’s a known fact that antisemitism is passed through the Arab generations by inserting the hatred of Jews into the school curriculum. In the past month, it has become more apparent that something similar seems to be emerging on our own college campuses. Activism is nothing new, but activism fueled by hate is bringing up a lot of questions. Is this coming from the classroom? Where are the administrative voices that should be shouting an unwavering decree that hate will never be tolerated? Good and Evil is usually not that complicated. Can someone explain to me when the terrorists became the good guys?

For my own sanity, I’m choosing to believe that we need this widespread hatred to be exposed. Everyone needs to see it and the Jewish people in the United States need to know who is lining up against them. Antisemitism needs to become universally troubling to all good people who understand right from wrong. Any country attacked by terrorists has a right to defend itself. Every person deserves an equal right to live and prosper. Every life should matter – period and full stop. Jewish lives matter, but in some circles we are learning that they do not.  Some of the loudest voices are screaming that the Jews should die. And make no mistake, they mean all Jews. Do I have to worry that someone is going to draw a Jewish star on my front door so the evil will know where to find me? Just a few weeks ago I was afraid to buy a dreidel centerpiece in Home Goods because I was scared that someone around me might see that I was Jewish. Are we supposed to be grateful because at least we’ll see it coming?

As I hope for peace, I also pray for an awakening. For the closed minds who have decided that Israel has no right to defend itself or exist, let me remind you that there is plenty of hate out there to go around. Eventually, someone will come for you if they haven’t already. The time is now to change the trajectory. We need a return to humanity, which used to be such a simple concept. Good over evil, right over wrong, and life over death. 

I titled this piece A Teachable Moment because in the last few decades I have learned that people can only relate to what they have experienced. 9/11 always seemed like a regional event to me based on the reactions of some who lived outside the New York area. And yet, it pulled people together in the most heartening and uplifting ways. We need another dose of that now. I only hope a relatable experience doesn’t have to come in the form of a terrorist attack on US soil. Because terrorism doesn’t take on a different definition only when you become the victim.