The warning signs are no longer warnings. The question is what we are prepared to do about them.
By Chaskel Bennett
History has a way of forcing a people to confront hard truths.
What if the warning signs are no longer warnings?
I fear we have crossed that threshold.
For generations, many believed that antisemitism was the residue of history, a prejudice that would fade as societies became more educated and enlightened. They believed the lessons of the Holocaust had been learned. They thought that if they contributed to our communities, defended democratic values and lived proudly as Jews, hatred would remain on the fringes, and this time would be different.
They were wrong.
What we are witnessing today is not random or temporary. It is the normalization of antisemitism across democratic societies, cloaked in new language, amplified by technology and increasingly legitimized by institutions and political movements that know better.
The cities may change. The accents may be different. The slogans remain the same. So do the targets.
On university campuses, in the streets of New York, from Europe to Australia, online and inside international institutions, the pattern is unmistakable. Jewish students are harassed. Synagogues require extraordinary security. Jewish businesses are targeted. Israel is singled out. Terror is rationalized. Violence is excused. Too often, decent people remain silent.
And now there is Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. He has campaigned alongside incendiary anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker. His father-in-law, a major financial backer of the super PAC supporting him, holds leadership roles in organizations federal prosecutors have linked to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood network.
El-Sayed could soon be a United States senator.
New Yorkers should recognize the chessboard. Senator Chuck Schumer’s seat is up in 2028, and the Democratic Socialists have their sights on it. The political forces that propelled Zohran Mamdani to victory are eyeing a far greater prize: one of New York’s two seats in the United States Senate.
This is no longer happening on the fringes. It is happening in our time, in our neighborhoods and at our polling sites.
The Jewish community can matter enormously in what happens next. We can sit back, shake our heads and ask, “What will be?” Or we can organize, participate and send a message that will reverberate far beyond any single election.
If this does not get our attention, what will?
Every era presents its own test.
Those who came before us endured exile, pogroms, persecution and the Holocaust. They rebuilt Jewish life from the ashes with extraordinary faith and determination. Together, they and we built thriving communities, strong institutions and the freedom to live proudly as Jews.
Our generation is being asked whether we have the resolve to protect what they began, preserve what we have built and leave it stronger for those who follow.
One of the greatest dangers facing the Jewish people today is not only the reemergence of antisemitism. It is believing someone else will confront it.
Someone else will speak up. Someone else will organize. Someone else will vote. Someone else will defend our people.
Apathy is accomplishing what our enemies could never have achieved on their own. Our indifference is suffocating us.
The blessings of freedom, security and opportunity in America are real. But if they blind us to unmistakable warning signs, they become a dangerous substitute for resolve and action.
If we are to prevail, with God’s help, we must strengthen our Jewish identity and connection to our heritage, deepen our commitment to Torah and tefillah, invest in Jewish education, reinforce our institutions and accept responsibility for our future.
Our adversaries are capable, well-funded, energized and organized.
We must be more determined. We must outthink them, outwork them, out-organize them and, yes, outvote them.
That means showing up where political power is actually decided. In New York and other overwhelmingly Democratic communities, that often means voting in the Democratic primary. Sitting it out because changing party registration feels like an ideological betrayal confuses symbolism with strategy. That is not principle. It is political malpractice and setting us back.
Our adversaries register and vote.
Allow me to say it straight: We aren’t. And then we have the unbridled chutzpah to complain about the results on Election Day.
Yes, voting is a basic prerequisite to protecting ourselves, but exercising our civic duty cannot simply end at the ballot box. It should be the beginning of a communal awakening.
Every Jewish family should adopt a Jewish cause. Choose an organization that strengthens Jewish life and make it your family’s responsibility. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Invest your time, resources or voice. The amount matters less than the commitment.
When a Jewish-owned business is targeted because it is Jewish or supports Israel, outrage is not enough. Shop there. Eat there. Recommend it. Support it.
Every act of bullying or intimidation should be answered with greater investment in Jewish life. Our answer to those who seek to weaken us must be to strengthen what they seek to destroy: our shuls, our yeshivas, our chesed organizations and the institutions that sustain Jewish life. The responsibility is ours.
Living as a Jew in America today can no longer be a spectator sport. We are all in this together.
We did not choose this moment. The moment has chosen us.
Whether we like it or not, the age of complacency is over.
It’s time to get back to work.
Chaskel Bennett is a Jewish communal leader and advocate who serves on the boards of several prominent Jewish nonprofit organizations. He can be reached at [email protected].
The views expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.
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12 Responses
I agree with much of this oped but I will add that voting is not enough. We need to be seen. We need to attend rallies and protests and be loud about our existence. I truly believe that even today there are many more of us and our allies than our enemies. They just make themselves appear larger than they are while we shrink in public.
Foolish.
Every Galus ends.
Why do you think this one is different?
The endings are meant to bring us to Eretz Yisroel.
Be grateful that the current era makes that option more doable than ever!
Antisemitism has nothing to do with how enlightened the nations might be and any of that, of course. As Rav Chaim Brisker put it, if the Jews don’t make kiddush then the goyim will make havdala.
So, assimilation is the actual cause of antisemitism. And that idol is a massive and unprecedented assimilation; viAin kan makom liHaarich.
Welcome to Golus, Mr. Chaskel Bennett. I’m sorry it took you this long to realize that’s where we all are. From America to Israel to Australia.
The answer is Tefila. Not so much the other proposed “solutions” presented here.
What horrifies me about this article is that it does not address the fundamental root cause at all: our distance from Hashem and our need to turn back to Him.
Yes, we absolutely must do our hishtadlus—including voting, as genuine Daas Torah has repeatedly directed us to do—but we dare not mistake political action for the source of our salvation.
Our first response to danger must be teshuvah, tefillah, Torah, achdus, and a renewed dependence on Hashem, because He alone determines our security.
And when we vote, government funding and political handouts should not determine our vote; we must vote based on Torah values and support those candidates who most closely align with them.
We cannot sell our values for funding while supporting politicians or movements that undermine those very values or accommodate an increasingly antisemitic base.
Politics is hishtadlus, nothing more—it is a tool we are obligated to use responsibly, not something in which we place our trust.
If this frightening moment does not bring Klal Yisrael closer to Hashem, then we are missing the most important message of all. I am scared with what can follow…
Every shul has collectors of tzedaka. The campaign to get voters registered needs to be taken to the public. Ads in newspapers and the like are wholly inadequate. Organizations who raise funds through various online services get people to take pages with commitments, who then email and call potential donors. Flashing a popup accomplishes nothing. There must be personal contact. On election day, we need to have volunteers to drive people to the polls. We should also have representatives to assist in the election process, which might help with the daunting long lines that can serve as a deterrent.
Mr. Bennett is correct in pushing the issue. Our hishtadlus must make sense. I invite additional suggestions, and hope they get exposure here. Last but not least, I pray we should merit crushing these forces of evil.
this is an insane solution to a correct perspective on the unfortunate reality
we are way to small in the world of teva to go up on the millions of DSA and even middlestream dems. Time to move to EY!!!
You need to register your children and grandchildren. Vote for World Jewish congress.
Don’t forget Jury Duty. It’s your duty to judge your friends kindly.
The Arabs are Voting 🗳
mufka:
His “solution” is essentially to vote more and be more civic-engaged, while yours is to move to the least-safest place for Jews on the planet and where they are oppressing religious Jews as never before and like nowhere else.
Yet you call his – not your – solution “insane”? That’s idolatry for you.
HaKatan> As Rav Chaim Brisker put it, if the Jews don’t make kiddush then the goyim will make havdala. So, assimilation is the actual cause of antisemitism
exactly, and there are two parts here:
1) make an effort to move more Yidden to teshuva and observance
2) make an effort to move already observant Yidden to behave so that we get respect from others. I am not saying that we need to be pleasing everyone, but regular people see ehrliche behavior, and the opposite of that.
In addition to Hakatan’s comment to “mufka”, mufka’s whole pretext for moving to Israel is “ we are way to small in the world of teva to go up on the millions of DSA and even middlestream dems.” however the same can be said about Israel, “it is way too small to go up on the millions of Arabs and “even democratic countries”
The harassment of Jewish students on campus is tragic because they are attacked by the left for not being anti-Zionistic and by the right for being Zionistic, supporting Israel and also going for secular education and not learning in full time Yeshivas. This is especially true of those who return from learning in Yeshivas in Israel and even served in the army and are confronted by do-gooders who want them to join the pseudo-Satmar full time learners. I saw major Talmidei Chachomim on campus who pursue an education in spite of the reverse indoctrination.