The Utter Shock of American Jews

Fear and Loathing on College Campuses

One of the most repeated phrases in the Hebrew Bible is Ahl Tireh, do not fear. Unfortunately, many American Jews, especially college students and their parents, live in fear right now.

It's not just fear of physical attack, though those have risen. It is the fear of being scorned, rejected, targeted, and unwelcome at places where we once felt supported, loved, and celebrated.

Seeing the images and walking around the college campuses near me even felt surreal. Is this really American higher education today?

Plenty of others have analyzed the politics of the protestors. But as a rabbi with hundreds of families charged with serving hundreds of families, my concern is the way the protests have shocked the psyche of American Jews.

I've noticed some parents of current and upcoming college students reacting in the same way we did in the early days of COVID-19: sleeplessness, confusion, and bewilderment.

2 Sources of Bewilderment

The bewilderment has two sources. The first is the utter disregard for the murders of October 7th and the remaining hostages.

For protestors, it is as if nothing happened on that day, and Israel just decided to go to war and invade the Gaza Strip. You see no recognition that Israel did not want this war.

While one can suggest Israel's response has been flawed, ignoring the origins of this conflict and the hostages held by Hamas suggests a disregard for Jewish lives. That's antisemitism.

The second source of bewilderment is a lack of clarity and conviction among university leaders.

Again, protesting is part of our culture and an expression of our most fundamental freedoms. But so are private property, public safety, and religious freedom.

University officials can shut down hateful and dangerous protests. Several have. I have yet to hear a convincing explanation from those who have not.

Antisemitism Again

When it comes to religious freedom, can you imagine how a Jewish student wearing a religious head covering feels walking around Harvard or Columbia right now?

At UCLA a Jewish student was blocked from entering the library. That's not religious or academic freedom.

These experiences hearken back to the way Jewish students felt in the first half of the twentieth century when they were grudgingly permitted to enroll in very small numbers at elite colleges.

The schools tolerated them, but they were made to feel unwelcome by administrators, other students, and campus organizations. It was this rejection that led to the founding of Brandeis University in 1948.

Over time most schools relaxed their unspoken restrictions. By the late 1990s, when I went to college, antisemitism had reached its lowest recorded level in America. The few incidents of it came from the fringes of society.

But the enmity of an earlier era has returned. The antisemitism we see is not coming from the fringes of society.

It comes from the students (and occasional professors!) of our wealthiest and most elite colleges. Instead of protesting the hundreds of thousands murdered in Syria, or the millions of refugees in India and Pakistan, or even the gun violence they've witnessed at high schools across America, elite college students call for an intifada against Jews around the world.

It's no wonder we feel confused and angry.