Antisemitism Does Not Define America

Yated Editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz (Matzav)

We see the world turning against us, as it hasn’t since the Holocaust, and we wonder why. 

These words in Matzav penned by Yated editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz scream at us. They say we live in a world that is inherently antisemitic. Always been that way, still is, and always will be. All non Jews - given the chance would turn on us in a heartbeat regardless of how they might otherwise treat us at any given moment in time.

I must admit that I agree with him up to a point. At least this is what history teaches us as far as the nations of the world are concerned. But I have to vehemently disagree with him that America is no different. In my view he could not be more wrong about that. To Rabbi Lischutz, all  non Jews inherently hate us. ‘Esav’ (a euphemism for all non Jews) - Sonei L'Yaakov (A euphemism for Jews).

He cites an anecdote from pre-Holocaust Germany to make his point: 

When (Rabbi Lipschutz’s aunt was) still living in Poland before the war, she became ill and was recommended to a specialist in Germany. A young girl, she traveled with her father (R’ Chatzkel Levenstein) aboard a train to the German city. All they had was the doctor’s name and address, but they had no idea how to get there.

They asked a German man how to get to the given address. He looked at them and realized that they were foreigners. He told them that it was too complicated to explain, so he would accompany them to their destination.

When they arrived at the doctor’s office, they thanked him profusely for his assistance and he smiled and left. Zlata turned to her father and commented on how gentlemanly the man was and how a Polish person would never have been that courteous.

Rav Chatzkel admonished her and said that if there would be a law to kill Jews, that same gentleman would not hesitate to kill them. 

As he then correctly notes, history has proven him right. But then he adds: 

We walk in the street and eyes of hatred follow us. We fly on an airplane and those same eyes of hate are on us. We can’t get rid of them. We go to a park and those same eyes are there. We move in to a new house and those eyes are there. Even in a place of justice, we can’t take anything for granted. If looks could kill, there wouldn’t be many places we could safely go. 

Rabbi Lipschutz proceedes to ‘explain’ this ‘fact’ in a way that casts an extremely unfavorable light on the American people. Which is both untrue and unfair. I cannot protest enough his characterization of the Jewish experience in America.

First I reject the comparison of pre-Holocaust Germany to the post Holocaust United States. His descriptions of the rampant antisemtism in this country are simply not borne out by the facts. Except for the obvious notable exceptions of late - they are more a product of his imagination than they are of the hard facts about the American spirit – the American ethos.

It is easy to point to the increased number of violent and even deadly antisemitic attacks and say something along the lies of the following:

‘See? I told you so.’ ‘Esav is alive and well in the American people.’ ‘Nothing has changed’ ‘Esav does hate us.’ ‘In every generation and in every country.’ ‘Even when it’s latent it will eventually come out when the opportunity arises’. ‘Just as it did in Germany who also seemed to love and respect us until Jew hatred became their national credo.’

The implication is that the same thing could happen here that happened in Germany. The American respect and love for us now can change suddenly just the way it did there. That ‘love and respect’ does not run deep. It’s all just on the surface.

Sure. Anything is possible. But to say that most Americans are innately just a bunch of Jew hating Esavs is an exercise in paranoia of the highest order. A paranoia that uses a statement uttered by Rashi as it frequently is - seeing non Jews in a generally unfavorable light.

Not that I blame anyone for making that interpretation historically. It has indeed proven to be true. But to point to an instance where a group of virulently antisemitic people held a rally blaming the victims of the last week’s massacre in Jersey City for their own death and deserving of it - as indicative of inherent American antisemitism is nothing short of the same kind of propaganda used by Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels used against us  during the Holocaust.

Another piece of ‘evidence’ about the latent antisemitism inherent in Americans is  his characterization of the Democratic party. If that comment weren’t so dangerous, it would be laughable.

There are more Jews in the Democratic party now that at any other time in history. Most of whom were elected by non Jewish voters. And these Jews are currently the darlings of the left half of the country for spearheading the impeachment of their arch nemesis, the President. I could not get over the fact that flanking Speaker Pelosi as she announced Trump’s impeachment were the chairmen of congressional committees most responsible for impeachment. All of them Jews. And the left half of the county cheered them on as heroes. That is some kind of distorted antisemitism.

Sure the Democrats have indeed moved so far to the left that it decreases support for Israel and hurts the values of Orthodox Jews. But unless all of the Jewish Democrats in congress are themselves antisemites, the Democratic party cannot be antisemitic. Despite the fact that there are a small handful of House members that very well might be.  

This says nothing about our yearning for Moshiach that Rabbi Lipshutz says is - or should be in all our hearts.  All I am saying is that his so-called proof that non Jews generally have an innate hatred for us is not true in this country. I have mentioned many instances of that in the past. But just last night I was made aware of yet another instance experienced by a Charedi Mechanech.

Several years ago while he was on vacation in a city that is not known to have large numbers of Jews residing there, he became ill with a rare illness that caused paralysis to his lower extremities. This bearded, black hatted gentleman was rushed to a hospital where no one knew him. The only thing that was obvious about him was that he looked like an Orthodox rabbi.

He proceeded to tell me about the unbelievable care he got from everyone in that hospital, including the hospital CEO. None of them were Jewish. They treated him like royalty. With the loving kindness one might give to a beloved grandparent. They worked relentlessly to find the problem was and then to treat it.

This Charedi Mechanech could not find the words to praise how they treated him. He sent them a long letter expressing his gratitude for what they had done. The respect they gave him, and the kindness they showed was something he never experienced. To this day he maintains a close relationship with all of the hospital staff and considers them good friends.

After being released he went back home to Chicago and had a relapse. He was placed by an orthodox doctor he knows into one of Chicago’s top hospitals located far from the Jewish community. He received the same treatment from all the non Jewish medical staff there too - including their CEO. Just as he did in the first hospital. And he made new close friends.

That is the America I know about. It is not about those virulent antisemitic protesters in Jersey City. Yes we have our share of bigots, racists, and antisemites. They are all flexing their muscles right now. But they are the clear exceptions to the rule about America being - what Rav Moshe Feinstein called the Malchus Shel Chesed - the nation of kindness. A kindness that knows no racial or religious prejudice. As the founding fathers intended it to be. And as the myriad examples like this one have shown over and over again.

Rabbi Lipschutz would do well to take note of it and change his tone.