Rabbi Cooper's Letters

November 16, 2020 / 29 Heshvan 5781

Dear Friends,

The JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council), on whose Board I sit, works on behalf of Jewish interests and issues throughout our region, in Israel and around the world, keeping our community aware of threats, tensions, challenges and legislation which affect the Jewish Community.  Of late, the work of the JCRC has centered on the precipitous rise in incidents of anti-Semitism and the ongoing threat of anti-Zionism.

At our most recent meeting, last week, we listened to Joel Bond, the Executive Director of a group called, ACF, Alums for Campus Fairness.  ACF works on campuses all over the country, establishing chapters which provide resources to prepare students for confrontations with anti-Semitism, often in the form of anti-Zionism, which they are likely to face, on hundreds of campuses around the country.

In his presentation, he used examples of activities on a number of well-know, politically active campuses in which Jews are targeted for abuse.  Those schools include Columbia University, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine, and even local campuses like Haverford and Bryn Mawr.  When the students feel threatened, they contact this organization which, in turn, turns to alumnae of the school to support and assist the students

What interests me now is not the specific complaints of students being shouted down in a lecture hall because of their public pro-Israel stand.  My concern is that the schools and administrators often support the shouters, while allowing the pro-Israel voices to be silenced.  This support has, I believe, emboldens those who shout and those who make their points in other, destructive, ways.

Two years ago, the office of Jewish professor Elizabeth Midlarsky, who teaches and researches the Holocaust at Columbia Teachers College, was vandalized with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs.  Other egregious example occurred recently, and continue to occur in various forms, only two blocks away from Teacher’s College, at Columbia University, from which I am a graduate school alum.  There, it was the University President, Lee Bollinger, who has sided with the anti-Israel campus groups, overlooking their intimidation of pro-Israel students, while supporting BDS as a form of free speech and failing to create a safe environment for students who disagree. 

In her recently published Book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism, former NYTimes writer, Bari Weis details anti-Semitism on the political left, beginning with events at Ivy League schools and at many other campuses (including the University of Michigan, from which I am also an alum). Her book details capitulation of Administrators at these Universities.  She describes as well, the underlying agendas of politicians, around the world and in our own Congress, whose agendas reflect their hatred of both Israel and of those who support Israel. 

Suffice to say, the political far left remains a hotbed of hatred of Jews and Israel.  And, ironic as it may seem, on this issue of Jews and Israel, the left and the right find common ground.  Bari Weis begins her book with a description of the political views of the gunman who killed eleven people two years ago at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  Although that event, and neo-Nazi/White Supremacist rallies in Charlottesville are prominent examples of right-wing Jew hatred, the true extent of this phenomenon is most clearly seen on dozens of websites on the internet. From the KKK to QANON, many thousands are fed a steady diet of false claims and hateful misinformation about Jews.  From Holocaust deniers to those who claim that Jews control banks, the news and the money of the US, anti-Semitism on the right continues to glorify and find inspiration from Adolf Hitler, history’s most prominent anti-Semite.

I bring this all to your attention for several reasons:

1. We must know where we stand in this country:  Some feel that the problems of anti-Semitism in this country are over-stated.  To those who hold this view, I remind them that dangerous people reside at both ends of the political spectrum.  To pretend that this is not there creates a false sense of security
    
2. Willful Ignorance is not a strategy.  To ignore the signs and look only at the information which supports your preferred point of view also leads to a false sense of security.
    
3. The best strategy begins with Education.   It would be nice if we could stop the flow of misinformation through stronger regulations on the internet.  A meeting with CEOs of the major social media networks were in Washington today discussing, at a Senate inquiry, the possibilities for stopping the flow of misinformation.  Although the value of free speech is a pillar of free society, lies and falsified accounts should not be included in free speech.  Minimally, Facebook and other vehicles of social media should be monitored and, if misinformation is not prevented from being posted, facts and other information must be posted at the same time and in the same place, to provide facts, as well as more accurate accounts of events to fight back against our detractors with education.
    
4. Anti-Semitism is not a Partisan Issue.  I wrote this letter several weeks ago when several events occurred which were anti-Semitic in nature. I delayed sending it, however, because of the attacks upon me for, what my critics claim, is my partisanship.  In pointing out anti-Semitism on the left, those on the left accused me of trying to use my influence to persuade voters to vote for candidates on the right.  Similarly, and equally, when I have pointed to these tendencies of the right, the right has jumped in, furious that I would critique those running for office in the elections. 

I suppose that receiving criticism from both sides is a sign of my even-handedness.  Beyond the denunciations and critiques of my moral character, I am deeply troubled by the impression that, somehow, my stance is motivated by partisan politics. Receiving this sort of criticism suggests to me that the substance of my letter would be considered as political posturing and dismissed as a partisan screed.  Since anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews has been around for as long as there have been Jews, I decided to wait before sending this with the confidence that the situation would not change if I waited.  If anything, I can see now that things are no better and, indeed, may be getting worse.

Whatever your political leanings, take this information under advisement: 

Look carefully to identify and denounce hatred of any and every kind.

Use whatever influence you may have, either on the left or on the right, to unmask this hatred and prevent those who harbor such views from becoming prominent and respected leaders.    

When you see it, do not assume that those who possess such hate, and those who speak with such malice and distortion are merely mouthing political platforms.  If we have learned anything about anti-Semitism, is that it is pervasive, it crosses political boundaries, it continues unabated, unrepentant, and undeterred. 

Finally, I support no candidates publicly.  I have no partisan agenda.  I do not use my pulpit or my pen to express support for politically contentious issues and elections.  But I will not, and should not, be silent when I see hatred in our society.  Indeed, when rabbis are afraid to stand up to anti-Semitism, who, then, will speak up for us?        

B’Shalom,                                     

Rabbi Neil Cooper