“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
These are the words we placed above our front door after we built our home 8 years ago. Taken from the Pirkei Avot, known in English as the Ethics of the Fathers, these words are rabbinical wisdom developed from the Jewish Talmud. Christians will recognize some of the words from Micah in our Old Testament, or Tanakh.
Opinion
Today antisemitism — a particularly foul prejudice, rooted in ignorance, fear and hatred, that has led to horrific acts of violence and oppression throughout history, from discrimination to genocide — is adding to the enormity of the world’s grief
As Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish high holiday, begins tonight at sundown, it’s a good time to have a frank discussion about antisemitism and what Wyoming should do when faced with it.
Wyoming is not immune to the scourge of hateful ideologies like antisemitism, and sadly, both major parties have been infiltrated by those who wish to push this garbage on the population. From once famous talking heads on the right, like Tucker Carlson, who have moved to their own social media shows and are promoting antisemitism, to those elected to Congress on the left who openly support policies like “from the river to the sea,” calling for the annihilation of the Jewish people in Israel, antisemitism has raised its ugly head in America. And Wyomingites are being saturated with it.
Wyoming saw acts of antisemitism in 2022, when Rep. Jared Olsen reported antisemitic posters were distributed to him and others in his Cheyenne district. Among other lies, the flyers blamed Jews for the Sept. 11, 2001, Islamic terror attacks said America’s “mass immigration” policies were led by Jewish politicians.
So, what does antisemitism look like, and what should we in Wyoming do about it?
Well, one of the most common stereotypes you see out there on the internet associates all Jews with traits like dishonesty, greed or undue influence over world events. If you see stereotypes that associate Jews with things like “a new global order,” or “global elites,” or “world banking,” you are most likely seeing a kind of antisemitism that tries to place all of the ills of the world on one group’s shoulders. Most of these come with some kind of weird baseless conspiracy theory.
Of course, the deadliest forms of antisemitism were seen in the early 1900s Europe when Jews were demonized for any number of things. Hitler himself in his infamous book Mein Kampf wrote that Jews were supposedly responsible for both communism and capitalism, both of which he saw as malign forces.
Most recently, Wyoming-based social media pages have shown posts about Tucker Carlson’s interview with supposed historian Darryl Cooper who stupidly made claims that Winston Churchill was to blame for World War II. Cooper also used a kind of soft antisemitism to try to dismiss the systematic murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust by saying their deaths were merely a matter of prisoner overflow.
This kind of idiotic rewriting of history serves only as a way to advance thinly veiled antisemitic viewpoints and further accelerate our self-segregation. As antisemitic sentiment grows on the right and shows its face here in Wyoming on social media feeds and public discourse alike, we would all do well to stand against it swiftly and unapologetically.
Antisemitism is not rearing its ugly head in just the GOP. It, of course, has a long history of finding quarter in the Democratic party as well. A good reminder that hatred is a human trait, and not just a political one. Much of the left-leaning antisemitism has come to pass in the past year or so since the horrific Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. The U.S. Department of Justice reports nearly 1,200 people were killed that day, including over 40 Americans. Hundreds were kidnapped with many remaining as hostages to this day.
Anti-Zionist sentiment on college campuses isn’t a new thing, but since Oct. 7 sadly it has grown, in some cases, to an all-out embrace of the vile antisemitism of such terrorist organizations as Hamas. And while broadly speaking, anti-Zionism is not antisemitic, we must not let one be a cover for the other.
The American Jewish Committee, which has tracked acts of antisemitism since Oct. 7 reported, “On October 11, a teaching assistant at Stanford University asked Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves, separated them from the class and told them to stand in the back of the room, saying, “This is what Israel does to the Palestinians.”
As well, a former Cornell student has been convicted of posting horrific online threats to Jewish students. A federal prosecutor stated, “Patrick Dai used the internet to make horrific threats to kill and injure Jewish students attending Cornell University. The federal felony conviction he sustains today underscores that those who break the law by making violent threats will be found and prosecuted, even if they attempt to hide by posting anonymously.”
So how should we respond?
Such baseless discrimination must be tossed into the trash heap of history. Party loyalty should end when acts of antisemitism begin.
If you see these things on someone’s social media feed, or hear them in conversation, tell them one-on-one that it’s hateful. Ask them to remove it. Report any kind of antisemitism in your community like flyers or graphics to the authorities. And most importantly, talk to your friends, be firm in your support of our Jewish friends and neighbors.
As for those in our Jewish community, have a Happy New Year and a peaceful time of reflection this Rosh Hashanah.
The post Wyoming must resist antisemitism and support our Jewish neighbors appeared first on WyoFile .