Being Jewish In America

I've been thinking about writing some variation of this post for many months, but based on two significant events from the last two weeks, I finally sat down to do this. I am Jewish. Not exactly breaking news, I know. It's a big part of my identity like being a father and being from Pittsburgh and a Pittsburgh sports fan. Besides hoping that the tradition of eating pickles during Hanukkah catches on, I don't write about being Jewish very often. It's personal. I mean, sure, some of my posts are personal, but it's more fun to write about the Pittsburgh Pirates or pop music. Actually, it's not much fun to write about the Pirates these days. Through June 2nd, the overall ERA of Pirates starters is 3.66, which is 13th out of the 30 baseball teams. That may not sound impressive, but it's better than the Dodgers, Mariners, Cubs, Padres, Guardians, and Astros, all teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. If only the team spent some money on hitting and the bullpen! Getting way off topic.

Before I get much further, this post may live up to this blog's title, Sean's Ramblings. I'm going to be rambling all over the place. Let's proceed.

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel killing more than 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages. Those killed and captured included men, women, and children from multiple nationalities. They attacked a music festival, burned families alive, and committed sexual violence. Over 600 days later, there are still hostages and bodies of hostages in Gaza. There seems to be no proof of life or Red Cross inspectors to check on the status of the hostages. That's not the point of this post though. Israel's response to this attack isn't the point either. Israel is in an impossible position. How do you respond to the worst attack in the country's history? How do you limit civilian deaths (something Hamas didn't try to do) to defeat Hamas when Hamas militants and leadership hide among civilian areas at places like schools and hospitals? And how do you get the hostages back? It's worth noting that Gaza under Hamas is not a bastion of democracy. They haven't held elections since taking power in the mid-2000s and kill their political rivals. Not a great place for those wanting freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or who are part of the LGBTQ community. Not much freedom of the press either as you don't see the New York Times or Washington Post or BBC or FOX or ABC ever reporting from Gaza. 

Thousands of miles away, protests emerged throughout the United States. You would think it would be about releasing hostages and against Hamas, but that hasn't been the case. Many protests, particularly on college campuses, have been against Israel. And this is where I'll admit that I've put my head in the sand a bit. Although my background is in higher education and student affairs, I haven't worked on a college campus in over 20 years, and my kids are still several years away from applying to schools. I've heard about or read about various protests on campuses and in cities, most notably in Washington DC since I live next door in Northern Virginia, but those haven't impacted me directly. For any protests in DC, I'm not driving near them as I'm more than likely taking my kids to their activities like basketball, scouts or theater classes. 

Of course, some of these protests have shifted from being anti-Israel to being anti-Jews. They have made Jews on college campuses (and beyond) feel unsafe or worse. For example, there were at least two attacks against Jewish students on the University of Pittsburgh's campus. By the way, I don't support someone getting arrested or deported for writing an op-ed in a student newspaper. Free speech is free speech. Inciting violence or actually conducting physical violence is a different matter.

Here's the reality. I don't walk around with a billboard or a sign stating that I'm Jewish. There are people who don't like Jews for whatever reason usually based on incorrect stereotypes. My friends know that I'm Jewish, but it's not something that I advertise. (And yes, while I guess this post is advertising that I'm Jewish, I still try to keep some anonymity here.) My religion/culture/social group, however you define Judaism, shouldn't be a big deal, but there's a long history of antisemitism in the United States and around the world. 

Small example. At our kids' elementary school, the 2nd graders had an activity where they put together slides or posters about their heritage and made items representing the heritage at a market. It's a fun project, and the kids get really into it. Both my wife's family and my family are from Eastern Europe, including Lithuania, Poland, and Russia (though there's some question about what country controlled what area at a specific time). For Luigi's project, he shared his Lithuanian heritage. It was fun researching and learning about Lithuanian food and historic sites, but Lithuanian heritage for him was a bit of a stretch since that goes back generations to his great-great grandparents. I guess the alternative could have been Israel, but we don't have family who lived there and came to the US. While my wife and I never discussed it, I think in the back of our minds, we didn't want to have the potential backlash of kids being mean to Luigi for being Jewish. And this is in 2nd grade! 

Were we being overprotective or overly sensitive? Worrying for nothing? Maybe. However, at his recent baseball game, the mother of one of the kids of the other team wore a T-shirt with the Palestinian flag depicted over the country of Israel (like the picture below), seemingly to go with the "From the river to the sea" sentiment that there should be no Jews in Israel, so maybe not. (By the way, that kid was terrible at baseball.) 

Still, words and taunts are one thing. Physical violence is something else, and that's what has happened recently. During Passover, someone set fire to the Pennsylvania Governor's mansion with the family inside because Josh Shapiro is Jewish. On Sunday, multiple people who march peacefully weekly in support of the hostages in Gaza were set on fire via a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails in Boulder, Colorado. Much closer to me, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were killed at an event at the Capital Jewish Museum a few weeks ago. While the news has highlighted the fact that both were Israeli embassy staff, the assailant wasn't targeting them directly. He just saw two people leaving from an event at a Jewish museum. It didn't matter that the event was for young Jewish professionals working on humanitarian diplomacy throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It also didn't matter that Yaron and Sarah were peace advocates and that Sarah worked for an organization combining entrepreneurial training and conflict dialogue between young Israelis and Palestinians.

Threats or actual violence against Jews is nothing new. Still, I think my belief that it couldn't happen in the United States was shattered when 11 people were killed at the Tree of Life synagogue, a place my family belonged to until I was 16. Today, although my kids are used to seeing security at our synagogue whenever we go and probably don't remember a time when there wasn't security, I'm not a fan. I understand the reasoning, but it bothers me that we live in a society where this is necessary. So do I feel unsafe on a daily basis? Usually, no. But I also can't ignore the massive increase in antisemitic incidents.

The reality is that it's a scary time, and I don't see things getting better. On Monday, the national news covered the incident in Boulder, and a few stories later, shared that several dozen people seeking aid were killed in Gaza by Israeli troops. Except it didn't happen that way. Montana Tucker broke down the incident, and The Washington Post sent out clarifications on social media. Will we find out the truth about what actually happened? Probably not, and it doesn't matter. The headlines blame Israel, and people are right to be upset about civilian casualties. So the cycle of demonstrations and threats or worse will continue against Jewish organizations and groups and places of worship. Most have nothing to do with Israel and certainly not with the Israeli military. Yaron and Sarah were for peace and the victims in Boulder marched for awareness of hostages. That meant nothing to the perpetrators.  

Back to me (since this is my blog), I worry some. It doesn't dominate my thoughts, but it's unavoidable since I try to follow the news. I also know that I can't look at the comments section on Twitter or Bluesky or in articles. I'm curious what kind of comments I get to this post on Facebook and other sites. Even before I publish this, I'm grateful for the support that I'll receive. I also expect some hateful replies and maybe people unfollowing or unfriending me. If that's how someone feels simply because I'm Jewish, please unfollow. Meanwhile, I hope that the war in Gaza ends soon with the hostages released. 

Here are a few articles I came across while writing this post that I think are worth sharing:

An op-ed in The Kansas City Star, hometown of Sarah. (KC Star)

A message from American University's president on Sarah's murder. (AU)

Michael Rapaport sounding off. (Fox News)

How October 7th changed antisemitic attacks in the US. (The Washington Post)

An interview with the University of Colorado Boulder's Hillel Director. (ABC News)