Q: On Sunday, February 8, 2026, like millions of Americans, I watched the Super Bowl. I enjoyed the advertisements and the halftime show and a moment or two of the playing. Most important to me, though, are the friends I join to see the big game with and the food we each bring to share. I hate to be sacrilegious but it reminds me of the reason many others and myself go to shul. I like the sermon and the discussions it fosters. I like the food and the friends and acquaintances I meet. I am not particularly interested in the prayers, but I show up and I believe that is worth something.
One ad in particular, got my attention, as it was about antisemitism. But I have to ask whether the message it sent is really the best way to fight antisemitism.
Is there a lesson for us Jews in the ways the NFL not merely accepts all “comers,” but also reaches out in many disparate ways to include even those who do not enjoy the activities on the main stage or, in this case, the main field. Granted the NFL and its advertisers are looking for eyeballs and attentiveness to sell products. I wonder if the lesson for various Jewish groups in their success is a simple one. We should spend less time criticizing those who observe or identify differently from the way we do and more time just enjoying each other.
A: We do spend a lot of time criticizing each other whether we discount the right or the left in Israel or in America or those who relate to Judaism or Jewish peoplehood in ways different from our own. As you suggest, a case in point is Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, who spent $15 million to produce a Super Bowl advertisement that called attention to antisemitism in schools. It showed teenagers snickering as a young man walked down the school hallway and opened his locker to find a sticky with “dirty Jew” written on it. A black boy comes by and sees this, tells him not to listen and hands him a blue square as a symbol saying, “I am against antisemitism.” The Jewish boy thanks him. The ad also ends with these words across the screen: “2 in 3 Jewish teens have experienced antisemitism. Share the #blue square and show you care.”
The ad is meant to both call attention to antisemitism and give an easy way for others to refuse to be silent bystanders by displaying the blue square on their clothing and become allies to Jews.
The fight against antisemitism has received much criticism in the Jewish world. “New York Times” columnist, Brett Stevens, in a major “State of World Jewry” address, said we should forget trying to obliterate antisemitism. In sum, he said we have tried for centuries and it keeps popping up. He argues Jewish time, effort and treasure should go toward strengthening Jewish culture and community. His exact words were: “What we call the fight against antisemitism, which consumes tens of millions of dollars every year in Jewish philanthropy and has become an organizing principle across Jewish organizations, is a well-meaning, but mostly wasted effort.” While this has some truth, we know from past history of the expulsion from Spain, the pogroms and the Holocaust we cannot ignore slurs or they can grow very big.
Another critic was Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard alum and an outspoken conservative Jew, who said on soon social media, “American Jews: If you are spending millions to ‘fight antisemitism’ instead of building Jewish life, you are both out of touch with the needs of Gen Z Jews and have not learned the lessons of post-October 7th Jewry.” He also elaborated, “Fund Jewish Day Schools, not Super Bowl ads.”
Kraft has taken a different approach; he is using his fame and wealth, his platform as an owner of the Patriots to reach one of the largest audiences in the country, most of whom are not Jewish. He is alerting them to the fact that antisemitism exists and that there is a way they can help work against it. His blue square is a way of reaching beyond the Jewish community. He is to be commended.
My own opinion is similar to yours. We must use every tool we can to both strengthen the Jewish community and find allies to support us. Antisemitism has been with us for centuries. We may not be able to eradicate it, but we cannot allow it to fester.