By Jonathan S. Tobin
(JNS)—The 2013 Pew Research Center publication of their Portrait of Jewish Americans was a ground-breaking survey that gave the country the first in-depth and authoritative look at the community. Jewish institutions were most interested in its findings about intermarriage, affiliation and assimilation, which confirmed the data previous studies had produced about demographic decline.
Among the most remarkable of its findings was the one that showed that even as the fastest-growing demographic group among Jews was that of “Jews of no religion,” who were not particularly interested in the elements of Jewish peoplehood that are the foundation of communal life, there was one other data point. It reported that 94% of American Jews were “proud” to be Jewish.
That number was a marked contrast to the era before World War II, when Jewish affiliation was greater and intermarriage rare, yet many Jews were ashamed to be members of a disliked minority group, with many changing their names (as Dara Horn wrote in her essential book, People Love Dead Jews, the notion that most such name changes were made by ignorant or prejudiced immigration officers on Ellis Island is a myth).
That had changed by the early 21st century: Being Jewish was, whether observant or Zionist, a connection to something exotic, tragic and praiseworthy. This was a reflection of the same truth that had made assimilation and intermarriage so prevalent, especially among the overwhelming majority who were not religiously Orthodox. Antisemitism notwithstanding, Jews were admired and liked by most Americans. Unlike in other times and places, they were not under attack. Instead, they were loved and welcomed.
This universal philosemitism was a product of a culture that treated Jews as an exemplary minority group and among the best expressions of a population that had embraced and lived “the American dream,” whereby immigrants could better themselves with hard work and education.
But in a culture where Jews are “white” oppressors or practitioners or apologists of a fake “genocide” in Gaza, which growing numbers of Americans believe, that cannot persist.
The fact that most liberal media were slow to praise the Israeli passengers who prevented the hijacking and deadly crash this week of a flydubai airliner, with many of their compatriots as heroes, or to acknowledge that it was a terrorist incident was telling. And it stands in strong contrast to the way the same media sources had lionized the Entebbe rescue mission carried out by Israel (a mission led by Netanyahu’s older brother Yonatan, who was killed in the successful effort to save hijacked passengers held in Uganda by Palestinian and European terrorists) on none other than July 4, 1976, America’s bicentennial year.
In the long run, how will U.S. Jewry react to the sea change in their treatment within society? It’s impossible to know for sure.
Many have not yet come to terms with the shock of the post-Oct. 7 surge of antisemitism and how it has turned places where they once felt at home into hostile environments. Many can and will remain in denial about it or look for scapegoats in convenient places, such as the attempt to blame President Donald Trump, who, his flaws notwithstanding, has done more to fight antisemitism in education than any of his predecessors. Indeed, he has been the most pro-Israel resident of the White House in the modern-day Jewish state’s history.
Similarly, some foolishly believe the unpleasantness will all fade away if Netanyahu is replaced by a rival that will bend to the demands of Israel’s critics, something that is highly unlikely even if a new government is elected.
We shouldn’t be surprised if the number of American Jews proud of their heritage starts to decline, perhaps precipitously. Some will seek to escape from their connection to the “bad” Jews that the media and pop culture are attacking by embracing blood libels about them or by simply hiding their Jewish identity, as victims of past eras of discrimination often did.
Others will see the contrast between the passivity of their leaders and largest organizations, and the way their Israeli counterparts are willing to stand up for themselves and fight for their homes, families and existence. That won’t lead most who fit into this category to make aliyah and move to Israel. Instead, they will start battling to preserve their place in America with all the tools that democracy provides them, even as groups like the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC are demonized by antisemites.
We will learn a great deal about the character and the intestinal fortitude of the generation of American Jews who will face this new hostility in the coming years.
Those who seek safety as the primary value will likely fail and fall away in one way or another. But Jews who realize that what their tradition impels them toward is something else that is even more precious—liberty and the imperative to stand apart from the non-Jewish world in many respects—will prosper.
The essence of being Jewish has always been a refusal to bow down to the idols of popular culture, whether it was Hellenism, the Roman Empire, the universal church, Marxism, Islamism and the current popular cult of “wokeism.”
Above all, it will force Jews to fall back upon their own resources and realize, like their ancestors, that the factors that will preserve their peoplehood don’t come from the acceptance of non-Jews, but from their own traditions and beliefs. Faith, Jewish texts and loyalty to their brethren will sustain them, just as did their predecessors who survived more formidable challenges and foes than Mamdani, El-Sayed and their allies on the far right like Carlson.
The post-Holocaust vacation from Jewish history may be over, but the Jewish story is still unfolding. And those who have the courage to stand up and stay strong, rather than to join their enemies or to hide, will ride out this dismal chapter of the saga of their people with the same honor and ultimate success as those who went before them.The point is that the potential for an Oct. 7-like attack from Judea and Samaria exists.
Yet are the anti-Netanyahu politicians and pundits calling for an all-out preemptive war against the P.A. and the terrorists it dispatches and funds? Of course not.
Instead, the Bibi-bashers are busy trying to distract the Israeli public and the world by focusing on the fringe phenomenon of “Jewish terrorism” against P.A. Arabs.