By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Once a month I teach a class at La Vida Real, a senior living community in Rancho San Diego. Several Tifereth Israel members live there.
This week I began to speak about Purim beginning with the special maftir we read from the Torah this week. This maftir is called Zachor – “remember.” It tells how the tribe of Amalek attacked Israel on her journey through the desert and our obligation to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (Deut. 25:19)
One of the students interrupted me and said, “Rabbi, that is very interesting, but do you mind if I change the subject? What do you think about the attacks on Jews in France and Denmark?” I replied that he wasn’t changing the subject. That was exactly where I was going.
Our tradition sees Amalek as the prototypical anti-Semite, one who hates Jews for no other reason than that they are Jews. We read about Amalek the Shabbat before Purim because Haman descends from Amalek. Hitler and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are spiritual descendants. Purim and the story of Esther remind us that Jews have faced hatred throughout our history.
One would have hoped that in today’s “enlightened” times, anti-Semitism would soon be extinct. Alas, the opposite is happening, especially in Europe. The attacks on a Kosher market in Paris and a synagogue in Copenhagen are just two of the more egregious and public examples of Jew hatred. However, they are just two of many.
Journalist Zvika Klein recently donned a kippah and walked silently through Paris for ten hours. He published some of the responses he received in the video above.
Particularly disturbing is that Klein was not doing anything to elicit or instigate a response. He was not involved in any political or Jewish cause. His mere presence was cause enough to inspire hatred and rude comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that the only solution to European anti-Semitism is for Jews to make Aliyah to Israel. I do not agree. Jews should be free to live wherever they want and must fight for the right to do so in peace and security. An exodus of Jews from Europe would only empower those who want us to flee.
Fortunately, the leaders of the free world have all unanimously condemned the anti-Semitic attacks that have occurred within their midst, and countries where Jews are particularly endangered have provided greater security. Increased security, however, will not solve the problem. Only continued education and societal pressure from those who condemn hatred may one day help turn the tide.
Here in the United States, we have been largely free of these types of attacks. That does not mean we have nothing to fear. We not only need to be vigilant against anti-Semitism wherever it may raise its ugly head, but continue cultivating positive relationships with those around us so that they will join us in condemning it.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Your signed comment may be posted in the space provided below or sent to leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com