As a Rabbi, I know Jewish people are under attack. Too many still look away.

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2 days ago

Sunday evening, I led my community as we celebrated the beginning of Shavuot, the Jewish holiday commemorating the Israelites' receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. It's a lovely holiday − one of my favorites − which includes late-night study sessions and traditional dairy treats (enjoyed because the Israelites abstained from meat before the great theophany).
In the back of my mind all evening was dark knowledge: that events were still unfolding in Boulder, Colorado, around an antisemitic attack. It was there that members of the Jewish community, peacefully demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages held for over 600 days, were set ablaze. The alleged attacker, an Egyptian man, yelled "Free Palestine!" as he threw Molotov cocktails and wielded a flamethrower at elderly Jews, injuring eight, including one Holocaust survivor.
There are a lot of things that are dispiriting to Jews at this moment.
More: 'Horrifying' Boulder attack comes amid rise in antisemitic crimes, Gaza tensions
The ignorance is certainly bad. For years, we have been shouting for all who will listen that phrases like "globalize the intifada" lead us inexorably in one clear direction − toward acts of violence against Jews worldwide. I grimly wonder, as do many of my peers, if Israel's fiercest critics will ever be ready to hear this message.
Fewer than 60 days after a Jewish governor's mansion was firebombed, less than two weeks after peace-activist Israeli-embassy staffers were gunned down in Washington, D.C., and now after this latest calamity, will people believe Jews when we say that such phrases have tangible, dangerous consequences? Or, instead, will they opt to think that these are just the "bad apples" who merit condemnation but couldn't possibly be part of a trend, or are simply the deserved consequence to Jews worldwide for complaints about Israel's government?
The fear is bad, too.
There is debate within the Jewish community about whether our concerns are overblown − after all, we are more likely, say, to be in a car crash than the victim of a violent antisemitic attack. And yet, the numbers don't lie: In 2023, the FBI reported that nearly 70% of religion-based hate crimes targeted Jews, even though Jews make up only about 2% of the U.S. population. Jews move about the world ever-cognizant of this reality, and it weighs most of us down.
Opinion: Amid ongoing attacks, Jewish people are afraid. Is anyone listening?
You might think about the Jewish experience of fear this way: You'll virtually never enter any Jewish facility or event without a security presence. In my childhood, when I spent many afternoons and late evenings at my Temple in Atlanta, I often passed time with our friendly security guard, Michael. Michael, of blessed memory, was a kind, older man who happily tolerated Jewish kids like me "hanging out" with him. He was a mensch for humoring us.
Only as an adult did I realize how perverse the situation was: Michael's entire presence was a persistent reminder of the fact that even as a Jewish child, I was already unsafe. I suppose we learned that lesson well down in Atlanta, where one of our synagogues had been bombed just a few decades prior.
What weighs heaviest on many Jews right now, though, is the silence. For a while, the silence has been killing us on the inside; now, it seems, it's time again (since this is a pattern of Jewish history) for the silence to begin killing us on the outside too.
The news covered the Boulder attack plenty. My social media feed, which includes many Jews, was littered with post after post about it. However, I heard from only a very few non-Jewish friends. This was the same after the attack in D.C., the one in Pennsylvania, and all the others that have taken place in recent years.
We get it: Israel complicates things. However, our lives here in the United States should be worth protecting. When Wadea al-Fayoume was murdered at the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Jews, rightfully, were disgusted, and many condemned the horrifying barbarity. Now, it seems, there is limited appetite among Israel's critics to stand up and say that reciprocal violence against the Jewish community is unacceptable. I sincerely hope this changes.
More: Who is Mohamed Soliman? Boulder terror suspect was denied gun due to overstayed visa
Most Jews are not looking for people to see this incident and suddenly decide they support Israel. This isn't a sport, and we're not trying to recruit teammates. We just want people to acknowledge the attacks against us, the pain they bring our community, and to do so without "both-siding" them.
It feels especially timely to recall words from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the UK, who spoke to the House of Lords in 2018. As he said then, "Antisemitism is the hardest of all hatreds to defeat because, like a virus, it mutates, but one thing stays the same. Jews, whether as a religion or a race or as the State of Israel, are made the scapegoat for problems for which all sides are responsible. That is how the road to tragedy begins."
To many Jews, it certainly feels like we are well on our way down the road to tragedy. We could use your help avoiding stops at some of its more grotesque historical destinations; however, at the least, we'd take your compassion and support as we weather this latest storm.
Ari Jun is senior rabbi of Cincinnati's Temple Sholom.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Colorado attack on Jews is part of sickening routine | Opinion