Today is not 1938

As Jewish people, we live in very difficult times. The vast majority of us have never witnessed this level of hatred directed towards us, and being done so out in the open without shame or restraint. Understandably, comparisons are being made to the 1930s in Germany, when Hitler rose to power, waged war on his neighbors, and began his attempt at annihilating the Jewish people. When you see angry mobs storm an airport in Dagestan looking for Jews to kill, anti-Semitic chants on the campuses of American universities, and throngs of people marching in support of the Palestinians, one can’t help at being alarmed by what is taking place.

But this is not 1938. We will not be led to slaughter like sheep and we will not remain silent. The spirit of many of the Jewish people can best be summed up by the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Words spoken in 1982.

I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again.

Israel is a country made up of millions of people with a similar sentiment. But unlike so many of its Muslim neighbors who are brainwashed to believe in the merit of dying as a martyr, Israelis value human life, are fighting not only for their survival, but for the survival of Jews around the world. This only helps to energize so many of us throughout the world who are standing up and making our voices heard. Jews of the world are as united as they have ever been, and our battle cry of Never Again is being put to the test as never before.

But there is another major difference between today and 1938. While it sometimes feels like the whole world hates us, thankfully this is not the case. World and local leaders, members of the media, athletes, actors and musicians from all over the world have spoken up against the attack on the Jewish people. Not just the heinous barbarism of October 7th, but the ignorant, irrational hatred displayed openly ever since. The lines between good and evil are clearly defined, but from what group of people each side comes from is not, and that my brothers and sisters, may be our biggest advantage in this war. In 1940’s Europe the Raoul Wallenbergs and Oskar Schindlers were few and far between. The righteous gentiles in Europe that hid Jews at their own peril, rightly stood out in their exceptionalism. Today is a different story. Today we are not fighting alone. Today there are people who proudly and honorably stand up in defense of the Jewish people and stand ready to fight against a very openly exposed evil.

There are those who maintain that this is the same as every other time in history. They maintain that nothing has changed and nothing ever will. While their suspicion is in some ways is helpful in keeping us alert, their overall sentiment is an incorrect one. The world is filled with people who have learned from the past, believe in right and wrong, and most importantly know how to distinguish between the two. The rise of social media has offered the truth to those who looked for it in the past, and fed fodder to the ignoramuses who would have gravitated to the garbage being spewed regardless of whether or not it came from a microphone or a computer. No decent person can feel good about the amount of evil we’ve seen from both perpetrators of evil and their supporters. But we have every reason to remain hopeful.

These are difficult times, and while they are likely to get worse before they get better, this is not 1938. This is 2023, and in 2023 good people will fight back in support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Good people already have, and will take the side of good against evil. No one knows at what cost, a cost that is already too high, but in the end we will prevail, because our fight is a righteous one, our survival depends on it, and we are not alone.

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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