The Problem We All Live With

Charlotte Jewish News January 2022

By Rabbi Chanoch Oppenheim, Charlotte Torah Center

The title of the iconic Norman Rockwell painting, “The Problem We All Live With” came to mind after receiving a disturbing text from Daniel (not his real name), a person who began attending one of my classes. Norman Rockwell is known for his depictions of a serene America, but this picture showed an ugly side and was meant to commemorate the brave six-year-old Ruby Bridges, who was the fi rst student to attend a recently desegrated school in New Orleans. Daniel was helping a neighbor, a widow, who was moving and giving her house to her children, who would rent it for income. Daniel and his neighbor had known each other for years and had a good relationship. He told her not to hesitate if he could help in her in any way. He received the following text from her son.

“Stop harassing my mother. You are not a good person and if you continue, you will not be happy. BTW, we would never rent to your shady kind. We know what you are up to. Salam Alaikum…You should meet your new Palestinian neighbors we’re thinking of renting to or maybe some Afghan refugees.” This was one part of a larger text with no shortage of obscenities or antisemitic overtones. Daniel was shaken and felt unsafe encountering “the problem we all live with.”

Local and national organizations do their best to monitor and address antisemitism, which has been on the rise in recent years.

Here’s one small example. Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid has 45 million Instagram followers — that’s more than twice the world’s total Jewish population! Her posts are filled with lies and hatred toward Israel and Jews. (For the record, she was born and bred in California to a wealthy family who have neither lived in Israel nor spent any significant time there.) She’s just one person, but can influence millions of people to hate Jews.

In a recent opinion piece published in the Atlantic, “Cancel Mel Gibons: Why is Hollywood Still Hiring This Raging Antisemite?,” author Joshua Malina discusses why some anti-racists seem to tolerate and even promote antisemitism and those who are on record with deplorable speech and actions. (Atlantic, December 2, 2021) It’s a problem we all live with but don’t seem to find a solution for.

But is it new? Anyone familiar with Jewish history knows that hatred of Jews is ancient. Bari Weiss spoke at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte’s Main Event in 2019, and spoke clearly of the fact that we are not experiencing anything new. Until the modern era, Jews were denied the basic rights of their non-Jewish neighbors and bore the brunt of hatred and persecution. The larger Jewish national institutions do their best to address the issues, but what can the rest of us do?

Although she wasn’t speaking from a religious point of view, her answer was almost verbatim what any traditional rabbi would say, “Do more Jewish.” Go to services, attend a class, learn about our history, and engage in meaningful Jewish conversations with others. This is basically the message I gave to Daniel. It’s not logical to hate Jews or Israel, who have given so many gifts to the world. Anne Frank pondered why we are hated. “Who knows, it might even be our religion from which the world and peoples learn good, and for that reason and that reason only do we have to suffer now. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English, or representatives of any country for that matter; we will always remain Jews, but we want to, too. (Diary entry April 11, 1944)

The Franks were not a religious family, but 16-year Anne understood that it might be what we stand for. “It might even be our religion from which the world and all peoples learn good…” As Ernest van den Haag, a non-Jewish 20th century sociologist, wrote in “The Jewish Mystique,” “Jews gave the world the concept of God, and the world has never forgiven them for it.”

Jewish food, culture, theater, and literature have their place in Jewish life but we can’t forget what that “we can never become…representatives of any country…we will always remain Jews.”

Now more than ever is time to engage with your Jewish identity. That might mean attending a Shabbat dinner, or even trying to make your own. It might mean seeking relevant Jewish content and becoming comfortable experiencing Jewish practices, even though you don’t observe them yourself. It might mean taking a trip to Israel or learning about our collective history and where we fi t in the 21st century.

Many noble people and groups are fighting global antisemitism. If you are not one of them, fight it by discovering your Jewish identity and realize there’s something worth fighting for. That, in essence, is the Hanukkah story and it has been the Jewish story ever since.