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In Response to Mikey Weinstein's post on 6/10/23 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-06-10

Anti-Semitism – What’s Old is New Again

Over the last few years, I have grown increasingly uneasy with the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in this country and around the world. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. rose 36% in 2022, with synagogues, schools, and the Orthodox community specifically targeted. And last year’s comments by Kanye West, aka, Ye, in addition to the opening statements by Dave Chappelle on Saturday Night Live in November 2022, were brazen and unfiltered verbal attacks that serve to normalize these hateful and prejudiced views. But when Arnold Schwarzenegger is concerned and speaks out about the rise of anti-Semitism in this country, someone from Austria whose father was an avowed Nazi, I cannot remain silent.

For centuries Jews have been an easy target. And it is not that we haven’t fought back. Despite hatred and prejudice, we have survived for centuries and generations, enduring some of the worst atrocities known to humankind. But, even with all of it, we have risen to the heights of every scholarly and creative pursuit, distinguishing ourselves in every area of society. And it is not just that we have entertained you, challenged you intellectually, morally, and helped to create some of the most significant contributions to humankind through the ages, it is that we have persisted and survived and achieved all of this in spite of you.

I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. I was sheltered both physically and mentally from any ugliness or hatred. I knew about such things as the Holocaust, which became an obsession later in life. But my life was basically free from experiencing any kind of overt prejudice or hatred. That is, until I left home in the late 1960’s.

My first brush with anti-Semitism came from a roommate in Berkeley. She was not just a roommate, but someone who I considered to be a very dear and close friend. She started saying very cruel and hurtful things and behaving in ways that made me feel unsafe. I asked her to leave and when her boyfriend came to pick up her belongings, he called me a “dirty Jew.” His name was Rolf and he was a second-generation German American. So, there it was. Now it was real. Now it was personal.

Years would go by before another incident occurred. In fact, decades. I was working at a women’s Catholic college and we were going to have the end-of-year party for our department. I volunteered to pick up a colleague who I had met on one previous occasion and bring her to the party. She had been on medical leave for several months, recuperating from surgery. As she got herself situated on the passenger side and was putting on her seat belt, I asked her how she was doing, and she said, “your people really screwed me up.” Ah, there it was. So, I innocently asked her, “what happened?” as my stomach hit the floor. She said, “my Jewish doctors at Cedars-Sinai screwed up my operation and now I’m permanently disabled.” She actually said, “my Jewish doctors.” Believe me when I say, that was the longest car ride I have ever experienced. But to fill the time, I asked her to describe in detail what had transpired. At the end of her story, as I was looking straight ahead, I commented, “well, maybe you should have gone to St. John’s.”

A few years later, she became my supervisor. She tormented me every time we got together to the point where I developed headaches and stomach aches before each meeting. For example, if she was leaving to get her prescription filled at Cedars-Sinai after our meeting, she would ask me if I wanted her to say hi to my people for me. She never smiled during our meetings and I always felt that she was just waiting to catch me in a mistake. I was always on the defensive. I never felt safe. I eventually went to Human Resources to complain but they did nothing. Eventually, I was forced to meet with her and the head of our department, without any representative from Human Resources present, where she glared at me through it all. I was asked if I would give her another chance. I agreed to continue to work with her. I loved my job and knew I was making a difference and so I stayed. I eventually filed a discrimination case with the state when it became completely untenable. They did not take up the case, but I was glad that I had spoken up for myself. I later learned that another colleague, who is African American and who had had this same supervisor, suffered abuse as well. A few years later, after I had left the school, I learned that this supervisor had taken her own life. I felt no joy in this news, but I also felt no sorrow.

My anti-Semitic experiences seem ridiculous in the scheme of things. What Jews have suffered at the hands of others, countless atrocities, are too numerous to recount here. There are books and papers and movies and paintings and photographs and every kind of written or visual expression, groups and organizations, informing us, bringing to our attention, the cruel and barbaric treatment of Jews throughout the centuries.

And let us not forget that Jesus was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, was a rabbi, and died a Jew. Jews are more closely related to Jesus than to any Christian. Just knowing that, that the person you say you love more dearly than any living person could be a relation of mine or any other Jew should give you pause. In fact, the miracle of existence, the survival of all living Jews, is a testament to our tenacity, courage, strength of will, and faith. It is a miracle indeed that we are here today. So, please, check your heart, review the teachings of Jesus which are indeed all about love, and look within yourselves and root out this irrational hatred. You have free will, use it.

I am writing this as a purge, as a way to get out on paper my fears, anger and frustration. This is my way: talking about how I feel. I hope others will do the same. Writing, peacefully protesting in a variety of ways, contacting elected officials, gathering with others; there are many ways to resist and to speak out. We are not living in Nazi-Germany, at least not yet. There is still time to take a stand. And take a stand, we must. We have learned from history that not acting can have severe consequences. And I have not lived three-quarters of a century to witness these vile attacks and say nothing. We have a phrase for this: “Never Again.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/6/10/2174553/-In-Response-to-Mikey-Weinstein-s-post-on-6-10-23

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