SAN DIEGO — Jewish community tensions are being ramped up with news of an arson fire at the Chabad House at the University of Delaware, vandalism at a Reform synagogue in Kenosha, and a video from the Republican Jewish Coalition purporting that Democrats are turning their back on Jews and Israel and are coddling anti-Semites.
While unrelated, the three developments underscore how increasingly tenuous the Jewish community is being made to feel.
A fire, which authorities said was caused by an arsonist, on Tuesday night caused approximately $75,000 in property damage to a Chabad House but, thankfully, no loss of life. Police at this point have no suspect.
The vandalism in Kenosha came during a Black Lives Matter march in protest of a policeman shooting unarmed Jason Blake seven times in the back as he sought to get into his car where his three children were watching. Blake survived but doctors believed he may be paralyzed for life. One unidentified marcher broke away early Thursday morning and spray painted “Free Palestine” of Beth Hillel Temple. Rabbi Dena Feingold said she still supports the Black Lives Movement, explaining: “One person with a can of spray paint does not speak for an entire cause.”
Although a tiny minority of the American population, Jews tend to live in states with high numbers of electoral college votes, meaning what party sways them could have an impact on the Nov. 3 presidential election in close contests.
In a standing statement, the Jewish Democratic Council of America says: “America must vigorously oppose all forms of anti-Semitism at home and abroad. All government officials including the president of the United States must forcefully and unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it occurs. The recent resurgence of anti-Semitism both in public rhetoric and in hate crimes illustrate the critical need to call upon our elected officials to denounce such egregious behavior and take any and all necessary steps to help eradicate it. Both the anti-Semitism on the far-right under the guise of nationalism and anti-Semitism on the far-left masquerading as anti-Zionism must be opposed at all levels.”
In the wake of the arson attack at the University of Delaware, Nathan Diament, the OU’s executive director for public policy, commented: “The attack at the University of Delaware is a stark and painful reminder that anti-Semitism is alive and well in the United States in 2020. Even in the midst of a pandemic, there is no time to pause our vigilance against such heinous acts of anti-Semitism. We must continue to do everything we can to protect the Jewish community against those who seek to do us harm.”
And the OU President Mark “Moishe” Bane said, “We are horrified by what occurred last night at yet another Jewish institution—one that specifically serves to connect young students to Judaism. We have a responsibility to keep our community and others safe, and we call on Congress to act swiftly to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $360 million so that our religious institutions may be made safer for all.”
In announcing the release of the campaign video “Wake Up Call,” Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, commented:
“It has become obvious to Jewish voters by now that today’s Democratic Party is not the party of their parents and grandparents; it has taken a sharp and disturbing lurch to the radical left. The Democrats have turned their backs on the Jewish community, on Israel, and on America itself. They allow antisemitism among Democrats in public office to go unchallenged, they want to take us back to the dangerous Obama-Biden nuclear deal with Iran, and they want to undo the many achievements of the Trump administration that have benefited all of us.
“Right now, as the Jewish community marks the month of Elul, the month before the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we are sending out a wake up call to our community. The choice before voters this year is very clear and we’re going to see more and more Jewish Democrats cast their votes for President Trump in this election.”
The video, shown above, features four people who said even though they had been lifelong Democrats, they now are voting for the reelection of Donald Trump.
Featured speakers in the video are Cantor Sagee Goldenholz, Mark Dunec, Dr. Caryn Borger, and Rabbi Alan Sherman.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com