By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Hillel’s enduring maxim, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14), urges Jewish communities to stand firm against the rising tide of antisemitism, a deadly threat that has plagued Jews from ancient massacres to modern hate crimes. Far from a political ploy, antisemitism endangers Jewish lives and undermines democratic values.
Yet, some progressive Jewish leaders—often lacking deep traditional Jewish scholarship—have downplayed its severity and mischaracterized efforts to combat it. Organizations like the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), Bend the Arc, and coalitions involving the New Israel Fund and progressive clergy have criticized the Trump Administration’s legal measures against antisemitism, framing them as attacks on free speech, abuses of power, or divisive tactics (JCPA, 2020; Bend the Arc, 2021).
These critiques distract from the urgent need to address escalating antisemitic hostility, especially on university campuses, and overlook President Trump’s bold confrontation of institutions fostering antisemitic policies—a stance deserving support from rabbis across denominations and secular Jews alike. Alarmingly, groups like “Not in My Name” and other pro-Hamas Jewish student organizations are contributing to the harassment of Jewish students, promoting antisemitic hate speech under the guise of activism.
Supporting Hamas and political entities that glorify or call for reenacting October 7-style attacks must be unequivocally condemned as antisemitic hate speech, with no place in civilized society. All Jews—religious and secular—must unite against progressive efforts to marginalize and harass Jewish students, forging a nonpartisan response to this existential threat.
The crisis is stark: the FBI’s 2024 hate crime statistics show Jews as the most targeted religious group, comprising 52% of religion-based hate crimes despite being under 2% of the U.S. population (FBI, 2024). On campuses, Jewish students face unrelenting hostility: at Yale, Jewish students were physically blocked from entering lecture halls during 2024 protests, while at UC Santa Barbara, posters celebrating the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack were plastered across dorms (ADL, 2024).
Synagogues in Austin have been defaced with swastikas, and Jewish cultural festivals in Denver have been disrupted by violence (ADL, 2024). Yet, progressive groups like JCPA and Bend the Arc oppose measures like the Trump Administration’s 2019 Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism, which strengthens Title VI protections for Jewish students, claiming it stifles “legitimate criticism of Israel” (JCPA, 2020).
This ignores how “anti-Zionist” rhetoric often veers into antisemitism, vilifying Jewish identity or justifying violence, as seen in campus slogans like “globalize the intifada,” which echo calls for Jewish genocide (AMCHA Initiative, 2024).
Worse, Jewish student groups like “Not in My Name” and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) have exacerbated this hostility. At universities like NYU and Columbia, these groups have joined Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in celebrating Hamas’s October 7 attack—where 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 abducted—as “resistance” and have advocated for similar actions (ADL, 2024; U.S. Department of State, 2023). Their protests, often involving antisemitic chants and intimidation of Jewish students, create toxic environments.
At UCLA, “Not in My Name” members participated in encampments that blocked Jewish students from campus facilities, with some reporting verbal harassment like “Zionist scum” (ADL, 2024). Supporting Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, or calling for reenacting October 7 is not political discourse; it is antisemitic hate speech that incites violence and dehumanizes Jews, meeting legal thresholds for prohibition (Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444, 1969). Such rhetoric, which glorifies murder and terror, has no place in society, as evidenced by the 2024 vandalism of a Jewish-owned bakery in Miami (ADL, 2024). Universities and Jewish leaders must sanction these groups, just as they would condemn advocacy for other terrorist acts.
The progressive claim that anti-antisemitism measures undermine democracy is baseless. When universities like Princeton suspend groups organizing antisemitic disruptions—such as protests targeting Jewish student events—they enforce safety protocols, not censor speech (Princeton University, 2024). Similarly, when cities like Seattle deny permits for rallies inciting anti-Jewish violence, they align with precedents like the IRS’s 1983 revocation of tax-exempt status from racially discriminatory schools (Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574).
Jewish students deserve protection when their study spaces are defaced or their religious gatherings disrupted, as seen at UC Irvine (ADL, 2024). President Trump’s readiness to withhold federal funding from universities tolerating antisemitic policies, including those amplified by groups like “Not in My Name,” is a critical step toward accountability. Rabbis—Orthodox, Reform, or Conservative—should rally behind these efforts, as they safeguard Jewish students’ rights. Secular Jews, often sympathetic to progressive causes, must reject narratives that excuse antisemitic harassment as “activism,” recognizing that Jewish safety unites all Jews.
The partisan bias in progressive critiques is clear.
Had Presidents Obama or Biden enacted similar measures, such as debanking groups distributing Hamas propaganda, they might have been hailed as champions of Jewish safety (Goldberg, 2020). Because these policies come from Trump, they are dismissed as cynical, fracturing potential alliances (Cohen, 2020). Antisemitism spans ideologies, from far-right militia conspiracies to progressive campaigns equating Zionism with colonialism. A unified response to antisemitism is critical, but progressive leaders often prioritize political agendas over Jewish safety.
Their statements, like those from groups such as Bend the Arc (2021), frequently exclude mainstream Orthodox rabbis, who represent the majority of American rabbinic leadership and provide deep historical context on antisemitism—from the medieval Rhineland massacres to modern attacks like the 2019 Poway shooting (Sarna, American Judaism, 2004). Instead, signatories, often from progressive Reform or fringe Jewish movements, frame demands for Jewish safety as threats to academic freedom or immigrant rights, misrepresenting the issue and diluting the response. This disconnect undermines effective action against rising antisemitic threats.
Such a mischaracterization fuels violence, like the 2024 attack on a Jewish community center in Minneapolis (ADL, 2024). Secular Jews must join religious Jews in condemning pro-Hamas groups like “Not in My Name” and JVP as antisemitic, demanding accountability from universities and policymakers. The fight against antisemitism requires truth, moral clarity, and unwavering commitment to Jewish safety, not political posturing. Trump’s policies, despite broader controversies, address a real crisis and merit support from all Jewish communities.
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, California.