October 7, 2023, changed my life.  I remember when President Reagan was shot, where I was, and how I felt.  Even today, when I stay at the Washington Hilton, I walk the path he did and remember how I felt.  I remember 9/11 and watching the towers being hit and then collapsing.  I visited Ground Zero that December and will always remember the heat that still emanated from the area, the smell, and the sadness that permeated the air.  Neither of these prepared me for October 7, 2023, and the ensuing time afterwards.

I am a proud American, a proud Jew, and a proud Zionist.  I have defended America to friends in England while studying abroad for a month in high school in 1984.  I have had deep conversations about Judaism with people who are not Jewish about Judaism and what it means and what we stand for.  And Zionism, not a 4-letter word, means that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in our ancient homeland.  I have had many, many conversations with people of all backgrounds and faiths about Israel and Zionism, what it really means, and what misinformation is put out about Israel and Zionism.  I have spoken out against inequality against the African American community, the LGBTQ+ community, the Muslim community, against sexual predators and rapists, and hate in general.  As antisemitism began to increase over the past two years, I was the point person for the news in Central Florida and spoke passionately about hate, the need to stand up to ALL hate, and how if we don’t, the hatred merely moves from one community to the other.  So, on October 7^th, I hoped that all minority groups would stand up against the terrorist organization Hamas and Jew hatred and state inequivalently that it was not acceptable and would not be tolerated.  My hopes were quickly dashed.

On October 8^th, I began noticing a trend.  Israel and the Jewish people were blamed for the attack.  We were responsible for savage terrorists raping, murdering, and kidnapping innocent civilians.  The more details came out, the more horrified I was with what Hamas had done, the more people around the world blamed Jews.  I have been speaking out against the rise of antisemitism, Jew hatred, for the past decade.  It seems that this very public attack against the Jewish state and its citizens, regardless of their religion, unleashed the floodgates of Jew hatred.

We have seen this outpouring of Jew hatred on college campuses, amongst celebrities, and on social media.  Perhaps the most frightening thing for me has been the complete lack of understanding by people who spew Jew hatred about Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and Cease Fire Now.  And their lack of interest in learning or understanding what’s really going on.

For the last 10 years I have been speaking out about the growth of Jew hatred.  Jews in America and the diaspora are far too similar to the Jews in Germany before Hitler.  We think we are the same as every other citizen.  We think we may be ‘white’ and ‘American’ but in reality, we are Jews.  That’s how we will always be seen regardless of how much we want to integrate into society.  And the world hates Jews. 

As the head of Hamas continues to say publicly that October 7 was merely the beginning and it will happen again and again and be worse each time, as the temporary cease-fire prepares to end, as Hezbollah in the north increases their attacks, as the Houthis in Yemen stop ships and fire rockets, we are in for a rough ride in the near future.  It’s why we need to come together as a community.  Because if we aren’t for ourselves, nobody else will be.