10 | OCTOBER 3 • 2019 

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T

he last thing most 
American Jews needed 
was another excuse to 
skip synagogue. But after the 
shootings in Pittsburgh and 
Poway within the last year, 
many members 
of the Jewish 
community are 
worried about 
going to services 
because they 
think that doing 
so could place 
them in danger.
Part of that is 
understandable.
What happened at the 
Tree of Life Or L’
Simcha 
Congregation in Pittsburgh and 
Chabad of Poway in Southern 
California was a frightening 
reminder of the way the virus 
of anti-Semitism continues to 
spread across the globe, even 
in the United States. And in a 
country like America, where 
mass shootings have become 
a shockingly regular feature of 
life, it’
s hardly surprising that 
some of those mentally dis-
turbed and/or Jew-hating white 
supremacists who have been 
guilty of these crimes would 
seek to target Jewish institu-
tions. The threat of violence 
is real, not imaginary, and it 
would be foolish to ignore it.
But there is an unfortunate 
byproduct of the entirely com-
mendable efforts of Jewish 
organizations to speak up 
about both the anti-Semitic 
threat and the need for greater 
security at synagogues, as well 
as at other Jewish sites. The 
problem is that after so much 
talk about rising anti-Semitism, 
some of us have been so fright-
ened we may be convinced 
that discretion is the better of 
valor and will stay away from 

synagogue, even on the High 
Holidays, which are the two or 
three days a year when most 
Jews normally show up.
A little context here is nec-
essary. Pittsburgh was the 
worst anti-Semitic violence in 
American history; however, it’
s 
also a fact that such extreme 
attacks are very rare. The 
same is true for all varieties of 
anti-Semitism in the U.S. 
As much as every such inci-
dent is deplorable and trou-
bling, in a country of approxi-
mately 327 million people, the 
approximate 2,000 reported 
anti-Semitic crimes — a good 
number of them vandalism, 
graffiti and verbal harassment, 
not that these instances are at 
all acceptable — are a better 
demonstration of how safe a 
country the United States is for 
Jews more than anything else.
Despite the attempt to wea-
ponize the threat of anti-Sem-
itism from far-right sources 
for partisan profit and to 
unfairly implicate President 
Donald Trump in this prob-
lem, the truth is that support 
for such anti-Semitic crimes 
is completely marginal. The 
overwhelming majority of 
Americans deplores anti-Semi-
tism and attacks on Jews, who, 
truth be told, are not alone or 
isolated. 
To the contrary, the 
overwhelming reaction to 
Pittsburgh and Poway demon-
strated as much as any other 
indicator that Jews remain fully 
accepted in American society 
in a way that is unprecedented 
in the history of the diaspora. 
Those who are hyping the 
real problem of contemporary 
anti-Semitism into an exis-
tential crisis for the future of 
American Jewry are not help-

ing the community.
Still, there’
s also no denying 
that the atmosphere of fear 
these incidents have fed plays 
into the already diminishing 
appeal of synagogues to the 
approximately 90 percent of 
Jews who identify with the 
non-Orthodox denominations 
or none at all. 
According to Gallup, only 
about 50 percent of American 
Jews are affiliated with a syna-
gogue of any kind. According 
to a more detailed survey con-
ducted by the Pew Research 
Institute, these numbers 
continue to trend downward 
— a reflection not only of 
declining religious affiliation 
for Americans as a whole, 
but particularly for a Jewish 
population that is increasingly 
assimilated and less attracted 
to traditional institutions like 
synagogues.
Throw in the idea that going 
to synagogue on a day when 
crackpot extremists know that 
there will be large numbers of 
Jews in attendance and you’
ve 
given some people the idea 
that staying away is the way to 
avoid trouble.
But this is exactly the wrong 
response to hate.
Just as was the case in the 
days after Pittsburgh, when 
large numbers of Jews and 
non-Jews gathered to express 
their solidarity with the vic-
tims and their defiance of the 
haters, so, too, must we do our 
best to ensure that the first 
High Holidays after the two 
shootings will show that Jews 
are undaunted even by these 
tragedies.
Synagogues have their prob-
lems in an aging community 
and, for generations, they have 
been losing members in much 

of the country. Some of this is 
an inevitable product of shift-
ing demographics, and some of 
it is a function of the inability 
of some institutions to meet the 
needs of younger generations. 
No matter the issue, it’
s import-
ant for Jews to show up and 
be counted this year. The best 
way to fight anti-Semitism is to 
let the haters — be they on the 
right or the left — know they 
can’
t win.
This is also a challenge for 
rabbis who look to the High 
Holidays as their best oppor-
tunities to address full rooms 
of congregants. And with some 
of the denominations joining 
the political war on Trump, 
the temptation for some lead-
ers to use their High Holiday 
sermons to engage in political 
advocacy, even if it is accom-
panied with weasel-worded 
claims of nonpartisan motiva-
tions, especially in those with 
largely liberal memberships, 
will be great.
And that, too, is a mistake.
What we need more than 
ever from our rabbis this year 
is an effort to bring us together, 
rather than rhetoric aimed at 
tearing us and the nation apart.
Jews need to stand up to hate 
by being present, and rabbis 
need to use the Days of Awe to 
remind us of our obligation to 
examine our own shortcomings 
before decrying the alleged fail-
ings of our neighbors and pol-
iticians. If we are to effectively 
combat hate, as well as help our 
nation at a critical time, then 
we must focus on the ability to 
listen, learn and try to bind our 
wounds, rather than making 
them worse. 

 
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of 
JNS—Jewish News Syndicate. 

Jonathan 
Tobin

commentary
American Jews Must Not Be Afraid
to Show Up on the High Holidays

