4 | MARCH 21 • 2024 
J
N

guest column

The Masks Are Of
 : To Battle Antisemitism, 
We Need Action and Organization
I

n the first couple months 
after Oct. 7, many pro-
Palestinian/anti-Israel 
protesters wore masks. 
Perhaps they feared the 
repercussions of 
their actions if 
their friends or 
employers were 
to discover 
their ideology. 
Perhaps the 
masks allowed 
individuals 
with no connection to the 
universities at which they 
were protesting to present 
themselves as students, 
duping the media and 
vulnerable student body 
into thinking that anti-
Israel sentiments were more 
widespread than they are and 
thereby spreading such hate 
beyond the far-left adherents 
of “progressive” politics.
By wearing masks, the 
protesters felt empowered 
to share their honest 
feelings, uninhibited by the 
social norms muting their 
hatred. However, some five 
months after Oct. 7, many 
antisemites and haters 
of Zionism do not need 
to bother wearing masks 
anymore. Their hatred and 
discrimination are once 
again tolerated beliefs in 
American life.
With the holiday of 
Purim nearly upon us, we 
remember that, until the 
last 80 years, it was the Jews 
and not the Jew-haters who 
needed masks. At Purim, the 
costumes we wear help us 
to remember how Mordecai 

and Esther hid their full 
identities from King 
Ahasuerus, fearful for their 
lives. Our Purim costumes 
also remind us of the masks 
many of us continue to wear. 
By choosing to keep 
our Jewishness private, by 
withdrawing from Jewish 
communal life and by 
adopting aspects of the 
secular culture, we blend 
better into the gentile 
communities we inhabit. In 
fact, this Purim, celebrated 
in a world of rising 
antisemitism, one might 
wonder: Once we put our 
masks on, will we ever again 
be able to take them off?
However, Hamas’ attack on 
Oct. 7 and the subsequent 
spike in antisemitism are 
causing Jews to remove 
the masks of assimilation 
and fear. We are pinning 
blue squares and ribbons 
of return to our shirts or 
jackets. We are wearing 
shirts with Israeli flags 
emblazoned on them or dog 
tags declaring, “Bring them 
home.” We are allowing the 
Jewish stars of our necklaces 
to rest outside our shirts 
rather than inside. 

Like Queen Esther and 
Mordecai who revealed 
themselves when Jewish 
lives were in danger, the 
Jewish community today 
has become vocal about our 
support for Israel’s right to 
defend itself, and we are 
public about Jews’ right to 
be free from discriminatory 
language and threatening 
behavior. The masks are off.
Our efforts to protect 
Jews and Judaism must 
include strengthening Jewish 
institutions. To the extent 
possible, we should increase 
our gifts to the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit and 
donate even more generously 
to our synagogue families. 
Especially in Detroit, 
synagogues, temples and the 
Jewish Federation are the 
lifeblood of our people.
Moreover, perhaps now 
more than ever, Jewish day 
schools should become a 
key focus of our community. 
Rather than subject children 
and especially teenagers to 
the cruelty of anti-Zionist 
rhetoric and antisemitic 
behavior so prevalent now 
in public and secular private 
schools, parents might 

want to consider enrolling 
their children and teens at 
Hillel Day School and the 
Frankel Jewish Academy. 
Sure, parents will appreciate 
the schools’ college-prep 
curriculum. Even more, 
children will appreciate the 
freedom to be themselves, 
and the community will 
benefit from a greater 
number of educated Jews. 
Grandparents might want to 
consider helping their adult 
children to foot the bill.
Speaking of how we 
educate our children, 
religious schools and 
day schools are already 
exploring how to better 
educate their students on the 
contemporary challenges, 
and synagogues and JLearn 
are creating opportunities 
for adults to process today’s 
crisis. As a community, we 
would do well to invest in 
and solicit the guidance of 
Jewish think tanks like the 
Shalom Hartman Institute 
to help children and adults 
alike understand how we 
might understand our new 
reality and move forward in 
this new world. 
Likewise, and at 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 
we have seen success, we will 
want to set aside time in our 
busy schedules to learn the 
art of persuasive argument 
as well as self-defense skills, 
should either be necessary to 
defend Israel, to defend Jews 
and Judaism, and to defend 
ourselves. This is especially 
true for our college students.
Along with supporting 

PURELY COMMENTARY

Rabbi Aaron 
Starr

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