Fighting Hate with Hadassah
Dr. Randi Lampert, MD
Antisemitism has been defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” Antisemitism can be expressed through written or spoken speech, artwork or actions. Some examples include stereotypes of Jews acting through international conspiracies to control governments, media or other institutions, Holocaust denial, claims of dual loyalty by Jews, holding Israel to a higher standard than other nations, and holding all Jews responsible for the actions of the State of Israel. Nineteen different nations, including the United States, and the United Nations and European Union have all adopted or endorsed this definition at this time. Adoption of a standard definition for antisemitism is a critical first step in the fight against it.
Unlike many of my friends who grew up in very Jewish neighborhoods, I did not need anyone to define antisemitism for me growing up in Texas. From a very early age I was exposed to it on a regular basis. When I was in kindergarten in Dallas, my best friend’s teacher told her that I was going to hell because I was Jewish. I was lucky that my friend defended me rather than believing her teacher that I was evil and abandoning our friendship. Later in my childhood and teens, we had moved to Houston, and I learned about structural antisemitism and racism. My elementary school was a magnet school in one of the oldest and wealthiest neighborhoods in town. I did not have any problems from my classmates, most of whom were not from the area either. But I did learn that neither Jews nor Blacks were allowed to live in the community or join the country club there. I was taught that outside of the Jewish Community Center or synagogue, it was best not to wear a Jewish star or clothing with Jewish or Israeli logos or designs. The most extreme situation was when my older brothers went with a group of friends to the Gilley’s in Beaumont, Texas to ride the bull from the hit movie “The Urban Cowboy.” One of their friends had forgotten that he was wearing a Star of David necklace and they were literally chased out of town.
While it was unfortunate that I grew up believing this was a normal part of being Jewish in America, there was also a silver line to the discrimination. The Jewish community in Houston was very tight knit. Because we weren’t welcome everywhere, membership and support of the JCC was very high. The same could be said for the one Jewish country club. Almost every Jewish teen I knew was a member of BBYO, a necessary place to bond and connect with other Jewish teens. Having lived in a community without widespread antisemitism for the last twenty- three years, I would choose acceptance over the forced need for a tight community.
My children were raised in a very different world. My husband and I moved to
Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997 and both our children were born here. The community here is much more tolerant, and we were shocked, but pleased, to learn that there was no “Jewish neighborhood” here as Jewish people live all over the city. My children were just as comfortable in their Gymboree classes, neighborhood sports leagues, and public schools as they were at the synagogue. My older child’s first and only encounter with antisemitism came in middle school. It was a shock to him, and us, when a classmate told him he wished “Hitler had won the war,” and other similar comments. Fortunately, the school handled it appropriately and these comments stopped. The two teens even became friendly later. My younger child never encountered any antisemitism growing up here.
Unfortunately, in the last few years, antisemitism has been growing nationally, and Las Vegas is no exception. A dear friend of mine’s daughter had a swastika painted on her dorm room door at the local university. There was an attempted attack on a local church that the attacker thought was a synagogue. According to the ADL, antisemitic threats and incidents have had a sharp uptick. From 2016 until 2019 the number of reported incidents in Nevada increase from 2 to 25. 2020 was slightly decreased; the data are not available yet for 2021, but nationally there has been 115% increase from May 2020 to May 2021. And, as I’m sure most people are aware, Jews are not alone in seeing an increase in intolerance and hate crime; Asian-Americans have been particularly targeted recently and most minority groups have been affected.
As Jews throughout the world have witnessed this increase in hostility, Hadassah, an organization I am proud to be a member of, has acted to help protect us. As early as 2019, they adopted policy statements on antisemitism supporting the de- politicizing of Antisemitism in the US Congress. Our members’ advocacy was critical to the passage of the Never Again Education Act in 2020. This act provides resources and funding to educate teachers on the Holocaust and support education in their classrooms about the Holocaust and the dangers of genocide. In January of this year the National Board formally adopted the IHRA definition. My local chapter in Las Vegas recently had a program about antisemitism with a speaker from the Anti-Defamation League providing critical information on the problem both nationally and locally.
It is now more important than ever for all of us to advocate for our local and state governments to fight hard against all hate crimes. Where there are good laws in place, we need to push for more enforcement. If the laws don’t exist, then we should lobby for new ones. And we cannot forget the need for better education about the need for tolerance of people different than ourselves and the consequences of intolerance. We need to ensure that our local school districts make use of the resources made available through the Never Again Education Act and provide quality education about the Holocaust and other genocides to help the next generation begin to reverse this tide of hate. Together we can make the United States, once again, a welcoming place for Jews and all other minority groups.
