As Jewish leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that members of our community . . . feel safe so that they can see the potential of a secure future. We must lessen their trauma and give them, as Judith Herman puts it, “a sense of control, connection, and meaning.”
One of the most important things we can do is create greater understanding of the complicated issues surrounding Israel, Zionism, and antisemitism. With this aim in mind, the Biden administration gave us an invaluable tool, the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. “In order to confront and counter antisemitism,” the Strategy states, “Americans must recognize and understand it.”
At this historic juncture, as ADL launches a new website to “support the execution” of the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and “address antisemitism from across the political spectrum,” we should put aside a divisive debate over definitions. Instead, let us take an inclusive approach that broadens our ability to build a diverse coalition, informed by a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences, so that we can effectively challenge Jew-hatred in all its forms.
