We baby boomers living in the land of the free and the home of the brave are really not prepared for the rash of anti-Semitism that we’ve recently encountered.  There were five incidents recently in Bergen County alone, topped off by the terrible firebombing of the home of Rabbi Nosson Schuman.  While he and his wife were sleeping, he was abruptly awakened to find his blanket on fire and the wall of their bedroom in flames.  With the help of Hashem, they were able to escape with their five children and an elderly parent.  Nevertheless, this incident left a deep scar to the psyche of American Jewry.  So too, when five Jewish stores in Highland Park had their glass shattered, it was dubbed the Highland Park Kristelnacht.  At the same time, a jewelry store in Greenpoint Brooklyn is selling earrings with swastikas on them.  Then, just last week as I was leaving the main post office on Manor Road in Staten Island, I was accosted by two teenagers who said, ‘heil Hitler’ to me.

What should be our response to these frightening developments?  The Sfas Emes, Zt”l, Zy”a, says that anti-Semitism is a direct response to assimilation.  As he points out, the Medrash relates that when Yosef passed away in Mitzrayim the Jews stopped circumcising themselves, “Amru nehiyeh k’Mitrziyim – They proclaimed, Let us be like the Egyptians.”  The Medrash continues, “Miyad hafach libam lisno amo – Hashem changed the hearts of the Egyptians to hate our people.”  The Sfas Emes continues that anti-Semitism is a safety valve that Hashem put into this world to ensure that the Jews stay apart from the other nations.  If we do so on our own then everything is fine, but if we start mimicking the ways of the goyim too much then Hashem forces us apart through anti-Semitism.  This is frightening since we are living in the midst of ever growing assimilation.

But, there’s another element that encourages anti-Semitism.  That is, when we give the goyim reasons to dislike us.  We must always be concerned, “Mah yomru hagoyim – What are the gentiles saying about us.”  We learn this from Yaakov our forefather who, when he heard about what Shimon and Levi did to the city of Shechem, proclaimed “Achartem osi, lehavisheini liyosheiv haaretz – You muddied my reputation to cause me to stink amongst the inhabitants of the nations.”  So too, during the time of famine in Canaan, Yaakov told the brothers to go down to Egypt to get food even though they miraculously had ample provisions.  Yaakov said to the Shevatim, “Lama tisrau,” meaning, Why should they look enviously upon us?  Let us behave as if we don’t have food as well.  Also, when Pharaoh told Moshe Rabbeinu you can slaughter your sacrifices here in Egypt, Moshe told Pharaoh, “Lo nachon laasos kein, ki toavas Mitzrayim nizbach laHashem Elokeinu – It’s not right to behave this way (after all the Egyptians worshipped the sheep god), it would be an abomination to the Egyptians that we should slaughter in their presence to Hashem our G-d.”  Once again, Moshe Rabbeinu is showing concern not to cause enmity between the Jews and their Egyptian neighbors.

Now there is not much we can do about the fallout cause by the shenanigans of Bernie Madoff, but there is much we can do not to cause further damage between us and our gentile neighbors.  Let’s remember that we are seeing unprecedented poverty amongst the masses.  The food banks report that they’ve never had so many middleclass people coming to ask for food and beverages.  We have to be careful not to flaunt our affluence in their presence.  Rav Pam, Zt”l, Zy”a, used to say that when opening up your living room curtains to show the Chanukah menorah don’t open them too wide because the non-Jews don’t have to see the china closet and the chandelier.

What was the one word that made its mark more than any other word during 2011.  The secular word masters do an analysis to determine this and they concluded that it was the word “occupy,” obviously primarily referring to protests dubbed “Occupy Wall Street.”  (As an aside, Mishpacha Magazine made a contest to determine which word in the Jewish circles would be our pick for the word of 2011.  My suggestions would include tragic or tragedy, as in the tragic loss of Leiby Kletzky, the tragedy in Connecticut, or the tragic loss of gedolim, etc.)  The Occupy Wall Street movement is frightening because it is a response of those who are impoverished and needy against the very wealthy class.  To the Jewish people this has a very frightening ring to it.  When the Polish peasantry finally threw off the yoke of the rich landlords, it was the Jews who suffered the most climaxing with the Chmielnicki massacre.   Hitler also won favor in the eyes of the populous during times of an extremely depressed economy.  The black eye that we are receiving in the eyes of the world from what continues to transpire in Beit Shemesh does not help matters whatsoever.

I have read more than one writer who asks, Why dosen’t the mainstream community put a stop to these extremists?  You should know it’s easier said than done.  I have heard from more than one insider that if you start up with these radicals, they’ll torch your house or slash your tires! Furthermore this phenomena is not something new.  The original Beryonim who burnt the food supply of the Jewish people to force a war with the Romans could not be reasoned with even by the great Rav Yochanan ben Zakai.  The head of these extremists was Aba Sikra (see Masechtas Gitin, 56a) who happened to be a nephew of Rav Yochanan ben Zakai.  Rav Yochanan ben Zakai met with him in an ultra secret meeting.  He asked Aba Sikra, How long are you going to allow this to continue?  The leader of the radicals told his great uncle, If I tell them to desist, they’ll kill me.  So even the leader himself was powerless to derail the destructive behavior of the mob.

So what can we do?  We can decry their behavior from afar, and we need to redouble our efforts in being courteous and sensitive to our gentile neighbors and associates.  Whether it’s in the workplace, while driving a car, on a bus or a train, in a supermarket or drugstore, we have to be, “K’shoshana bein hachochim – Like a rose amongst thorns.”  We need to come out smelling like a rose and cause them, albeit against their will, to feel ‘Now that Jew, he’s a refined man, she’s a graceful woman, that’s an honest boy, or there’s a quality girl.”

May it be the will of Hashem that we can find many opportunities to fulfill, “Vinik’dashti b’soch Bnei Yisrael – And I (Hashem) will be sanctified in the midst of the Jewish people.”  In that merit, may Hashem protect us from any further anti-Semitism and bless us with long life good health and everything wonderful.