By now I’m sure many of you have noticed the frenzy of infighting in Jewish activist spaces.
It’s disturbing and confusing for many people, and I wanted to share some thoughts.
To briefly explain for those who haven’t been following, popular Jewish activist Rudy Rochman shared a video with a controversial message concerning the Holocaust.
In response, other prominent Jewish activists have begun a smear campaign online, posting responses that reek of cancel culture.
I don’t really want to dive into the semantics of the debate over the content of the original video right now.
It is not the most important part of what is happening here and is a separate discussion entirely.
The greatest issue at hand and the one I’d like to focus on here, is how the conversation is being handled by the Jewish activist community.
Prominent Jewish activists are launching assaults on Rudy’s character, researching people he is connected to and using their platforms to publicly drag them (and their families!) through the mud, and cherry picking information they’ve read online to paint people as dangerous.
Some activists are openly rebuffing the option of dialogue, and are instead opting to create animosity between Jews instead of attempting to reach a shared understanding on the issue at hand.
To me, it is appalling to see Jewish activists who have themselves experienced being harassed, doxxed, and bullied online in response to some of their activism using similar tactics against a fellow Jew.
It’s also bewildering that these activists are using their platforms which they claim are used to fight against Jew hatred, to publicly defame other Jews online!
It’s OK for Jews to disagree and have different viewpoints. As the old adage goes: Two Jews, three opinions. It is our nature to disagree with one another.
But it’s hypocritical and counterproductive to use a platform intended to fight Jew hatred to smear other Jews.
It does not strengthen our community, rather it divides us further.
Seeing how as a community, we Jews have so few allies, it’s truly disheartening that we should turn against one another so viciously and publicly instead of seeking cooperation and discourse when we disagree with one another.
It promotes the message that there are “acceptable” views to hold as a Jew (“good”) and reprehensible views (“bad”). This Good Jew/Bad Jew mechanism which antisemitism operates through is so deeply rooted, often we fail to recognize how it operates within ourselves and our communities.
We know at the end of the day Jews are responsible for fighting our own battles.
We constantly battle the rest of the world – what are we trying to accomplish by battling our own people as well? What do we gain when we create scenarios where Jews must belong to a certain camp, hold specific opinions, and subscribe to a particular worldview in order to be respected as a Jew? When you consider the fact that our people has always been characterized by our diversity of opinion, it is nonsensical to take such a hardline approach to addressing differences between us.
Why is it that “a Jew is a Jew is a Jew” is only true until we disagree, and suddenly, “we are not a monolith”?
What does it say about mainstream Jewish activism that the most vocal members of our tribe are using their voices to cancel other members instead of engaging with them respectfully?
The conversation that is taking place is in no way productive. It does not educate people about antisemitism. it does not empower Am Yisrael as a whole. It does not unite us, or strengthen us, or contribute a solution to our problem.
Instead it demoralizes us. It adds more problems to the growing pile of challenges we face. It weakens our unity, and our ability to fight for the common good for all of us.
It’s natural to disagree, but to do so in this manner is disgraceful.
Our people may not be a monolith, but in the eyes of the world, that is how we are viewed. When we fight amongst ourselves, it is always us who loses.
Pay attention to the Jewish voices to whom you give the most credit to.
Don’t allow yourself to be pulled into this toxic discourse and infighting that is unfolding on your feeds.
Any Jew that tries to pit you against another Jew instead of encouraging our people to take the path of empathy, love, and open discussion amongst fellows is not someone who should be viewed as a leader of the Jewish people.
A true Jewish leader does not seek ways to divide our community, but ways to unite us, particularly in moments of difficulty.
Ahavat Yisrael will always be our path to success.
None of this is to say that we can’t or should not disagree with our own people. It is simply about taking extra care to do so with love and respect, and steer clear of animosity. Criticism and disagreement should never, ever come in the form of public attacks.
Many individuals exhibiting this type of overtly divisive behavior are not engaging in criticism our of concern for the collective wellbeing of our people, but because personal sensitivities have been treaded upon. This is likely why it has escalated so quickly into personal attacks rather than a civil discussion and exchange of different ideas.
Going forward, keep this in mind as you evaluate all of the different voices in the flurry. Always ask yourself if what is being said and the manner in which it is delivered is helpful and productive, or if it is harmful and divisive.
