Passover Reflections: When will we be liberated from the tsunami of hate that surrounds us?

By Mark Meirowitz

In this time of Passover, where we recount the story of our liberation from ancient Egypt, I think we must reflect on the incredible and existential situation we find ourselves in – literally a tsunami of hatred surrounding us 24/7 world-wide – and wonder when, if ever, we will be liberated from this disgusting epidemic of senseless and baseless hatred directed against each and every Jew on this Earth, and the Jewish State, for example (regretfully there are many more):

• The attack on Bondi Beach, Australia;
• Hatzolah Ambulances in England are burned -- that same charity ambulances that take care of all people, regardless of religion or ethnicity;
• In Michigan, a monster rammed his vehicle into a synagogue where children were attending school (luckily the children were not harmed);
• Protesters at synagogues interfering with the right of Jews to attend services and join together;
• Attacks on Jewish institutions;
• Podcasters and other so-called influencers outwardly espouse support for Nazism and Hitler;

and

Israel is blamed for everything – including accusations of genocide, apartheid and more.

Israel is at war with Iran which has committed itself like lunatics to destroy the Jewish State.

Our Jewish community is literally under constant attack – and our government officials are either powerless or uninterested in doing anything about this. Worse than this, we have governmental leaders who despise Israel and Jews. New York City, with the largest Jewish community outside Israel, is led by an individual who is a detractor of Israel and is not shy about expressing this! This person does not think that there ought to be a Jewish State! How can this be possible?

And on and on and on – with no end in sight.

When will all of this madness stop?

In the past, we have been murdered by the millions, and the Haggadah tells us to expect that in each generation, we will be the target of annihilation. Yet, we always had a respite. After the Holocaust came the founding of the State of Israel. The Six-Day War ended after the Arab States tried to destroy Israel, with an amazing Israeli pre-emptive strike. Israel survived the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 - with the incredible maneuver by General Ariel Sharon surrounding the Egyptian Third Army. Hezbollah leadership was destroyed by the pagers. After October 7th, Israel went into Gaza and destroyed much of Hamas – and with the help of the United States, secured the release of the hostages.

Luckily, Israel was able to withstand the attacks by Iran and its proxies.

However, we now feel insecure and are very worried. Where is this going? When will it end? Who will protect us against this hatred? Right now, we have a President who is a staunch supporter of Israel. What we see, however, in our Congress, is an unprecedented decline of support for Israel. What happens if the next President is not a supporter of Israel and an opponent of anti-Semitism?

Those we stood with over time to help and protect – are now either silent or complicit. Where are our so-called friends?

Jews in all sectors of society express that they feel an upsurge of anti-Semitism. In schools, hospitals, corporations – you name it – Jews stand out and are often made into pariahs. We all feel this! It is literally in the atmosphere. Social media adds to this pervasive environment of anti-Semitism – whenever and wherever we look, we see an outpouring of disgusting calumnies directed at Jews and Israel.

It used to be an honor and privilege to support the State of Israel (it still is, of course)– imagine little Israel surviving against all odds and becoming a leader in science, technology, medicine and even defensive warfare! The Israeli military fights proudly with the United States, which has the world’s most powerful military, against the Iranian regime. However, today, civic leaders in New York and around the country now obsess over divesting from Israel and boycotting connections with Israeli institutions.

So now what is to be done? I think the answer is to hold our heads high – and to be proud to be Jews and Zionists – yes, Zionists! And I say – Haters Be Not Proud! We have survived thousands of years – all of those empires – the Babylonians, Romans, Egyptians, are gone, and now live in museums! Yet, Jews and Israel live on! Jews were kicked out of the Arab countries – and found refuge in a Jewish State – can you imagine if there had been a Jewish State during the time of the Shoah!

We will certainly make it through this crisis – that is our history – we are survivors and have always survived and thrived!

Am Yisrael Chai!