I am writing this column a few days before Tishah B’Av, which has some impact on the column. I remember going to various Yom HaShoah programs and hearing survivors say that we need to make sure people do not forget. They said that what happened in Germany could happen here. At the time, I thought they were being a little overdramatic. I also thought their fear may have been caused by PTSD. Considering the rapid rise of antisemitism in this country and the abrupt loss of support for Israel, those fears do not sound so crazy anymore.

I read the transcript of Vice President Vance’s interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, and I see the frontrunner for the Republican nomination dabbling in traditional antisemitic tropes. In the interview, Vance claims that Epstein had connections to Israeli intelligence and the Israeli deep state. According to Vance, there are people within the Israeli system who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion in order to keep the war going indefinitely.

It sounds like the right-wing version of the attacks being made by progressives on AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). The proof that the attacks on AIPAC are based on antisemitism is that the progressives who attack AIPAC have not singled out any other PAC (political action committee) for attack. At most, they generally attack the PAC system, even if some of them receive benefits from a PAC. Likewise, there has been no outcry by progressives over Iran’s slaughter of an estimated 20,000 to 33,000 of its own people, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the atrocities in Sudan, or similar situations around the world. It is a fixation on Israel. It is antisemitism under the guise of anti-Zionism.

If you look back in history, although the signs were there, many Jews deluded themselves into thinking that it could not happen where they lived, whether in Spain or Germany. Until Kristallnacht, there were many Jews who thought they could stick it out and that Germany’s infatuation with Hitler would pass.

Some who are very worried about the future of Jewry in America may want to compare the situation in America to Germany in 1933. In Germany, there was the aging President Hindenburg and the young Adolf Hitler waiting in the wings. In America, there is the aging President Donald Trump and the young JD Vance. Even alarmists would not compare Vance to Hitler. However, their point is that the new leadership waiting in the wings is not as favorable to Jews as the current leadership. It is a mistake to accept the assumption held by many Jewish Trumpians that Trump will pick someone other than Vance and that this will be the deciding factor.

Another thing that Jews should have learned is that becoming assimilated will not save you. For example, during the Holocaust, the most assimilated Jew met the same fate as the most traditional Jew. This also applies in the political realm. Brad Lander, who recently won a Democratic primary for Congress, calls himself a liberal Zionist. Lander may think that attacking the current Israeli government and calling for the removal of funding for Israel will save him from the antisemitic progressives. He is deluding himself. As long as he calls himself a Zionist, he is toast. He will be primaried in two years.

The same applies to left-wing and right-wing anti-Zionists who actively support attacks on the State of Israel by participating in anti-Israel protests. To the typical antisemite, all Jews are bad. Those Jews who actively support antisemites acting under the guise of anti-Zionism are viewed by the antisemites as useful idiots.

The Second Temple was destroyed because of senseless hatred. When the Jewish community is divided and we exclude parts of our community, the antisemites rear their ugly heads to remind us that we are one. We should not have to suffer in order to realize that we are one people and that all Jews should care for one another.

One example that we are one community relates to two events that took place at two Orthodox Jewish institutions. A few weeks ago, Rabbi Asher Weiss, among other rabbis, spoke at Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim to an overflow crowd. I was one of the few men present who was not wearing a white shirt, jacket, or hat.

This past week, I again heard Rabbi Weiss speak. This time, it was at the Young Israel of Hillcrest. He also spoke to an overflow crowd. The crowd was much more modern than the crowd at Chofetz Chaim. My mode of dress fit in with this crowd. Rabbi Weiss was treated with great respect at both locations. The common theme was the importance of Torah, including Torah learning.

Rabbi Weiss was able to reach diverse groups within the Orthodox Jewish community that do not always see eye to eye. Additionally, the two communities’ desire to see him and the respect they gave him give me hope. Maybe this will be the year when our Jewish community does not have to suffer the pain of antisemitism to bring us together. Instead, we will put aside our differences and unite as one people.

If that happens, not only will antisemitism cease to exist, but we will merit the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, which no one will dispute is our right to have.

Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.