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Last week we ran an editorial about the rise of anti-Semitism in this country and overseas, lamenting that a sense of fear had descended over Jewish people all over the world as they began the annual celebration of Hanukkah.
That editorial listed several of the most high-profile outrages in recent years — including the Oct. 27. 2018 massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue, as well as this month’s fatal attack at a Jersey City, N.J. supermarket — adding that the incidents have been “too many to count.”
In the past week, according to the Associated Press, the numbers spiked again.
Since the Dec. 10 massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey there have been 19 anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., including 16 in New York and New Jersey, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s Tracker of Anti-Semitic Incidents.
Most concerning, the AP noted: Ten of those incidents have occurred in New York since Dec. 23 and involved assaults or threatened violence. The ADL defines assaults as incidents where people’s bodies are targeted with violence accompanied by evidence of anti-Semitic animus or in a manner that attacks Jews for their religious affiliation.
To put those numbers in context, the New York Police Department recorded 19 hate-crime felony assault complaints in the first three quarters of 2019, the AP added.
Then, on Saturday night, another senseless tragedy: A suspect walked into the Monsey, N.Y. home of a rabbi celebrating Hanukkah and stabbed five celebrants.
Evan R. Bernstein, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey, told the AP that while there are no studies to fully explain why the incidents are occurring, he believes part of the issue is changing neighborhood demographics and stereotypes about Jews. He said there is a lack of understanding of who the Hassidic groups are as they expand in communities in the region.
The reform and conservative Jews of past decades seemed more socially integrated into the neighborhoods while the more orthodox groups are more insular, he said.
“They just want to practice their religion in American society but they aren’t as overtly social as other Jewish groups were. That’s not a reason for a group to be marginalized, assaulted or attacked on social media. They have every reason to practice their religion the way they want to practice. They shouldn’t have to change,” Bernstein said.
No, but that clearly isn’t a complete explanation, either.
The Pittsburgh synagogue attacked in 2018 has been part of its neighborhood for decades, and the 11 people killed were mostly elderly congregants, most of whom were well known and loved in their communities.
Their alleged shooter is a middle-aged white man believed to have been motivated by the belief that Jews have been committing genocide against whites.
In Jersey City, meanwhile, the main shooter was a middle-aged black man with ties to the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group that believes themselves to be the true descendants of the ancient Israelites, calling Jews impostors. He also had a criminal past, including weapons and domestic violence charges.
We are still learning about the man accused of Saturday night’s machete attack at the Hanukkah party, though some friends and relatives told the New York Post on Sunday that he is not a terrorist, rather mentally ill and a victim of isolation and delusions.
If true, that is little comfort to the people injured in the attack. The apparent common denominator with Pittsburgh and Jersey City? Hatred of Jews, whether prompted by ideology or an uncontrolled mental health condition.
Lest we forget, however, attacks on worshippers have become all too common, and not just on Jews.
Sunday also brought another deadly assault on people practicing their faith: Congregants returned fire and fatally shot a gunman who killed at least one person in a church near Fort Worth, the AP reported. Initial reports suggested the attack was random.
And in March of this year, at least 50 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by an alleged attacker believed to have been driven by far-right white supremacist ideology.
It is hard to have confidence in the future and embrace the coming of a new year as we remain in the midst of an obvious upsurge in hate crimes here and overseas, often directed at people based on their faith as they seek to worship in peace.
If there is a silver lining locally, it has been the multi-faith effort among Christian, Jewish and Islamic congregations in Luzerne County to embrace one another and denounce such attacks.
The tragedy is how many times in recent years they have had to repeat that call to love and civility.
— Times Leader