The dark corner of the Washington, DC metro station provided ample opportunity for the guy who spotted the kippah on my head. He wore a plaid shirt and had long, curly hair. "Free Palestine!" he shouted, moving toward me. I tensed up and ignored him at the same time. Luckily, he only carried on for a few more seconds before going on his way.
I've walked around dozens of cities across the globe while wearing a kippah, but this was the first time Jewish attire put me in danger and it's clear that what I experienced last month is simply another incident in a wave that can no longer be denied. American Jewry is under attack.
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Jews are being attacked with knives and guns, physically and verbally, in broad daylight or the dead of night. They are being assaulted in the streets, in their synagogues, and on social media. The virulent eruption is neither isolated nor local. On the East Coast, the West Coast and the vast spaces in between, Jews are in danger simply because they are Jews. This wasn't the case in America a decade ago, but is certainly the reality today. There's no point in pretending anymore.
The even worse news is that we're only at the start of the wave. The bell curve of Jewish existence in the Diaspora tells a clear story: We start at the bottom, reach an apex, and then plummet into an abyss of terrifying violence. Such was our history in Spain, Egypt, and England, in Poland and Russia, Portugal and Iraq, and more. After the golden period, comes the period of hatred. This is what's in store for our brothers and sisters in the United States. Such is the fate of the Jews, to which only Zionism has offered an alternative.
From a state of destitution and indigence in impoverished neighborhoods, the descendants of Jewish immigrants in the United States climbed the social ladder to inhabit a broad range of key positions – in politics, media, business, culture, and technology. It is at this point, history tells us, that hatred begins to foment. This hatred permeated the intellectual elite in the US a long time ago, spread to the ground level and has carved out a niche in politics as well – due to the failure of Democratic leaders to clearly condemn anti-Semitism two years ago. These were the initial signs, which we all found convenient to ignore.
American Jews, and us with them, hoped this time would be different, that history wouldn't repeat itself. It is in this belief that they have marched in the footsteps of their forefathers. Then, too, they thought "this time will be different," that "after all we contributed to the host nation, it won't reject us," and that "the lessons of the past have been learned and therefore history won't repeat itself." Until, of course, reality provided its inevitable, sobering wake-up call.
The Jews in the United States, sadly, are sitting on the precipice of a volcano. The initial upsurge of lava is bubbling, signaling the massive eruption sure to follow. Maybe this will happen in five years, maybe 50, perhaps in the form of a series of shootings or a wave of neighborhood riots; maybe in synagogues or Jewish community centers; maybe in schools or in the streets. American Jewry is in danger. The time has come for it and us to open our eyes and reach the appropriate conclusions.
