Those who were able to attend the march in Washington, D.C., absorbed and digested more than they could have imagined. Throngs of people, some 290,000, plus leaders of our country with significant speeches, lifted up an historical message for our times. Perfectly planned in only days, it came just as social media and traditional media, alike, tilted predictably towards what Deborah Lipstadt called at the rally, “Jew hatred.” She didn’t use the word “antisemitism.” She used the words “Jew hatred,” because that’s what it is. Lipstadt, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, with the rank of Ambassador, said she had visited five foreign countries in recent weeks. Each time she spoke, she emphasized the sovereignty of Israel and the right to defend its borders. And each time she spoke of the inhumanity of antisemitism, Jew hatred, as a plague on civil society.

In the same vein, Bari Weiss, founder and editor of “The Free Press,” and former opinion writer and editor at the New York Times, spoke bravely and unequivocally before the Federalist Society. It was an odd invitation, she admitted to the audience, but what she had to say was well placed. In effect, Weiss made it clear that antisemitism is a bellwether of our democracy in America; where antisemitism rises and is allowed to thrive, democracy is in decline. The Federalists, conservative framers of America, were “our last defense,” she said. She urged them to hold on to the fabric of America that has made it a land of opportunity, freedom, and liberty; a place for Jews and other minorities to come for the promise that was America, to our Jewish ancestors, a “Goldene Medina,” a golden land.

Among the loudest and most repeated messages at the rally were calls for the release of the hostages and the destruction of the terrorist organization, Hamas. There is no justification for the brutal deaths committed by Hamas, and no justification for holding hostages, among them, women, children, and the elderly. That none of the Jew-haters has called for their release is also a bellwether of our world at war. How can anybody call themselves human and not call for the release of the hostages?  

For 290,000 at the rally in Washington D.C., and the thousands more who watched it online, they learned that they are not alone and that this time will be different. This is not 1930, but this is also not a time to sit by and let Jew-hatred consume our democracy. As we heard it, today, we must:

• Demand the release of the hostages
• Work for the end of Hamas’s rule in Gaza
• Support Israel in its recovery and healing
• Advocate for a political solution that provides freedom from despots that deny Palestinians a future of hope and prosperity, with reciprocal aims for peace with Israel
• Speak up and speak out

On this side of the world, many American Jews have wasted too much time uneducated about their Jewish history and Israel’s age-old hope “to be a free people in our Land” (words from HaTikvah). As it was said at the rally, “Am echad, b’lev echad!” we are one people with one heart. So I ask you, “What have you done to strengthen your Jewish identity?” and “Will your heart beat with other Jews’ hearts that quicken with the sounds of HaTikvah, Israel’s national anthem, or the brilliance of Jewish life, learning, and engagement?” Judaism is much more than a religion; it’s an eternal inheritance of culture, heritage, language, and hope. Cherish your birthright and be a strong link in a chain that has been threatened but not broken for more than 3500 years.

L’Shalom,