Today’s fear of being identified as Jewish

It was in 1932 that the Nazi party became the largest in the German parliament. By 1933, German Jews were already feeling threatened by what they sensed was coming. Here we are, some 90 years later and, although shocking, Germany is warning its Jewish population to be careful not to outwardly identify as Jewish.

Despite the massive distance of more than 2,600 miles between Germany and Israel, the estimated 100,000 residents of the Jewish community who live there are, nonetheless, personalizing the recent Hamas terror attack which brutally and savagely killed more than 1,300 Jews, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since those days in the 1930s and 40s when six million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis.

It is, perhaps, because of those traumatizing events that still haunt the country that “Jewish institutions have reinforced security with police guards and protective fences.” In fact, according to a spokesperson for Berlin’s Jewish community organizations, increased security has been in place for some time. However, given what is presently happening in Israel, there is an even greater sense of vulnerability in the country whose history will always be stained with the same hatred and vilification of the Jewish people who were targeted for annihilation in that very place.

There is now said to be a “retriggering” of the deep-rooted antisemitism that is being felt by Jews currently residing in Germany, and this fear is especially felt by parents who are genuinely worried about the safety of their children despite security measures being put into place, feeling such measure are not sufficient.  

Just this past Monday, Jews in Berlin “were warned not to express their faith publicly. Anti-Israel sentiment in the city recently led one Berlin official to reluctantly suggest Jewish residents hide their faith in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Integration Commissioner Güner Balci said, "I would not advise anybody to make their Jewish faith visible…those who wear the kippa already faced the prospect of being spat on or insulted in quieter times.”

This is not exclusively a German phenomenon. Fox News contributor, Piers Morgan also went on to “criticize protests across the globe, including demonstrations in Australia where people led a chant calling for Jews to be gassed.” Morgan also mentioned huge protests in London, where he lives. 

In fact, similar demonstrations have taken place in countless U.S. cities, throughout much of Europe and continue to spread rapidly worldwide, causing many Jews to feel the need to “blend in” more with the general public than stick out in a way that identifies them as Jews, whether that means foregoing a Star of David necklace, a kippah (skullcap) or the knotted fringes worn by the Orthodox known as “tzitzit.”

So, it wasn’t surprising to hear a friend tell me that her own daughter, who lives in Wisconsin, has chosen to remove the mezuzah (piece of parchment inscribed with Hebrew verses from the Torah, encased in a wooden or metal holder, affixed to a doorpost) from her door, being a sure indicator that those residing in the house are Jews. Another daughter, a prominent doctor in the same city, is considering changing her Jewish-sounding last name for fear of repercussions.

Once this kind of fear takes hold, causing Jews to live in a state of anxiety over the way they look, how they dress or the name they bear, there is no doubt that a new reality has taken hold, one which, in order to feel safe, must endeavor to hide the ethnicity or expression of that ethnicity so that others will not be aware of the true identity of one’s birth. 

Have we learned nothing from the past? Are we doomed to repeat the same tragedies of our shameful history?  

When considering the fact that “sixteen European countries, along with Canada and Israel have laws against Holocaust denial,” it’s mind-boggling to comprehend how this growing trend of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment has taken hold in so many countries that, until recently. were mostly supportive of the Jewish homeland.

Many blame academia for having become a breeding ground for this type of toxic indoctrination which disseminates a very one-sided, pernicious portrayal of Palestinian victimhood based on lies and misinformation, which attribute Israel to colonizing Arab land and practicing apartheid of its non-Jewish population. 

Young people are easy prey to such vicious propaganda, because it fits the oppressor/victim narrative to which they gravitate, believing that it exists in just about every form of society. Rather than researching the real facts, they adopt the common talking points but are never equipped to substantiate any of their claims shouted during protests. Typically, they are only able to respond with a venomous hatred that no one can rationally confront.

The result is an angry mob, in lockstep vilification of the nation of Israel and the Jews who reside there. Even Jews outside the land, who may have no connection to the Jewish state, are, nevertheless, viewed as guilty by association. Thus, publicly connecting one’s self to the Jewish people, makes one a target. The consequence is that this type of fear will end up resulting in Jews feeling they must hide their identity, denying who they are in order to ensure their safety. But is that any way to live?

One of the main reasons for the establishment of the Jewish state was to be able to proudly and freely exist as the people whom God chose to be a light among the nations. Light is not useful when it is hidden, because the idea is that it is meant to provide a clear sight path from which all benefit. To extinguish that light is to live in utter darkness where nothing is illuminated or visible – a true definition of the blackest of voids and emptiness.

Is it not a true metaphor that Hamas, their supporters and the proponents of terrorism represent the unenlightened world, which is seeking to douse the bright light that Israel has sought to become over its 75-year existence by its efforts to help and advance the cause of all mankind through every means possible? 

It is, therefore, that identification, which has become so threatening to an ever-increasing pervasive evil that has infected the human race and caused Jews to fear the same intimidation their ancestors felt just 90 years ago.

It is also the reason Israel MUST win this war, because, without a doubt, she will remain the one place, on the face of the earth, where a Jew will be able to identify as a Jew without fear or shame!