Dayenu in a time of rising antisemitism
How many positive incidents should members of our Jewish community experience in order for us to feel that there are “enough”?
Dayenu — it would have been enough.
How many times have members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community used this phrase outside of Passover since 2017? How much pain and suffering can we endure?
The Charlotteville Unite The Right rally in 2017
The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018
Antisemitic shootings in Poway, Jersey City, and Los Angeles in 2019 and 2023
The war in Gaza and Israel beginning in 2023
The ongoing rise in antisemitism over the past decade
The arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s resident this past weekend
It often feels that the world is getting darker, more hopeless and increasingly dangerous. Especially for Jews.
Even though members of our Pittsburgh Jewish community were not directly attacked in all of these incidents, it can feel as if we were. The global Jewish community is small, the American Jewish community is even smaller, and the Pittsburgh Jewish community can seem like an extended family.
Statistics support the idea that such events are happening more frequently. Antisemitic attacks in the United States have increased nearly 900% since 2014, according to the Anti-Defamation League. What does this mean? Imagine if food prices were to increase 900%. It’s an increase that feels almost catastrophic.
Gen-X Jews like me grew up believing that antisemitism was a horrifying disease that had been largely controlled. The Holocaust was over. The quotas on Jewish immigrants were over. Jews were no longer restricted from going to hotels, universities and clubs (at least not openly). Sure, antisemitic activity took place from time to time, but so did anti-Black, anti-woman and anti-gay behaviors. Society was gradually moving beyond antiquated prejudices. Or so we thought.
The past decade, and especially the past several years, has clearly shown how wrong we were. We have witnessed the intense cruelty that one person can inflict on another when given fertile ground and when a climate of hate is stoked. And this hasn’t only been seen in a rise in antisemitism. Hate crimes in general have doubled in our country during the same time period.
How do we cope with this new reality without sinking into despair?
We have long known that hopelessness and helplessness are not only common symptoms of depression but that their mitigation can actually ease emotional distress.
Hopelessness. Creating hope for the future involves a change in focus. Think about what you can do for yourself and your family to have a better future. Consider what your community needs in order to grow and thrive. Focus on people who are expressing their talent, their skills, their passion and their commitment to making the world a better place. These could be family members, friends or even members of our local government.
Helplessness. We all have the ability to take small steps to improve our community and our future. Write an email to an elected official. Participate in a rally. Show kindness toward an immigrant business owner. Volunteer in your synagogue. Most importantly, talk about the good that you are doing so that others can join in and create a critical mass of people who are determined to rise above cynicism and divisions.
The list of incidents at the beginning of this article was upsetting. But there is also another side to Dayenu: How many positive incidents should members of our Jewish community experience in order for us to feel that there are “enough”? The truth is that we have more support than we may realize. The non-Jewish friends who check in on us. The non-Jewish organizations that support our community. The non-Jewish politicians who stand with us.
Anne Frank said, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Even in the midst of shock and horror, we can still find goodwill and compassion. To do so, though, we need to pay attention differently. It’s often easier to take note of the negative than the positive, but both are equally real. We should focus on the people we know and care about as well as the strangers who treat us with kindness. We should engage all of them in hopeful conversations about what we want to accomplish. We should walk with them, sometimes leading and sometimes following, as we work together to create the future we desire. PJC
Jordan Golin is the president and CEO of JFCS Pittsburgh.
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