Not in our name

It’s fascinating to witness the influence that Oct. 7 and its aftermath has had on Jews worldwide. For the resounding majority, there was a positive side effect of the horrendous event: Most Jews dug into their Jewishness, uplifting and prioritizing their identity, celebrating customs more than before, increasing their community involvement. Some who had never quite embraced being Jewish rediscovered their heritage and their history. So many communities fortified and grew in both size and resolution.

But there is another side that also grew.

I know why they do it. Spending years in feminist circles — coming into contact with scores of handmaidens groveling to men for favor, despite it being against their better interests — it’s easy to understand why self-hating individuals defect and look to the other side. It is a survival mechanism as old as time and as vast as the globe, and Jews are by no means immune to the phenomenon. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating or disheartening to witness, however, especially in times of such tragedy.

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The recent vandalism in Pittsburgh — including graffiti declaring “Jews 4 Palestine” — purportedly done in the name of Jews, is unfortunately just another escalation in the sinister trend of Western Jews seeking higher standing with demographics who fundamentally oppose them. Everyone has heard of the quintessential self-hating Jew, but it takes a special kind of self-deprecation to display such willingness to be used as a pawn, just to earn a seat at the table. Further, it demonstrates a genuine and deeply rooted self-loathing to not only abandon one’s community in a dire time of need, but actively work against it.

We all know the usual suspects of this behavior: Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, for example. Of course, the irony is that these groups are not exactly Jewish — and I don’t just mean in terms of their values and goals, and their promotion of antisemites, ranging from casual bigots to actual terrorists. Not only is it unnecessary to be Jewish to join their movements, it is no secret that even some of their leaders are not Jews, but are Christians and Muslims. That doesn’t change the unfortunate fact that Jewish members exist within these groups and are more than willing to tokenize themselves. And in return, the organizations are happy to exploit and promote such tokenism as the truth of Jews worldwide.

That is the real issue at hand, and the recent local vandalism serves as a sickeningly appropriate metaphor for this underlying goal: Though we have no idea if the perpetrators are actually Jews, it hardly matters, as the intention to send this message using our name produces the same detrimental effect on the rest of the world.

The main goal of these organizations is to cloud, confuse and create a general murkiness regarding the values and stances of Jews for an ignorant global audience that is all too susceptible to antisemitic beliefs. As long as there’s the appearance that enough Jews support anti-Zionism, it is then legitimized as a true Jewish stance — therefore not antisemitic — and much easier to spread among non-Jews. Simultaneously, this also delegitimizes the normality and morality of Zionism, and as a result, the overwhelming majority of Jews.

This effort is part of a larger attempt to sever Jews from Zionism and Judaism from Israel in order to validate today’s version of antisemitism. Achieving this disconnect is essential, as it makes this brand of bigotry more marketable, actual violence not only palatable but genuinely necessary, and the overall goal of Jewish dehumanization absolutely acceptable.

But what a doomed mission from the start — and I do mean the literal start, since Jews are tied to Israel from the beginning of our existence and no number of mediocre attempts at revisionism will change our objective history. And as with other attempts in our past, history will not look favorably on those who desire to distort it.

In all times, but especially now, we are fortunate to have and be a part of such a resilient local community of Jews that always provides necessary and genuine support during trying times. Even when it is apparent that not everyone in our city may be stronger than hate, it is absolutely clear that our community is. This blessing makes it all the more incredulous that anyone would ever want to self-exclude and leave such a treasure behind in exchange for pithy, fleeting validation from those who would drop them at any hint of faltering allegiance to antisemitism.

Then again, perhaps it isn’t all that difficult to exclude oneself from personal community when already choosing to exclude oneself from reality and morality as well.

Inevitably, these individuals’ temporary use as self-harming soldiers will expire, and they will become just as Jewish to their supposed comrades as the rest of us unsavory ones. I do hope that one day before then they will find their way back to reality, back home and back to themselves as others eventually have, no longer needing the validation of those who despise their unmasked true selves. Hopefully that day is sooner rather than later, if only for the fact that having such a flimsy spine must be hell supporting those trembling knees.

But until such a time comes, it must be made clear that those who have forfeited Jewish history and values have also forfeited the right to ever speak for us, or the privilege to participate in our vibrant community and inherently Zionist traditions. And though they may still technically be Jews in name, despite all their efforts to the contrary, nothing they say or do will ever be in our name. PJC

Sarah Kendis is a musician living in Pittsburgh.