I am not an alarmist on the topic. I understand the statistics well: there has been a significant uptick in antisemitic attacks over the past several years (thank you, Donald Trump), and this is a matter of serious concern. But I have seen other statistics as well. They show (see the recent ADL study) that about 20% of the American public consists of people who harbor significant misgivings about Jews. But they also show that this is not a recent increase. For some years, 20% of the American public has been in this category.

During the first half of the twentieth century, a larger percentage of Americans undoubtedly were antisemitic, and they showed it. Not only in ways that are seen today, but in deed restrictions that did not permit Jews to buy properties in a large segment of American cities, in the creation of country clubs for Christians only, in hotels and other establishments that would not allow Jews to enter, in corporations and law firms and the like who would not hire Jews, in universities with strict quotas on Jewish students and Jewish faculty. None of these problems exist today and, in fact, polls show that the vast majority of Americans respect Jews (presumably for their accomplishments and contributions to society), and certainly many (perhaps, most) don’t mind if their children marry Jews, or if their grandchildren are brought up Jewish. I have seen statistics showing that more people convert into Judaism (as hard as that sometimes is) than convert from Judaism. This was certainly not the case one hundred years ago.

Yes, we may not have these earlier problems, but we have others. Right wing crazies (I know no other way to describe them) have been given free rein by virtue of Donald Trump’s presidency to come out of the closet, and many of these right wing crazies are anti-everything, including antisemitic. Our social media enable antisemitic messages to be spread widely and quickly, something that was not true even twenty years ago. And finally, our love affair with the Supreme Court’s erroneous understanding of the Second Amendment, and with the guns it permits, have enabled the right wing crazies to have weaponry at their disposal that would not have been dreamed of, say, fifty years ago. So, yes, we have problems.

But I know so many Jews who think that Auschwitz is just around the corner. What they don’t realize (or what they don’t find significant) is that every place (I think, every place) where Jews have been significantly adversely dealt with, the antisemitic elements of that society have been ignored by, and often encouraged by, the government. It was the Soviet government which was attempting to abolish Judaism and all other religions, it was the governments of the Muslim states which began to crack down on their Jewish populations in the 1940s. It was certainly Hitler and the Nazis who encouraged the German people, and the conquered European peoples, to act against the Jews (even to the point of exterminating them) in Europe between 1933 and 1945. Up until now, even during the Trump years, I see no element of American government (federal, state, local) acting at all in this regard, and I don’t see any sign that this will be the case in the future. If these signs develop, and can’t be taken care of quickly, my mind on this topic will change just as quickly. But I would be very surprised if this happens.

Now, think about the 20% of the American populace that might fit a definition of antisemitic. How many of them are going to pick up a gun and shoot at a synagogue or a Jewish day school? Very few, and hopefully they can be dealt with. And for the remainder of the 20%, their antisemitism will probably waft and wane. This is not surprising. A lot of people are prejudiced against groups other than Jews – against Blacks for sure, and Latinos, and French, and Indian, and Muslim, and disabled, etc., etc. We can’t expect everyone to love, like or want to spend their time with Jews. But we can expect them to obey the law. So the fact that 20% of the country have negative feelings about Jews doesn’t really bother me that much.

One more point: Israel. I am one who believes that Jews should not generally take anti-Israel sentiments as being antisemitic. For some critics, obviously, they may be one and the same. But it certainly ain’t necessarily so. But it becomes complicated because, on both sides, some of the people some of the time want to combine them. Israel has declared itself “a Jewish state”, even though it is 20% non-Jewish and has a declaration of independence guaranteeing equality among all citizens; in the minds of Israeli leaders, it is sometimes helpful to equate anti-Israel and antisemitic thoughts – they think it rallies the diaspora Jews. And perhaps it does. And the pro-Palestinian elements on American campuses certainly like to equate the two. How else will they stay in the news? And staying in the news is essential if they want to get their geopolitical message across?

I should add that I, in my 80 years, have never experienced personal antisemitism. Anywhere (or if I have, I didn’t recognize it as such). I understand that this lack of personal experience influences my overall thoughts on the subject, and I have no problem with that. Perhaps, if I had experienced the Holocaust in my family, or if I had been run out of an Arab country, and so forth, I would think differently. I recognize that. But if my beliefs on this overall subject were all or in part the result negative personal experiences, and were different from what I think now……that does not mean that I would be correct in those beliefs.

Anyway…..that is what I think.