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Let us all reflect on all the hate and violence in our country and around our world as thousands gathered on Sunday in NYC and other places in solidarity against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. The years 2018 and 2019 saw the worst anti-Semitic attacks in American history. So many people of diverse religious, racial, ethnic and gender identities continue to be objects of extreme hatred, as well. We now see attacks on houses of worship of all types; innocent people gathered of all ages and backgrounds becoming victims of violent hatred; all growing out of the normalization of othering and xenophobia.

We need to pressure the media to make the proliferation of anti-Semitism, racism, and all forms of hateful speech and violence the top story and emphasize that this growing expression of hatred must not be accepted as a new normal.

Of greatest concern is that too many people are becoming accustomed to this reality as “baked in.” Or some think it is still limited to the fringes. Or worse, there are those who are driven by fear and buy into the deepening malignant narrative that promotes a vigilant “us versus them” worldview. We cannot let the voices of division control the conversation and promote fear to cause more division. We cannot allow divisiveness to become normal. The voices of unity must be louder and more forceful than those that proffer hate.

As we see extremists becoming more bold, our response must not be to lower our expectations or increase our level of tolerance of abject hatred. We must not allow ourselves to believe from our own local perspectives that hateful violence that happens somewhere else is not our problem or doesn’t impact us. It does.

We must not thicken our skin, or turn our eyes away. We must not adapt and accept this growing hatred as a new normal. We must unify and stand up and speak up against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. And we must legislate anti-domestic terrorism laws at every level of government and enforce them.

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Many of us look to history and know that when a society adapts to the normalization of hate and violence, it marks the beginning of the deterioration of democracy and civil society. It has led to unthinkable polarization and then demonization of others, all too often ending in genocide.

We must not adapt to anti-Semitism and hate. We must fight back with vigilant love and decisive, inclusive communal solidarity. We must not fight back against this growing reality from within our own silos of identity, but through standing together as one body politic. The time to stand together is now. We in the Jewish community stand together with all victims of prejudice, hate, racism and anti-Semitism. We are one, standing together against all forms of hate.

According to author and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”