Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal posed what he described as a “softball question about recent hate incidents in our county” during the Dec. 1 legislative breakfast sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Shaare Torah congregation’s spiritual leader wanted to prompt Republican Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford to “get on record the requisite and important condemnation and perhaps some plans to respond.”

The rabbi did not get the response he expected.

While Rutherford did denounce the incidents and advocate that crimes be reported and prosecuted, he claimed not to “understand the source of this increase” in hate crimes and subsequently tweeted that he would “rather people show their true colors than hide.”

Democratic State Senator Cheryl Kagan noted that Blumenthal asked his question “calmly and earnestly, without the ‘gotcha’ attitude he could have adopted.” She was astounded by Rutherford’s comment that he was “perplexed by the sharp rise of hate” since the Trump campaign has “spewed” that kind of rhetoric for the past year.

“It was Rutherford’s cue to be a role model and a leader,” Kagan said. “He could have, and should have, condemned (the incidents), offered empathy to the victims, referred to the hate crime hotline (Maryland Attorney General) Brian Frosh set up.

“No answer would have been wrong, except the one he gave,” she continued. “Saying that he would rather see the true colors almost invites a resurgence of swastikas (and the like). I am confused and concerned at his choice in this divided, fractious and stressful time. Our leaders need to speak out and bring us together.”

Rutherford’s office further explained the lieutenant governor’s tweet in a statement to the media. “As someone who has personally experienced racial discrimination, the lieutenant governor was referencing the indisputable fact that, unfortunately, racism and race-related tensions have been issues facing our nation for hundreds of years, and he believes all Marylanders and Americans benefit when these issues can be discussed frankly in the public arena,” spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver-Churchill said.

Given the defacement of Shaare Torah’s building in April 2015 and the rise in hate vandalism in the county, including two incidents at Quince Orchard High School, since the election, Rabbi Blumenthal admitted to being particularly sensitive to expressions of racism and bigotry.

Rutherford’s “statement that it’s not new, that it’s part of our society, is certainly true,” the rabbi conceded, “but my concern is that the incidents have multiplied in recent weeks. The rhetoric of the election has contributed to this. Folks are being bullied more, and vulgarity has become part of legitimate speech.”

Blumenthal said that it is important that “government leaders here in Maryland acknowledge that while it is not new, it is more intense, and to make sure it is being addressed,” that they emphasize their “awareness that in this community, it is not legitimate, that such acts and speech are not tolerated” and that our government and police will respond to the full extent of the law. “The governor’s office did finally come out with a firm and unequivocal statement about such activity and speech,” he added.

Last year’s vandalism at Shaare Torah provided some useful information, Blumenthal said. “Part of what we discovered with the teens who defaced our synagogue was that they didn’t fully understand the significance of the symbols they used. When we took the time to explain, they were regretful.” What that means by extension, he pointed out, is that “we are not sending the messages we need to be sending. Our government needs to be more than crystal clear. They need to push back at the hate and not invite it.” School and police officials, he said, are “reacting appropriately, (affirming) that we are a community that cares.”

Rutherford “may mean well in saying that we have not really gotten past this kind of action and speech, but (he needs to say that) now is the time to redouble our efforts to push back against it,” Blumenthal said.

“We need to make these incidents the exception, not the rule,” the rabbi added. “We have made a lot of progress, but there’s still a lot more work to do.”