Here’s a question: When is the scariest time of the year to be a Jew, given who currently resides in the White House? The answer, sadly, is Hanukkah, our most celebrated and sacred holiday of the year.

Now, it is no surprise–and certainly no coincidence–that Anti-Semitic hate crimes have risen nearly 200% since Trump first launched his presidential campaign off repugnant, hate-enabling rhetoric back in June of 2015. Not only has he baited racists and Nazis with dog whistles galore since then, such as targeting then-candidate and 2016 popular vote winner Hillary Clinton with a picture labeling her as corrupt featuring the prominent Jewish symbol The Star of David, but he has refused to take responsibility for any of his followers’ hate crimes–even going so far as to side with the Nazis at the Charlottesville, VA riots in 2017.

Two Years later, and it seems some things never change. With Hanukkah arriving in a little over a month, the Trump Administration has taken no action to curb the massive rise in Anti-Semitic hate crimes.

Indeed, neither Trump nor his team have responded to my and other concerned members of the Faith’s questions regarding what actions they are going to take these next few weeks against this “new red wave” of fascism and hate. Earlier this week, the AP reported that the US Department of Justice reported that the CIA reported that the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group for truth and equality, conducted an online survey and found disturbing evidence of Nazi trolls and web-terrorists seemingly organizing a “mass event” to be conducted during the holiday. The Trump administration has yet to respond to these facts either.

Living in what seems to be a repeat of the horrific 1930’s, my wife is scared to go outside these days, our boyfriend is now sheltering with us because his neighbor put up a “Keep America Great” sign on his lawn, and I have pulled my twins out of school for the time being. Unfortunately, we expect this sorry state of affairs to be the new “normal” until we get President Bernard Sanders in the White House, a true ally.

If you have any questions or wish to contact me, you can PM me on Discord, I am “VAC me IDC#8876”. Stay safe, and have a happy holiday–that is, if you can in these times.