We are presently in the month of Adar, and boruch Hashem, we are seeing wonderful developments on the battlefield. The fact that a United States president has finally done what so many of his predecessors said in the past they would do, but didn’t, is very gratifying. The joint undertaking by the Israelis and the Americans to finally topple the vicious, bloodthirsty regime in Iran has, by all accounts, been going extremely well. So we should be happy, no?

After all, America and Israel now have complete air superiority over Iran. Iran is cowering in fear of attack. It would appear that it’s just a matter of time until the regime falls. Why, then, does this writer have a sense of foreboding, a sense that something is not right?

The reason, my dear readers, is that although there is a Chazal that states, “Eisav soneh l’Yaakov — Eisav hates Yaakov,” which we all believe to be 100 percent true, nevertheless, despite having always been exposed to some degree of Jew-hatred, we have never, ever, experienced what we are experiencing today. Let me explain.

The Resurfacing of the Old Canard

In a society where Jews are successful—and even in those where Jews are not as successful—there is going to be an underlying resentment toward the Jews. There has long been a sentiment among non-Jews, going back centuries, that “If the Jew is successful, it must be coming at the expense of the poor non-Jew.” As if there were a pie, and if someone takes a bigger portion of the pie, others are left with smaller portions. Economists, however, claim that this is not true. The more money that goes to people, the more it benefits anyone who is part of the economy. That being said, Jews have always been viewed through the lens referenced above throughout the golus.

What we are seeing today in America is completely different, and on a completely different scale. The “Jews, Israel, Bibi…”—whatever you want to call them—are completely to blame for every ill that plagues American society today. They are portrayed as the puppet masters who are controlling even our president, Donald Trump. Somehow, Bibi and the Israelis have cast a spell over him and forced him to go to war on their behalf, even though it’s a war that is going to kill our boys and destroy our economy.

Now, over the past seventy years, perhaps canards such as this were found in dark corners of the press, but they were far removed from the mainstream. Moreover, any mainstream political figure who would even insinuate such a thing would have to resign and say goodbye to his political career.

The New Mainstream Accusations

Today, it is not just the fringe elements of the left and right saying it. It has entered the mainstream, meaning that even the frontrunners for the next Democratic presidential nomination are unabashedly and unashamedly saying things like this, traveling in the swamp of the worst anti-Semitic libels. And not only are they getting away with it, but they are being lauded and applauded.

These charges—that the Jews control the world, that the Jews control everyone and do everything only for their own economic good, even though it will harm the entire world—are being broadcast daily on television networks and over the internet.

We are talking about mainstream channels, such as MS Now, CBS, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and many others who have audiences in the millions, perhaps even tens of millions.

It has become a normal thing today to debate whether the problems that America faces are the fault of the Jews, and whether this is a “Jew war” or an American war. This kind of open anti-Semitism in the United States of America has not existed since the Holocaust. Nothing even comes close.

From the Lead Democratic Presidential Hopeful…

Firstly, there is Gavin Newsom, governor of California, the largest and most populous state in the union. He is arguably the Democratic lead candidate for the next president of the United States. In an interview last week, Newsom blamed the United States’ entry into the war on Israel, saying that it is not in America’s interest to be in the war and that Bibi Netanyahu convinced Trump to enter it. He said that we should reconsider our relationship with Israel as a result of the war. He labeled Israel “an apartheid state” because of the way it treats Arabs.

Let’s quote Newsom, just to see how bad things have become: “To say this [war is] in America’s interest at a time when affordability is at crisis levels, where you have an administration that literally got elected saying this is exactly opposite of what they would ever consider doing, the fact that we are in this regional war [with] all these proxies, all the grift and the corruption that also marks a huge part of this, that’s a real conversation we need to have.”

Speaking further about Netanyahu, Newsom said that he believes that Netanyahu’s latest attacks on Iran may be motivated by domestic issues in Israel.

“He’s trying to stay out of jail. He’s got an election coming up. He’s potentially on the ropes. He’s got folks on the hardline that want to annex the West Bank. [Thomas] Friedman and others are talking about it appropriately, [as] sort of an apartheid state,” Newsom said.

The Snake Called Friedman

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, is the biggest snake of them all. He begins his column by describing how terrible Iran is and how it’s good that the Ayatollah is dead, but he uses that only to pivot and say that the real problem in the region is — drumroll — Binyomin Netanyahu. Yes, Netanyahu is the boogeyman who, together with Trump, is causing all the problems in the world. Well, if Friedman, who is Jewish, places the blame for the war and all the world’s problems on Netanyahu, certainly everybody else can.

And then there is, of course, Tucker Carlson, who claimed on his podcast—viewed by millions—that it is Chabad that has somehow managed to control both Trump and Netanyahu, and that it was at their behest, “in order to liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque and build the Third Temple,” that this religious war against the Muslims is being waged at the expense of American blood and treasure.

This kind of talk has now gone mainstream in America.

The Only Defenders: Jews Themselves

Even worse, one would think that when such libelous claims are presented, there would be some who would defend the Jews and call out the libelous statements for what they are. Sadly to say, the only defenders of the Jews in any significant way have been Jews themselves.

Right-wing media personalities such as Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin have been the only ones putting up any real defense for the Jews. Even the networks that did not engage in the actual libelous slander have not stood up in any significant way to defend or protect the Jews. (Credit must also be given to Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has been the only sane Democratic voice on this and so many other important matters relevant to Israel.)

Where does that leave us for the future?

Yes, boruch Hashem, there have been amazing victories on the battlefield, even miraculous ones. Nevertheless, as a nation, I think we must start preparing ourselves and our children for a new tekufah in the history of the Jewish people in America. We are living now through a period that in many ways resembles the Middle Ages. The canard, no matter how bizarre, will be accepted as true, and the world will suffer terribly and perilously as a result.

It is difficult to see how we can put this genie back in the bottle once it has exploded in such a public, open, and stark way.

Rodeif or Nirdof?

I don’t know if there is a definitive answer to that question, but let me share a thought with you that Rav Elchonon Wasserman brings in Kovetz Ma’amarim. Rav Elchonon asks: How is it possible that we were able to survive the golus for so long? There were certainly times when our behavior should have brought the middas hadin upon us and we should have been destroyed. He explains that what has saved us was the fact that we were always nirdofim, pursued and persecuted by the nations of the world. Hashem always stands up for the nirdof. Thus, even when the middas hadin may have been correct and would have required our destruction, the fact that we were nirdofim aroused Hashem’s mercy upon us, and that is how we have survived until now.

From here we see, Rav Elchonon says, that our entire kiyum, our existence, is actually because of the persecutions. Therefore, we should not seek to be rodfim, the pursuers.

Perhaps we can say that inasmuch as now the State of Israel has a strong army that is capable of being called “pursuers,” Hashem has aroused anti-Semitism and made it go mainstream in an unprecedented way since the Holocaust, here in America and throughout the world. In this way, we are still considered nirdofim.

So, What Do We Do?

I recently came across a story that might point us in the right direction.

Rav Mottel Meirentz was an elder Gerer chossid and mashgiach in a yeshiva. He related:

“I was once shmoozing with the elder chossid, Reb Leibel Kutner, when he began complaining about the chinuch of this generation.

“Reb Leibel told me about a yungerman who came to him very upset. This yungerman, whom we will call Berel, worked in the diamond industry and didn’t make a move without first seeking the advice of the Bais Yisroel. Berel gave maaser on all his earnings and gave a lot of tzedakah. In general, he was very subservient to halacha and tried to conduct himself the way a Yid is meant to conduct his life.

“Reb Leibel continued: ‘This Berel asked the rebbe, the Bais Yisroel, whether he should make a certain investment. He received the green light. Shortly after he invested his money, the diamond market crashed and he lost an astronomical amount of money.

“‘So he came to me to complain, saying, ‘How could this have happened to me? I did everything that I was supposed to do. I tried my best to always follow what I was told. And now I lost so much money! How could Hashem do this to me?’

“‘I replied that Hashem is hidden and we do not and cannot understand His ways, but we have to believe that whatever He does is really for our own good. Even with regard to Yaakov Avinu, the Torah in Parshas Vayeitzei tells us, ‘Vehinei anochi imoch ushemarticha b’chol asher teileich…ki lo e’ezovcha — Behold, I am with you; I will guard you wherever you go…for I will not forsake you.’ Hashem reassured Yaakov that He would be with him and would not forsake him. Yet, we don’t see that things went so well for Yaakov for a long time. From here we see that we don’t know what is good. Therefore, we should stop thinking about why Hashem did this. We should stop complaining, because, in truth, we have no idea what is really good for us.’

“Rav Leibel then told me that in his opinion, the very fact that a yungerman could be upset about such a thing was a result of the fact that ‘we are not educating the young generation the way we should. When a boy is in yeshiva and a girl is in school, they have to be prepared for the fact that difficulties may happen. They have to be educated to approach difficult times in accordance with the Torah.’

“Just like Rav Leibel, I also wondered how a yungerman like Berel could have taanos on Hashem because of a crash in the diamond industry. A while later, I was discussing this very incident with one of my sons, and he explained to me that this is not even a question. ‘You have to understand,’ he told me. ‘This Berel came to learn in Eretz Yisroel from chutz la’aretz. Any bochur who came from chutz la’aretz at that time could become close with the Bais Yisroel. The Bais Yisroel would constantly interest himself in their welfare. He would shmooze with them. This Berel was a bright young man, and learning was not difficult for him. He had wonderful chavrusos and never really faced any adversity in his life. When he finally faced a difficult nisayon, he did not have the keilim to deal with it because he never had to deal with difficulty before!’

“It is important,” Rav Meirentz concluded, “that rabbeim teach young people that difficulties will happen, and they must prepare their students on how to think when they do happen.”

It should never happen, but perhaps it is time for us to prepare ourselves for times when things do not go so well, when we feel like nirdofim…