Understanding Antisemitism - Rabbi YY Jacobson

Summary

Rabbi YY Jacobson recounts an incident at a North Carolina university, where a secular Jewish professor confronted an anti-Israel demonstration, accusing protesters of speaking like Nazis and celebrating the murder of Jewish children. After police escorted him away, a student brought him flowers to thank him for standing up for truth, humanity, and decency. When he guessed she was Jewish, she said she was not, but believed the Jewish people were “the chosen people”—a belief the professor himself did not share.

Jacobson then offers a spiritual interpretation of antisemitism. Invoking the idea that one can learn about a people from those who hate them, he argues that the hatred of figures and groups such as Pharaoh, Stalin, Hitler, and Hamas reflects the Jewish people’s perceived opposition to evil. He presents Jewish identity as embodying goodness, holiness, morality, compassion, and love, and urges listeners to take pride in that identity even amid darkness.

Presenter

Rabbi YY Jacobson