Rabbi Russell G. Jayne | Thursday, November 3, 2022
At a recent National Jewish Retreat, Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, author of the book Anti-Semitism: Here and Now, told the old joke about the Jew and the Chinese man who were drinking together in a pub. After a few drinks, the Jew shoved the Chinese man, knocking him off his bar stool.
“What was that for?” asked the Chinese man.
“That was for Pearl Harbor,” the Jew said.
“Pearl Harbor? That was the Japanese, not the Chinese!”
“Japanese, Chinese, what’s the difference?”
A few drinks later, the Chinese man shoved the Jew, knocking him off his bar stool.
“What was that for?” asked the Jew.
“That was for the Titanic,” said the Chinese man.
“The Titanic? The Titanic was hit by an iceberg!”
“Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference?”
Professor Lipstadt explained that this joke demonstrates the absurdity of anti-Semitism. “Iceberg, Goldberg.” It’s cute, but it makes no sense, because anti-Semitism makes no sense. There is no rational explanation for anti-Semitism—and since there is no rational reason for it, there can be no rational solutions either.
Historically, there have been two classical responses to anti-Semitism. The first was assimilation, and the other was embracing Jewishness, including its historical uniqueness and its place among the family of nations. So, what should our response be as we see, week after week, this monster continue to rear its ugly head ever more vehemently?
Most of our complaining about anti-Semitism just causes frustration. So let’s focus instead on being proud Jews. Let’s focus less on the evils of the world and work together to infuse more of our values, our goodness, and our kindness into the world. Of course, we need to lobby governments to outlaw expressions of anti-Semitism and we need to support organizations that will defend our civil rights. Nonetheless, for most of us, the best way to fight the darkness is to shine a light. The most effective way to combat evil is by spreading goodness.
Rabbi Abraham Kook, the chief rabbi of British Mandate Palestine, once said, “The righteous do not complain of the dark; rather, they work to increase the light. They do not complain of evil, but they increase justice, and they do not complain of ignorance, rather, they increase wisdom”.
So let’s add one more light, one more hour of Torah study, and one more mitzvah. Let us spread the light of Judaism and work together to usher in an age where goodness, kindness, mercy, and light will reign supreme.