Threats, hate against Jews on the rise via social media
After a man armed with an automatic weapon gunned down 11 Jews during a worship service in Pittsburgh in 2018, Temple Israel in Gary joined other synagogues across the country in ratcheting up security.
“We started having a security officer at services and at every event,” said longtime member Lisa Giglio. “Our neighbors are also very attentive.”
She said the synagogue also upgraded its electronic security system.
Reports said the Pittsburgh killer followed far right antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews and made antisemitic posts of his own on social media.
He was armed with an AR-15
semi-automatic rifle and three semi-automatic pistols.
The Tree of Life bloodshed has been followed a frightening
pattern of increased threats and violence against Jews and other targeted groups including Blacks at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket to
Saturday’s killing of five people at a gay club in Colorado.
In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 34% increase of incidents over 2020 and the highest number on record since the ADL began tracking them in 1979. The incidents included assault, harassment and vandalism.
“It’s fair to say the last five to six years have been unlike any other in probably a generation,” said David Goldenberg, regional director of the ADL in Chicago.
“When we think of the rise of hate and antisemitism we’re seeing it manifest itself in a number of ways, not only targeting members of the Jewish community, but across the board in marginalized communities.”
Recently Black entertainer
Kanye West, who now calls himself Ye, posted ugly antisemitic comments and NBA star Kyrie Irving endorsed a film full of antisemitic conspiracy theories such as the Holocaust was a hoax.
“When you’re a leader or an influencer, you have a responsibility to make sure the information you’re spreading is factual,” said Goldenberg. “It’s an incredibly harmful movie,” he said of the film Irving cited on Twitter.
Goldenberg said acts by some politicians in recent years have increased the climate of hate, seemingly offering tacit approval for actions against marginalized groups.
In Valparaiso earlier this year, officials responded after receiving a report about a Jewish student being bullied by another student who made antisemitic comments.
Rabbi Shoshana Feferman of Temple Israel of Porter County and her husband, Bob Feferman, community relations director for the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph County in South Bend, met with Valparaiso High officials after the incident.
“The school handled it very professionally,” said Bob Feferman who said he and his wife met with the principal and the parents.
“The Valparaiso school system does an excellent job on holistic education that presents all kinds of bigotry including antisemitism,” said Bob Feferman.
Like the Gary synagogue, the Temple of Israel of Porter County also has a police officer on duty during worship services and events.
Shoshana Feferman communicates regularly with other clergy in Valparaiso to monitor any threats or incidents.
The ADL tracks antisemitic incidents on state-bystate “heat map,” available on its website. In the past two years, it reported an incident of bullying at a Valparaiso school and an act of vandalism in Hobart. In the second case, someone tossed a recycling bin at a window of a home, whose owner flew the Israeli flag.
Bob Feferman blamed the proliferation of hate rhetoric in the online universe.
“Look at the shooting in Pittsburgh, the shooter was totally brainwashed by these conspiracy theories from the Internet and that’s a big problem,” he said.
“People with mental and emotional problems to begin with are easily influenced …”
He said they try to combat hate with kindness.
Every year, the congregation collects money and buys coats and winter clothing for kids in elementary and middle schools in Valparaiso. This year, they added water bottles.
“You just have to show love and understanding,” said Shoshana Feferman. “We gather and we pray for peace and coexistence. You just have to show the good side of you to let people know you’re not harming them and they shouldn’t harm you.”
Bob Feferman said Holocaust education is also important. “Hopefully, it will immunize children to hateful things they can find on the Internet.”
Goldenberg said when hate is spread, others can respond with information and facts.
“Everybody just has to take a deep breath and work together to combat it. When you have political races where it feels like it’s a race to the bottom and the vitriol gets it more attention and clicks, you know you have a significant issue.”