To Prepare our Children to be Knowledgeable Enough to Counter the Antisemitism They Will Be Exposed to in College, We Must Be Knowledgeable
Dr, Jack Frank Sigman, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, University of Arizona
Now that I have quit my day job in favor of being a remote research fellow at the University of Arizona while pursuing dual masters degrees, one in antisemitism, the other in human rights, I am able to attend many more events in Denver dealing with the aforementioned two plus those dealing with Zionism and Israel.
On April 7th I attended an Aish Ha’am evening event featuring Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard Seminary School alumni suing Harvard over its handling of the pervasive antisemitism on campus. On April 9th, I attended my first Jewish National Fund Breakfast for Israel featuring Israeli lawyer and IDF soldier Gadi Ezra. Both events touched on Zionism as an important part of their identity.
These two featured speakers have an in-depth knowledge of the history of modern Israel and Zionism. They both have an in-depth knowledge of antisemitism. They both know that anti-Israel sentiments and post-holocaust anti-Zionism has its roots in antisemitism.
These two young men are what might be called “professional Jews.” They are deeply committed to the well-being of the Jews as a people and the well-being of Israel as a center of Judaism (despite its secular status) as well as a place of refuge for Jews around the world if they need it (with caveats).
Ezra spoke about his experience as a soldier in Gaza in 2008. He described the anxieties of teenagers and those in their early 20s going to war to defend their homes and Israel, the training they received, and how often they had to rely on their own judgment in matters of life and death.
Shabbos spoke about his time at Harvard at the height of the antisemitic protests that physically kept Jews from attending classes and utilizing the world-famous Harvard library, and how frightened and unprepared they were to deal with the situation.
For me, with 20 years of military service in submarine nuclear engineering under my belt, Ezra’s message was a familiar one. Only with constant training is one able to perform to the best of their ability. Only when given the tools to succeed do we succeed. Expecting us to reinvent the wheel at such a young age is ludicrous.
Shabbos’ message also resonated. His experience showed him that the only way for Jewish students to stand up to the antisemitic bullies on campus, including, incredulously, members of “Jewish Voice for Peace” (huh?) and If Not Now, allied with the virulent antisemitic Students for Justice (huh? again) in Palestine, is to be fully grounded in Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli history. This is not something taught in public school. It is not an elective. So, how do Jews in public school get this needed education?
A lot can be learned through self-study. Of course, if you limit that study to the works of Ilan Pappe, you are going to get a very one-sided approach filtered through a political agenda that could be said to be anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. Shabbos Kestenbaum’s solution is Jewish day school and birthright journeys to Israel. He wants day school to be free for those who cannot afford to pay. It is a noble endeavor, and I support it.
But even more, as parents, we must be educated. If my parents knew anything about it, they did not bother to teach it to me. Until I went to college, I knew relatively little about Zionism, the creation of modern Israel, nor the foundations of antisemitism, other than believable propaganda. I learned more at Hillel. Writing Israel Committed Genocide…! Really? I learned much more. And of course, in my doctoral studies, I learned so much more.
Do all parents need that much education on the subjects? No. But they do need much more than they likely have. It is up to the Federations, the Jewish National Fund, Hillels, JCCs, and synagogues to provide that education. In this way, we can give our children the tools they need to stand their ground in the face of hatred and antisemitic, anti-Zionist propaganda and we will fulfill the commandment in Deuteronomy 6:7:
“And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise.”
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