The OBVIOUS Antisemitism Strategy Jews Keep Missing

Watch and Listen

Jews have a problem, but I've got the solution, and it's so obvious you're gonna wish you'd thought of it by yourself.

By the end of this video, you'll not only understand the critical strategy, maybe the most critical strategy, to countering anti-Jew hate, but you'll also understand what you can do about it.

I'm Jonah Platt, and this is Being Jewish.

In our quest to diagnose and solve the scourges of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, AKA rampant racializing anti-Jew bigotry, the Jewish community continues to overlook one of the most important, if not the most important, ingredients necessary for our ultimate success.

Think about all the major speeches and articles and infographics and initiatives of the past few years.

The resounding question has been, what should we as Jews do?

And the answers are myriad: invest in security, invest in Jewish joy, invest in education, invest in Israeli tech, invest in social media, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum.

And of course, all of these areas must be developed if we're gonna change our fortunes, no doubt about it.

But let's zoom all the way out.

From way up here, we see that all of those individual strands of investment are parts of a single cohesive thesis: invest in Jews and Jewish life as never before.

Now, as I've said on this show many times, that mindset shift is paramount simply on its own merits, for the good of our own self-respect and dignity and flourishing, period, end of story But what then?

When I or others say the best antidote to Jew hate is a loud and proud Jewish community, why is that actually so?

Jews being happy or proud or educated does not in and of itself magically remove anti-Jew bigotry from the universe.

So what is the actual mechanism of that removal?

That we can answer by examining some of the other successful social movements in recent history, like the civil rights movement or gay rights movements, for instance.

What was the actual lever pulled that enshrined legal protections, changed the status quo, forced the hand of society to adopt behavioral change in those situations?

Or perhaps the more prescient question is, who pulled the lever?

The answer, in both these cases and every other, was not the aggrieved minority party.

African Americans did not sign the Civil Rights Act.

White people did.

The queer community did not render the verdict in Obergefell versus Hodges.

Straight people did.

60% of whom were the Supreme Court's Jewish justices, by the way.

In case any Queers for Palestine folks accidentally clicked on this video.

When we take the bird's-eye view, we see that everything Jews attempt in our desire to shove hate back into the dark corners of society where it belongs can only be successful when and if it moves non-Jews to action, period.

If Jew hate is a problem of Jew haters, then Jew love must be a solution of Jew lovers.

Allies are not a luxury.

They're not an afterthought.

They are essential.

They are irreplaceable.

Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, they're our only hope.

And I don't say that to undercut Jewish agency.

Like the aforementioned social movements, we need to march the ball all the way down the field to the goal line ourselves.

But we cannot win the game on our own.

That's not pessimism, it's math.

You cannot fully control your own destiny when you are a minority living at the whims of a majority society.

You wanna call your own shots?

Make aliyah.

Otherwise, I need you to focus on making ally-iyah.

Yeah, that's a home run The Jewish community, from big institutions right on down to you, dear listener, must prioritize the cultivation and inclusion of allies as a foundational pillar of the Jewish future.

We don't want our thriving Jewish lives to exist only inside of heavily guarded, siloed compounds.

That sounds like the Hanukkah story, when our ancestors did enjoy thriving Jewish lives of ritual, connection, and education from the insides of caves, while the majority outside waited to kill them.

If our community is to truly flourish, eventually it will require those in the non-Jewish majority to pull some lever that helps enshrine our place in the world.

Let's talk practicalities.

You have to be the change you want to see in the world, right?

So if we want to be embraced by enough allies to hit the tipping point, we must approach our agenda setting and strategic decision-making with that fundamental intent always in mind.

I devised this show to model the inclusivity I want to see in our wider Jewish community.

So from day one of its conception, diversity has been one of the guiding principles in how I choose my guests.

Strategic and intentional from the start and in every decision since.

That is how we must approach the inclusion of allies into Jewish communal life.

Jewish organizations and businesses must intentionally hire some non-Jews.

I've got several who work on this show myself.

Invite non-Jews to your Shabbats, your sukkahs, your Seders.

If you go to a Jewish concert or comedy show or play, bring a non-Jewish friend.

How many times have you gone to a synagogue or JCC or federation event and thought, "Man, I wish the people who really needed to hear this were here tonight"?

Well, you know why they aren't there?

Because you didn't invite them.

Make it mandatory.

The next time I host my own solo live event, I'm gonna sell tickets in pairs, one for a Jew and one for you, my fabulous allied friend.

And anyone who wants to, please feel free to steal that idea.

I'd love to see it everywhere.

Nice.

I've heard from too many people who want to give up on bridge-building programs because, quote, "They don't work." But that just means you've either got the wrong program or the wrong goal.

We must build bridges, not only because it's important to have friends, but because it's equally important to not have enemies, and developing true connections helps achieve both those aims.

We have numerous organizations dedicated to helping people make aliyah.

Let's make sure we're creating, innovating, and supporting organizations dedicated to helping people make aliyah as well.

To all my non-Jews watching or listening right now, I love you.

Y'all are the best and have been a part of the BJJP community since day one.

You're like a living, breathing hug.

Nothing changes without you.

A 99-yard drive does not put points on the board if we never cross the goal line.

We need you every step of the way.

You're not an accessory.

You're not nice to have.

You're not a save to cart, might buy later.

You are an essential component of the Jewish future we want for ourselves and our children and grandchildren.

You are our partners, and we cannot do this without you, whether the Jews or yous realize it or not.