School children of all ages reach out to their Rabbi to discuss anti-Semitism in their schools. Recently, the Rabbi’s at Congregation Beth Israel have been getting more stories from school children about anti-Semitism within their schools. When asked on this issue, Rabbi Steven Folberg, head Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel, answers by explaining two main types of anti-Semitism. “There is sometimes anti-Semitism in the sense of actual hostility towards Jews that I know people who have experienced, and there is another catagory which often has applied to kids in school in grades younger or older which is what I call Jewish invivsability or lack of Jewish knowledge in the sense of like every year putting exams and football games or whatever on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur.” Research shows that Fairview High School, located in Boulder, Colorado, does not give Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur off. This shows a level of ignorance since those are some of the biggest Jewish Holidays. Another example is, Community School for Creative Education, a Waldorf-inspired Public Charter School located in Oakland, California, does not even acknowledge that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are important holidays which again shows lack of knowledge.
When asked about anti-Semitism in schools , Rabbi Kelly Levy, associate Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel replied, “I have also heard all of our students middle school, high school, tell stories that they’ve experienced at school and we talked about how we can work on that with their peers, how they can bring it to the schools as a whole.” Recently, at a school play of Anne Frank at Covington Middle School, located in Austin, Texas, during the Chanukah prayer, the actors folded their hands in prayer. Jewish people do not pray with their hands folded. After the play, one actress mentioned that she had informed the drama teacher that this was not how Jewish people pray. The actress then reported that the teacher had insisted that Jewish people pray with their hands folded. Assuming that Jewish people pray like people of other religions is an act of anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is prejudice and hate against the Jewish community. It is a form of hate speech and it is included under the general rubric of hate crimes that are monitored by law enforcement at the local and national level, as well as by non-governmental organizations such as the Anti Defamation League (ADL). Anti-Semitism has been on the rise during the past few years, especially in the New York area. According to the ADL1 over the course of 2018 there were 1,879 anti-Semitic acts in the United States alone. The FBI reports that there were 7120 hate crimes reported in the U.S. in 2018. Anti-Semitic crimes account for 58% of all religous based hate crimes in 20182. According to the ADL3 anti-Semitism has been on the rise for the past few years. Over the course of 2017, the number of anti-Semitic acts in the United States has increased by 57%, the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reproted since ADL started tracking such data in 1979.
In addition to their regular duties, weddings, baby namings, funerals, services, bar and bat mitzvahs, brises, religious school, and many others, the clergy at Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue in Austin, Texas, is finding a significant increase in issues related to the safety and well being of their congregants. For many years now keypads have been on the main entry doors of the campus. Sarah Avner, cantor at Congregation Beth Israel, explains why the keypads were added. “I worked here when we first put the codes on the doors and we did that because there was a man in California who have gone from one JCC to another and the only thing that turned him away was the fact that he would pull on a door and couldn't get in.” Rabbi Steven Folberg reports that he is both grateful and sad that the congregation needs a police to be their. “What I always say to the police officers, I’ll always say, ‘Thank you for taking care of us’ and then I’ll say, ‘I’m sorry that we need your help’.” By saying this it shows that though Rabbi Folberg is grateful for the protection, he wishes that we could be in a place where that was not necessary.
As the political climate increases, many people believe that anti-Semitism and other prejedices rise with it. Rabbi Steven Folberg shares his thoughts on how the political climate has affected prejudice against religious minorities: “I think it has become okay, I’m making air quotes when I say okay, it’s become ‘okay’ to say things about all kinds of ethnic and religious minorities that would have really been off limits to say six years ago.” Rabbi Kelly Levy also shares her thoughts on the subject: “I think that in the last three, four years people have felt a permission to do and say some of the things they’ve been saying because of that there have been an increased amount of anti-Semitic incedents.” Cantor Sarah Avner also shares her thoughts on the subject: “I think that the recent political climate has given permission for those who are haters to voice those opinions very loudly.” Here the members of the Congregation Beth Israel clergy clearly state that they all think the political climate has affected ethnic and religious minorities.
College student reaches out to her Rabbi after being confronted with hate speech and anti-Semitic videos saying that Jews were murderers at her summer internship.
One teen from Austin, Texas, encountered anti-Semitism at her summer internship. “I was having a conversation with one of the women there who was very into conspiracy theories she would share some wild things… I was sort of humoring her and then she shared a conspiracy theory that McDonalds was purchasing the meat of children of the Jews or the enemies of Jewish people. They were purchasing the meat of these children and using them to create their burgers.” The teen then described the woman showing her the source. “When the waiting room was cleared, the woman took out her phone and in front of me and two other coworkers turned on a YouTube video and the video was just an audio recording of an interviewer and a man who was supposed to be a Rabbi, I remember vividly that they, he was calling himself Rabbi Fiklestein and the Rabbi or the person impersonating a Rabbi was saying that when Jewish people had an enemy that they would kidnap that child, they would drain them of blood, and then they would sell the meat to McDonalds and they would use that blood in passover rituals.” These quotes shows that when people are not taught about all kinds of religions and prejudice they believe untrue and ridiculous things. “Here was this woman that was not a mile and a half away from my house and my synagogue who truly believed that Jewish people were killing and eating parts if children of their enemies.”
Many children are unaware of the term anti-Semitism and what it means. When asked if anti-Semitism should be taught more in schools, Rabbi Steven Folberg says, “I think it is important to alert kids to all kinds of prejudice.” When asked the same question, Cantor Sarah Avner says, “I think truth should be discussed more in schools. I think children should be taught, we should be taught what’s wrong.” Not teaching anti-Semitism more in schools conveys that people don’t think it is a relevant problem. Only teaching the Holocast makes it seem like that is one unique event and not part of a bigger problem. When asked what they thought the effect of ignorance on anti-Semitism is, Rabbi Steven Folberg stated, “A lot of hostility, a lot of violence comes out of fear of people who are different, and a lot of fear comes from being ignorant. People tend to fear what they don’t know.” When asked the same question, Cantor Sarah Avner says, “I think the more that you know then the more you could be kind and the more thoughtful you could be you know, not to teach things because people should know about hate and feel hatefully, but because if people know for somebody they’re less likely to hate them.” This shows that if children are taught about all kinds of prejudice they can learn to be kind.
There are many forms of anti-Semitism. One form of anti-Semitism is stereotypes about Jews. One of these stereotypes is that Jews don’t like Muslims. This stereotypes comes from the Israel Palestine conflict. Every year through Interfaith Action of Central Texas or IACT there is a interfaith thanksgiving. All people are welcome. Every year one community sponsors the event and another community hosts it. A few years ago, the Muslim community sponsored the event and Hyde Park Baptist Church. When the publicity came out, it said that the Muslims could pray their midday prayer. When the church saw the publicity they said that no prayer that was not Christen could be prayed on their campus. The service would have been held in their gym. When the people who worked at the IACT heard that the church was no longer willing to hold the event, they were in a panic. One member of Congregation Beth Israel happened to work down the hall from the IACT offices and she called Rabbi Steven Folberg. She asked Rabbi Folberg if he might host the event. When asked about his response, Rabbi Steven Folberg says, “It was like duh that’s a no brainer.” Rabbi Folbergs's response shows that having prayers from other faiths in his sanctuary was not an issue to him. That year there was a record turnout. Both to protest what the church had done and to support what Rabbi Folberg was doing. That year, Congregation Beth Israel received the Hope Award. When asked for his thoughts on receiving the Hope Award, Rabbi Steven Folberg says, “I didn’t feel like we had done anything all that special.” This shows that to Rabbi Folberg, people of all ethnicities are equal. By hosting the interfaith thanksgiving, Rabbi Steven Folberg broke the stereotype that Jews hate Muslims. By doing an act of kindness, Rabbi Folberg is helping fight hate and prejudice against all religous minorities.
“I hope that we can find a resolution to it soon because it’s pretty exhausting,” said Rabbi Kelly Levy.
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