May is over. Did you know it was Jewish American Heritage Month?
If your answer is “no,” you’re far from alone. It was easy to miss. However, the State Department’s former anti-Semitism envoy is on a mission to change that, state by state.
Carr served in the administration of Donald Trump from 2019 to 2021, focusing on combating and monitoring anti-Semitism.
“Why is there no [Jewish Heritage Month] curriculum in school districts? No PSAs [public service announcements]? No messaging?” asked Carr, who told JNS that while at the State Department, he started the process of developing such a program—together with the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations and other like-minded entities—before Trump’s term ended.
Carr said he has taken note that a number of organizations, including some he’s worked with, have the same lines of effort, such as securing Jewish communities and assets; labeling anti-Semitism through the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition; dealing with and countering metastatic hate on the Internet and social media; condemning anti-Semitic movements; and prosecuting hate crimes.
“It occurred to me that all of these measures all inherently defensive. And while you need a good defense, you can’t ever win by only playing defense. So, the question is: How do we go on the offense?” he posed.
“The best way is to turn the tables completely on Jew-hatred is to drive a narrative that inculcates the appreciation of and respect for the remarkable Jewish story that has brought so much to Western civilization,” replied Carr, who worked with the German government on the launch of a 2021 pilot program commemorating 1,700 years of Jewish history in Germany. He said that Germans were largely unaware not just of the individual accomplishments of Jewish Germans, but how deeply Jewish contributions are woven into the very fabric of German culture and life.
Carr told JNS that he sees a good deal of the same in the United States, but—while noting his belief that America is the most naturally philosemitic country in the world outside of Israel—feels the road to increasing philosemitism can be more easily constructed and, in some sense, is already being paved.
‘We need to double down on this’
Jewish American Heritage Month was declared by President George W. Bush in 2006. Prior to that, there was a Jewish American Heritage Week dating back to its creation by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
“We had three states declare their own Jewish American Heritage Month: Nebraska, Florida and Virginia. A declaration is just the beginning, though. Next year, the idea will be to have a full-fledged messaging campaign for adults and a curriculum in the schools. The rubber meets the road at the state level when it comes to policies like law enforcement and schools. If we get the states engaged, it can be game-changer,” said Carr.
Yet there is a flip side to that argument. With incidents of anti-Semitism on the rise, there can be an instinct, especially among Jews who are not visibly identifiable as such, to want to fade into the background rather than put their Jewish pride on display. This can be especially so on American college campuses, which have largely become a hotbed for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity, often with tacit administrative approval.
Carr said that a Jewish heritage program, properly executed can find ways to highlight the extraordinary contributions of Jews to America without displaying overt exceptionalism that can feed into anti-Semitic stereotypes.
“I’ve been involved in campus life for 30 years, and I’ll tell you, Jews with no Jewish identity want to turn and escape from anti-Semitism. Jews who have some degree of Jewish identity want to stand up and fight. We need to double down on this. We need to stand up and be proud of who we are—not in a way that is haughty and arrogant and off-putting. This should be a matter of pride for Jews as Americans,” he said.
“Our whole history has been exceptional, even the bad,” he continued. “Even anti-Semitism is exceptional among hatred. It is breathtaking in its ubiquity, in its unquenchable thirst. What do we do with it? The Jewish answer is to understand who we are, what we mean to the world and shout it from the rooftops.”
Carr is on target and some suggestions:
1. Israel is 5782 years old, not just 74. The history of the Jews is the history of the world and ignoring this by our ‘so-called’ leaders is why Israel is always on the defense, when there is so much to tell being 5782 and all the miracles and all the horrors and all of our contributions in spite of it all.
2. The Arabs are on Jewish land, not the reverse and with the worst public relations in the history of the universe, this arrogance/indifference/and closet stupidity, hurts us all and isn’t necessary. Just tell the truth including the good, the bad and the ugly.
3. Flag Day in Jerusalem, last week, celebrated with 50,000+ strong, at the Kotel, but not with Prime Minister Bennett, too busy catering to the very Arabs who want him and all Jews dead.
This is what G-d gave us. This is what millions of Jews were murdered for, before the Holocaust.
While Abbas is an extension of the very Arabs aligned with Hitler to ‘kill all Jews’ and is still calling for ‘killing all Jews’, Bennett, who claims to be religious, ignores and betrays everyone murdered for their faith and is so far up Biden’s behind, who wants to divide Jerusalem, Jewish for 3000 years and Israel ‘occupied’ by Jews for 5782 years and give it to the Islamic Nazis, who want to ‘kill all Jews.’
What is it with Bennett, who doesn’t get it or kissing up to Biden and on the take, who is a complete disaster from Covid to open borders, to a baby formula crisis to inflation and high gas and food prices to everything he touches becoming a disaster and Bennett wants Biden in charge of Israeli security and Sovereignty?
Or to allow Russia to negotiate with Iran on nukes that has reached its ability to create bombs thanks to Obama/Biden treachery?
When Biden goes to Israel all of Israel should protest this outrage and sell out.
3. As we celebrate Shavuot and G-d giving us the Torah with much blessings, if embraced and much suffering if ignored. But this blessed event we celebrate also falls on June 5-6 and here we need to connect with two huge and pivotal points that changed history again:
a. D-Day, 1944, with the Allied invasion of Europe to finally stop Hitler, while the mass murder of killing 7 million Jews in the Holocaust, was already in motion, plus millions of others. There were 42,500 places of mass murder, everything Jewish stolen, the killers allowed to go free and the Survivors thrown a bone, while the very death camps, the world’s largest Jewish cemeteries, have been commercialized, Vaticanized and the Holocaust itself, trivialized so that antisemitism is once again out of control all over the world.
b. “Sixth-Day War”- when Israel re-united Jerusalem and the burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives, among so very many victories in this historic moment.
Making these connections is vital in reminding the world what it needs to honor and understand, under threat again by those same evil forces and to show gratitude for all who gave life and limb to preserve freedom and liberty for all.
This should be a part of Jewish Heritage Month annually and on all levels to remind ourselves and the world, who we are on all of these levels. We should also include Memorial Day.
One key way to go after the anti-Semites is to look within and those who hate G-d, hate Judaism, hate Israel, hate Jews and hate themselves, with much blood on their hands in their betrayal of everything Jewish, our history, our identity, our sovereignty, our struggles and advancements for humankind, in spite of al their dishonorable treacheries.
Haven’t we learned anything since 1933? Why are we repeating history by those claiming to be in charge, who have sold out again.
The continued failures of our so-called leaders must be challenged to save lives, Israel, America and the world.