Ever since Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, successive generations have found resonance in its famous opening line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” So it goes for our generation, not least when it comes to activism.
From Sydney to London to New York, the word activist has come to be associated, in many of our minds, with antisemitism. Demonstrators at elite universities call for the destruction of one state — the Jewish state. Black Lives Matter chapters openly celebrate the “resistance” that massacred hundreds of young adults at the Nova festival — hundreds of Jews. Hospitals are subject to loud and aggressive street marches — hospitals with strong Jewish ties.
The list goes on, depressingly. But there’s an inspiring counter-list, too.
On university campuses where antisemitism has been at its worst, we have seen the emergence of Jewish students who, though they may’ve wanted only to focus on their studies and enjoy their social life, now find the courage to wave Israeli flags and proudly display their Stars of David. We have seen Jewish alumni reach out to those students to help them organize and find their voice. They are demanding no more consideration than their non-Jewish peers, but settling for no less. A generation some of us had written off as unengaged and uncommitted turns out to be anything but.
The activism goes beyond the campus gates. We have watched Jewish political activists, particularly in the Democratic Party, make sure their leaders do not cower before the pro-Hamas online mob — and launch primary challenges against those who do. We have used the power of law to bring the fight to the courts to punish bad actors and stop the flow of dollars to institutions that were supporting the enemies of America.
What of philanthropy? We have always been good at rising to a crisis. In recent years, our community dug deep for Ukraine and Covid relief. But those efforts paled compared with the outpouring of support, financial and material, after October 7. We formed collaborations to help Israelis recover and rebuild, organized new efforts to fight media wars, and established partnerships to address the surge of interest in Jewish life in America. We discovered that we could demand that our grantees commit to support for the State of Israel, and we were prepared to part company with those who didn’t. We supported courage and stood behind those who showed it.
One of Israel’s most effective advocates is Naftali Bennett. Since the earliest days of the war, the former (and perhaps future) prime minister has focused on what he calls the lions and lionesses. Not only did they not flee the fight, as he’s noted on many occasions, they ran into the fire. As with those Jewish warriors in Israel, so, too, with so many Jewish warriors in America. With another nod to Dickens, I’m convinced we will look back at this activist moment as the beginning of the best of times.
