“I have seen it with my own eyes. And so I have to imagine that if antisemitic incidents are on the rise locally, they also have to be on the rise nationally,” said Rabbi Marc Katz of Bloomfield’s Temple Ner Tamid, which was targeted by an alleged fire-bomber in February. Katz said he believes that social media is fueling hate, that people fall into websites fomenting antisemitism.
The Anti-Defamation League reports that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased 36% last year to almost 3,700. In New Jersey, there was a 10% jump to a record 408 incidents, ranking it third among states after California and New York. “It was a big jump from the year before, which was a big jump from the year before that — including many, many bias incidents in the schools,” said Scott Richman of the ADL.
According to Rabbi David Levy, an American Jewish Committee survey shows 1 in 4 American Jews report changing clothing and jewelry that identifies them as Jewish out of fear for their safety. “Our young people are avoiding identifying themselves online as Jews because of what’s happening in that toxic social media culture.”
Leadership support for Exploring Hate is provided by the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism, with additional major funding from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Charlotte and David Ackert, The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund and Patti Askwith Kenner. Additional support is provided by the Tiger Baron Foundation, Nancy and Morris W. Offit and Josh Weston. For a complete list of funders, please visit: pbs.org/exploring
