Can an executive order condemning antisemitism ever be a bad thing? Yes, when its purpose is not to defend, but to divide.

It’s bad enough to face hatred. But it's worse to be both hated and isolated. Misery, after all, loves company, so let's combat antisemitism by combating all hate.

Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg have been teasing a Super Bowl ad that will run during next week’s game. It’s pretty cute, as the two superstars start to throw shade on each other in this promotion of Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s campaign to #StandUpToJewishHate and #StandUpToAllHate.

USA Today

The campaign started a few years ago with an exclusive focus on fighting antisemitism. But in a move that was both marketing-savvy and just plain wise, it quickly drew the necessary line connecting the hatred of Jews with discrimination directed toward other groups. It became a campaign against “othering” - and none too soon.

Here’s one of the many ads that Foundation to Combat Antisemitism has produced.

Here’s one that ran in last year’s Super Bowl:

Some have criticized Robert Kraft for lumping antisemitism in with other hatreds, and there is an argument to made that the disdain of Jews is unique, in its virulence, ubiquity and longevity. All true. But I don’t believe it cheapens Jew-hatred to say that “all hatreds matter.” I don’t think the half million-plus Rwandan Tutsi, when they were being massacred by the Hutu militias, looked around and said, “Well, thank God! At least we’re not hated as much as the Jews!”¹

Standing up to Jewish hate means standing up to all hate.

And that’s why President Trump’s executive order on antisemitism is so dangerous. It’s a poison pill that Jews should not swallow.

Antisemitism in the Zeitgeist - Then and Now.

In the Book of Esther, Haman describes the Jews as “a certain people,” a description meant to denigrate them as peculiar and intolerable. But Charles Silberman saw things differently in his 1985 book about American Jewry, to which, in a fit of irony, he entitled A Certain People, where he argues that “American society is open to Jews as never before and they are not threatened by anti-Semitism or assimilation, but have experienced a revitalization of religious, cultural and intellectual life.” For him, “certain” meant “certainly cool, successful and happy.”

Ah, those were the good times.

Contrast that to Joshua Leifer’s new book, Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, which forms a four-decade bookend to Silberman’s work. He writes at the conclusion that American Jewry has entered a period of dramatic uncertainty, where the relative stability of communal consensus has been replaced by a violent fractiousness. He calls it “an irreversible decline.”

In another new book, Benjamin Resnick’s dystopian novel, Next Stop, the main character is a giant black hole - really a series of them - that first swallows up the entire state of Israel and then it spreads everywhere, like a space age version of Camus’s plague, taking a particular interest in Jews. Antisemitism is endemic to this dystopic landscape, where Jews, loathed and lonely, are confined to an enormous ghetto called. fittingly, the Pale.

And in two superb Oscar-buzzy movies, A Real Pain and The Brutalist, first, second and third generation Holocaust trauma propels the key characters, and by extension all of American Jewry, to feats of extraordinary creativity fueled by lives of excruciating emotional anguish, with the specter of antisemitism and survivor’s guilt overshadowing everything else.²

Hated and Isolated

These two books and two films are signals from the zeitgeist that these are painful times for Jews. And it’s bad enough to face hatred at any time. But this is not a good time to be both hated and alone.

In the book of Numbers, the prophet Balaam, sent by King Balak of Moab to curse the Jews, sees them as a people that dwells alone (Num. 23:9), a proclamation that could be seen as both a blessing and a curse. Are the Jews simply a pariah people, hated by everyone? Or are they singularly unequalled for their contributions to civilization?

The word “alone” in Hebrew, with the root letters ב-ד-ד (B-D-D), can mean either isolated or distinct³, shunned in disgust or admired as a cut above. “Lonely,” like a soldier straggling home from war (Isaiah 14:31) or “resplendently unique,” like the white linen breeches worn by the priests “to cover their nakedness” (Exodus 28:42, Leviticus 16:4). And of course, in the case of the Jews, it means all of them.

What American Jews are - if nothing else - is a people in transition, simultaneously feeling blessed and cursed, but nearly unanimously, whether on the right or the left, feeling very, very insecure. We’re easy targets right now, not just for those who hate us, but for those who pretend to love us.

Defend or Divide

When it comes to antisemitism, it’s never been good when the hatred of Jews is addressed in isolation. In this matter, as with so many others, misery loves company.

This week’s presidential directive on antisemitism is a case in point.

Among President Trump’s avalanche of scorched-earth executive orders, one has stood apart as uniquely, dare I say, sensible. How could one not like an edict designed to protect our children on college campuses, on the streets and in the workplace?

As reported by the Forward, the executive order on antisemitism “encourages the attorney general to use a federal law created to target the Ku Klux Klan, and will direct federal agencies to tell colleges and universities to “monitor” and “report activities” by foreign students, staff and faculty for activities related to terrorism.”

A separate White House fact sheet about the order circulating Wednesday stated, according to the Forward:

“Immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.” It adds that the executive order “demands the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws.” Specifically, the new order calls on every federal agency to identify any powers they can use to “curb or combat anti-Semitism” and to inventory all pending administrative complaints against colleges and universities alleging civil rights violations “related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus antisemitism.”

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, best known for her successful lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups responsible for the Charlottesville violence, released this statement responding to the executive order. Here are some excerpts. You can read the whole thing here. ⁴

It is both possible and necessary to directly confront and address the crisis of antisemitism, on campus and across our communities, without abandoning the fundamental democratic values that have allowed Jews – and so many others – to thrive here.

There are many unanswered questions related to today’s executive order, including how it will actually be applied; how it intersects with and could undermine civil liberties; how the federal government will actually enforce hate crimes laws, given the freeze on civil rights cases and other disturbing steps taken over the past week; and more. Everyone in the United States has basic due process rights, and when we start applying them selectively, we don’t only threaten our values – we ultimately threaten our safety too.

If the administration is genuinely interested in countering antisemitism, there are many policies it can advance with broad-based support within the Jewish community and among experts.

Instead, this administration has thus far taken a number of steps that further embolden antisemitic extremists. These steps include the pardoning of those responsible for the January 6th insurrection; the use of “invasion” rhetoric – which has directly fueled deadly antisemitic violence – to advance dehumanizing anti-immigrant policies; the appointment of individuals like Elon Musk, who followed his apparent Nazi salutes at the presidential podium with Holocaust jokes and a speech at a far-right German rally urging that we “move beyond” the horrors of the Holocaust; and an attack on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility that is not only aimed at pitting communities against one another, but is already being used to suspend Holocaust Remembrance Day observances and more.

History has made clear that our safety as Jews is inextricably linked with inclusive, pluralistic democracy. A focus on countering antisemitism on campus and beyond is welcome. Undermining inclusive democracy in the name of countering antisemitism only makes Jews – and so many others – less safe.

I’m conflicted, as many American Jews are, because when our children are being bullied and threatened, how can we not approve of acts designed to marginalize the marginalizers? But kick them out of the country? In the words of Lindsay Graham on January 6, “Count me out.” I’m not a diehard, defend-the-Nazis-in-Skokie ACLU’er, but I can see that Trump’s goal here is not to defend Jewish college students, but to peel their parents away from their moral bearings. It’s not to protect but to divide. Trump’s goal is always to divide.

Those who attacked Jews on campuses after October 7 deserve to face consequences, but punishing them - hating them - will not make Jews safer from antisemitism. Hauling everyone off to Gitmo is not the answer. The response to concentration camps cannot be bigger concentration camps. The only thing that will make us safer is not more hate directed at others, or even less hate directed toward us - but less hate directed toward everyone.

The headline of this op-ed from Ha’aretz captures the matter perfectly:⁵

From the article (more of it in footnote 5):

The real power of authoritarianism lies in subverting norms, so a society turns against itself – where even whispered criticism in private bedrooms or the slightest suspicion of disloyalty becomes justification for betrayal.

This administration is not pro-Jewish, it is anti-Muslim, intent on recruiting Jewish students to do its bidding. Elon Musk is already denying the Holocaust, online, at far right German rallies and with his now-infamous Nazi salute. We knew that. This leaked defense department memo below indicates that Holocaust denial is not just Musk’s obsession alone. It’s becoming US policy.

Henry Louis Gates said at a panel in which he and Kraft both appeared, “I tell my students at Harvard that under the floorboards of Western culture run two streams. One is anti-black racism, and one is antisemitism. Any time a demagogue wants to stir up people, they just lift up the floorboards and dipper out all that hatred against our people and against our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

Some demagogues do that. And others just lift up one floorboard and let the hate pour out against the other. What we are seeing right now is a choreographed cock fight for the pleasure of the president. Think The Apprentice, but with real-life consequences.

What’s on the card today? Jews v. Palestinians? (But only if I can deport someone!) Native Americans v. Latinos? Texans v. Californians? Sh*t hole countries v. Norway? Mexico v. Greenland? Black men v. Black women? Whose feathers shall I ruffle? I’ve got the World Cup, the Olympics AND my daily cock fight. Love it!

No one should be hated, and when hate happens, no one should ever have to confront it alone.

As February, the month of love, begins, let’s resolve to resist the temptation to turn neighbor against neighbor.

But I really don’t like the Chiefs!

1. Tom Lehrer’s song from the ‘60s, National Brotherhood Week still holds true.

Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics, And the Catholics hate the Protestants,

And the Hindus hate the Moslems, And everybody hates the Jews.

But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week,

It's National Everyone-smile-at-one-another-hood Week.

Be nice to people who Are inferior to you. It's only for a week, so have no fear.

Be grateful that it doesn't last all year!

2. (spoilers) David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) speaking of his mentally ill cousin, Benji:

…And that our grandma survived by a thousand miracles when the entire world was trying to kill her, you know? And I look at him and I just, like, wanna ask him... I just wanna ask him, and I just can't. Like... like, how did the product of a thousand fucking miracles overdose on a bottle of sleeping pills?

And in The Brutalist, the Holocaust survivor who sought to heal himself through the brutality of his designs (modeled after concentration camps he had witnessed), is himself brutalized by his antisemitic benefactor in his newfound “home.” For László Toth, there was no new home to discover in America, where Jews were barely tolerated, eccept for the home he could build himself - the one that could revive the spirit of his lost family, his lost childhood, his lost world. And for David and Benji, there was no home to return to, as they were greeted with suspicion in their grandmother’s Polish village by a neighbor old enough to witnessed her departure.

3. The Hebrew roots B-D-D and B-D-L are nearly identical in appearance (the final letters Lamed ( ל )and Daled ( ד ) look nearly identical in ancient Hebrew. See here and here. See also this from the Abarim Hebrew Dictionary, which echoes my point exactly.

The root בדד (badad) occurs all over the Semitic language area and signifies separation, isolation and more specifically the formation of a singular identity from a pinched off subset of a larger continuum. As a verb it may mean to disunite or divide into parts, or to go alone or act independently. It's used in the Bible a mere three times: and Psalm 102:7 speaks of a bird perched lonely on a house top, Isaiah 14:31 of a straggling soldier, and Hosea 8:9 of a wandering solitary donkey.

The derived masculine noun בדד (badad) means isolation, separation or exclusivity. It occurs more often than the verb and may speak of dwelling in isolation because of quarantine (Leviticus 13:46), mourning (Lamentations 1:1) or a quest for safety from violation (Numbers 23:9, Deuteronomy 33:28, Jeremiah 49:31). This noun may speak of a place or condition of untouchability where God places his people (Micah 7:4), or it speaks of the exclusivity of God to lead his people to safety (Psalm 4:8). Deuteronomy 21:12 reads: "The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him." Likewise Jeremiah 15:17 reads, "Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, for You filled me with indignation."

The much more common masculine noun בד (bad), likewise, describes separation. It very often occurs in conjunction with the prefix ל (le), to or onto, to form לבד (lebad), meaning by itself, by himself or by themselves (Exodus 26:9, Judges 7:5, Isaiah 5:8). The famous statement of Genesis 2:18, "It is not good for the man to be by himself" uses לבד (lebad). Significantly, however, this noun does not so much describe a complete severance from its maternal medium but rather the formation of an identifiable entity within it. Our noun בד (bad) often occurs to mean part or part of, suggesting that there are more parts and that all these distinct parts together make up an integrated whole (Exodus 30:34, Job 18:13, Ezekiel 17:6).

Some scholars identify a second but identical noun בד II (bad II), which others (including us here at Abarim Publications) surmise is rather a specialized usage of בד I (bad I). It denotes the signature white linen ephod of the priestly class of Israel (Exodus 28:42, Leviticus 16:4): Samuel wore one (1 Samuel 2:18), David wore one (2 Samuel 6:14) and angels show up in them too (Ezekiel 9:2-3, 10:2, 10:6).

A third identical noun בד III (bad III), which may in fact again be the same one used specifically, describes speech that is notably separate from common human discourse: idle talk (Job 11:3, Isaiah 16:6) or empty talkers (Isaiah 44:25, Jeremiah 50:36). Note that the familiar Greek word ιδιωτης (idiotes) expresses a similar idea and literally means "in a category of their own".

The verb בדא (bada') may have nothing to do with the previous (as scholars assume) but it may also be a continuation of the concept expressed in בד III (bad III). It means to connive (Nehemiah 6:8) or vainly invent (1 Kings 12:33), and is used these mere two times.

4. And here:

5. From the article:

Right-wing groups have already been leveraging AI to identify and target students they claim support Hamas, encouraging complaints to university administrators. These campaigns involve analyzing protest footage, cross-referencing faces with online profiles, and compiling detailed dossiers on foreign students and faculty. Messages circulating in Jewish and Israeli WhatsApp groups ask participants to report those perceived as "supporters of Hamas," often with minimal evidence.

Such measures foster an atmosphere of fear and suppression in civil society. Far from addressing antisemitism, they set the stage for the erosion of democratic principles and could mark the first domino in a more comprehensive collapse of a liberal society.

Trump understands the limits of external force. The real power of authoritarianism lies in subverting norms, so a society turns against itself – where even whispered criticism in private bedrooms or the slightest suspicion of disloyalty becomes justification for betrayal.

It is undeniable that antisemitic incidents in America have risen since October 7, as have campus voices that legitimize the extreme violence of October 7. The failure of university administrators to contain the worst excesses of campus protesters is damning. Even more disturbing is that some faculty members expressed publicly how "exhilarated" they felt by Hamas' murder of families in kibbutzim.

However, the criticism of campus protests from the right has gone much further. The Republican Party has blurred the line between legitimate criticism of Israel, Zionism as a nationalist ideology, and Israel's actions in Gaza – labeling all as "anti-Israel" or antisemitic. Moreover, Jews who voice harsh criticism of Israel are often dismissed as self-hating, and Muslims face demands to denounce Hamas before expressing any opinion.