Ghosts of past, present and future issue ominous warnings for Jews

Mitch Albom, Tribune Content Agency on Dec 14, 2022

3. A tolerance for harassment, negativity, intimidation and a dismissal of Jews’ suffering as overblown, which ultimately permitted the horror of concentration camps and Hitler’s “final solution” — to wipe Jews off the Earth entirely.

Now think about what’s happening today. You have:

1. People again blaming Jews for their problems, high-profile people like West complaining that Jews control industries, or Dave Chapelle on "Saturday Night Live" saying “I’ve been to Hollywood and this is just what I saw … it’s a lot of Jews” — and having an audience laugh and applaud.

2. You have men like Chokr screaming Jews should be ashamed of their support for Israel. It’s typical of antisemitism disguised as criticism of Israel, which is happening everywhere from synagogues to college campuses, all the while echoing old sentiments that Jews have their own agenda. This leads to …

3. A tolerance of harassment. Despite the wild increase in antisemitism, you don’t hear anywhere near the outrage over it that you do for other forms of bigotry.

These ingredients embody the ghost of Christmas future, a world in which hate for Jews is so widely tolerated, it allows for horrible acts to occur.

Don’t think that could happen? Think twice. The mantra for the Jewish community has always been “Never again.” Never again, will they go through what they went through during the Holocaust. Never again will they let the world try to exterminate them.

But that determination is not in their hands. Small acts lead to bigger acts. Big acts lead to policies. Policies cover up shameful behavior.

The old men and women who speak every Sunday in that room full of chairs at the Holocaust Center know this: You don’t change the future if you forget the past. So they keep talking about it. We all should. There are ghosts in every act of antisemitism committed today. And they’re warning us.

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