Rant 2,494: No

Hanukkah 2019 has reached its conclusion.

The eighth, and final candle was lit last night, and my family has put is menorah away for another year.

But one thing that we cannot put away is the feeling that this Hanukkah will be remembered not for family and for gifts and for joy, but for the anti-Semitism that reared its ugly head in the New York Metropolitan area during the eight-day celebration.

During each day of the holiday, violence was perpetrated on Jews in New York, New Jersey and in upstate New York, everything from throwing drinks at Jews and making anti-Semitic remarks to more horrid acts, such as murder.

The attacks have been directed at Hassidic Jews, who stand out from others because of their dress,

And the attacks have been centered around, but not relegated to, areas of large Hassidic populations, such as Crown Heights and Jersey City.

Due to these attacks, politicians like Mayor deBlasio and Governor Cuomo have, predictably, chastised the attacks, and have ordered an increase in police presence to try to thwart those who perpetuate this violence towards Hassidic Jews and Jews in general.

But I wonder if they are missing something, a common thread that draws all of these incidents during Hanukkah together, a movement that is certainly drawing fire--as well as enthusiasm--from many people on social media, including Facebook.

The politicians are not facing the one fact, and the only fact, that is linking these random acts together: the unfortunate link that all of these incidents have been committed by African Americans, people of color.

Now, before you get crazy and say that I am condemning an entire race of people, no, I am not, not at all. Blacks and Jews have thrived together, arm in arm, for generations, and I am not going to condemn an entire race for the acts of a few. Nor am I am going to condemn caucasians everywhere because of white supremacists' hatred of Jews.

But let's look at the facts in the recent New York Metropolitan area incidents: all of the perpetrators, each and every one, was black. This should tell all of us something, but evidently, our politicians do not want to touch on this hot-button topic, so as not to alienate a large portion of their constituency.

But my take on this is if you do not get to the root of the problem, you are never going to solve the problem, and in this area, the problem is that black leaders, who themselves should know better, have created this schism with their rhetoric, have not condemned these attacks, have not spoken up, and have generally remained silent, even though each and every one has been perpetuated by someone of their own race.

I have seen undercurrents of this on social media, particularly on Facebook, where I have read messages of hate from some blacks, even going to the extreme at claiming that the current Jewish population is not Jewish at all, that their European forefathers stole the religion from the true Jews, African blacks, centuries ago.

They spew their hatred freely on social media, and claim that the rise in anti-Semitism is what Jews deserve, because they are simply pretenders to the throne, so to speak, and are as false as a $3 bill.

There is a definite schism in place here. All that I know is that when both Jews and blacks were both looked at as maybe on the level of dogs, or even below that, the two groups forged a common bond, one that saw them marching arm and arm during the civil rights years.

Jews and blacks were strong together, and black leaders of the time--including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.--not only revered their brotherhood with the Jewish people, but fully, without hestitation, supported Israel as the home of Jews worldwide.

What has happened during the past 50 or more years to dissipate that brotherhood?

I think the brotherhood remains, is still there, and is still strong.

However, the undercurrents of outrage by some in the black community have become supercharged in recent times, and the more ignorant of the flock are being led by people who are themselves anti-Semitic, and they follow these people as if being pulled by rings in their noses.

I don't have to name names, you know who these supposed leaders are; people who bathe themselves in the tenets of the church, yet don't follow any of the church's principals regarding loving everyone.

Yes, the exact same thing can be said about white nationalists, who follow their own leaders into moral sin, looking at the Jews as the reason for all that is bad in the world.

Yes, ignorant blacks and white supremacists are strange bedfellows, but they both believe that the ridding of the world of Jews is their mandate.

However, in the Hanukkah attacks on Hasidic Jews, it appears that only blacks have been the perpetrators, and again, our politicians must get to the root of the problem--why are some blacks turning on what amounts to their brethren in recent times? Why does this anti-Semitism exist? What can be done to quell it, and stop it before it spreads further?

That is what the deBlasios and Cuomos of the world must be looking at.

Sure, they are outraged, and they should be.

But when the sole common link in the recent attacks is the perpetrators' color, that absolutely has to be looked into as well.

deBlasio, for one, has started the ball rolling on this, ordering that curriculums in areas with high rates of blacks and Hasidim living together include teachings about tolerance. This, of course, should be a citywide and statewide order, and maybe even a national order, but you have to begin with something. Education is always the key, so maybe this will work.

But to get at the root of the problem, you have to point your fingers at the supposed leaders of this community, who have perpetuated hate for generations, with the recent outcomes simply being the result of that hate.

Giving reverence to any of these leaders is wrong, has always been wrong, and is even more wrong today.

Enough is enough. It is time to say no.

And if no one else is going to say it, then that pains me.

And it pains me as a Jew and as a human being.