When Toxic Rhetoric Bursts the Cylinder: Speaking Up for the Freedom to Be Jewish in America
In the aftermath of the Washington, D.C. Jewish Museum shooting, why demonizing rhetoric is never harmless
It was bound to happen. The effulgence of punditry passing off as Journalism. The bastardisations of terms like Genocide, and ethnic cleansing, give birth to the new scriptures, preached to disenchanted mindless hordes, who in turn, pump toxic hatred through the protected cylinders of free speech. Until the pressure builds and the pressurised cylinder bursts under a weight they were never designed to carry.
The result? Two dead Israelis. One Jewish. One Christian. Though one was Jewish and the other Christian, they were both Israeli. And in the eyes of this killer, indoctrinated with the hatred that some argue, we must go out of our way to whitewash and protect, ( we allow hatred to flourish to protect us against hatred, “not me, I argued for your right to hate me”) they both met the criteria for death.
It won’t stop there if we don’t speak up. Please join us this Sunday in Marblehead at 3 pm if you want to raise your voice and join the fight for the Freedom to safely be Jewish in America. YES, the America that took our parents and grandparents in and gave us the right to practice our faith on its blessed shores.
G-d bless America and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yossi