JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • AUGUST 11-17, 2023 13 make, the worse it gets? In fairness, one reason we’ve been pouring so much money into a losing battle is that antisemitism is unlike any other cause. It holds a sacred, emotional place in the rus has found a way to adapt and spew its poison on the Jews. Any news story, any email, any conversation that touches on the subject can set us off. We have a crave certain tastes, they’re wired to look out for trouble. A news story about the alarming rise of antisemitism can quickly flood our brains, setting us up perfectly for a money pitch. That’s why combatting antisem- itism has become such a growth industry: It’s a no brainer. It’s so blatantly obvious, who could ever be against it? If we feel “they’re coming after us,” must we not rise up at once and fight? The crucial question is always how to fight. Just as in a literal bat- tle, we assume that the best way to fight is through confrontation. We must condemn, call out, punish, ex- pose, protest, squelch the evil virus. This kind of “battle” works best with donors, because it’s concrete and visible. But does it work? I’ve written before that if the fight against antisemitism were a business, it would go into Chapter 11. How else to explain that after years and years of pouring more and more money and resources into the fight, somehow, we keep hear- ing that “it’s never been worse”? Is it possible that the more noise we Jewish consciousness. How could it not? Jew hatred is the world’s oldest, most resilient hatred. It’s behind the darkest moment in our history. No matter where we’ve been and what we’ve done, the vi- The Business Of Antisemitism Perhaps it would be better to focus more on the positive By DAVID SUISSA I can’t tell you how often I get emails from Jewish groups alert- ing me that antisemitism is on the rise. Week after week, I’m told that this rise is “nothing short of alarm- ing” and we must “rise up” to fight it. These messages, needless to say, invariably come with a pitch for donations. After all, how can you fight antisemitism without mon- ey? If money makes the world go ‘round, in the Jewish communal world antisemitism makes the money come out. Which brings up this question: What happens if antisemitism ever goes down? That is, if activ- ist groups succeed in lowering antisemitism to non-alarming lev- els? Without the trusted crutch of alarmism, how much money would these groups raise? Here’s the thing about alarm- ism: it’s like sugar. It’s cheap and instant. Deep down you may know it’s not good for you, but the taste is irresistible. Just as our brains are wired to Messages about antisemitism from Jewish groups inevitably come with a pitch for donations. If money makes the world go ’round, in the Jewish communal world it can be said that antisemitism makes the money come out. PERSPECTIVE continued on page 27