Are we indifferent?

It’s a simple-seeming question with a simple-seeming answer. Are we indifferent? Of course not.

Yet here we are.

Here we are, on the day Hanukkah is set to begin, facing an overwhelming tide of hate. More specifically a contemptible resurgence of antisemitism. The headlines have been hard to miss: celebrities and athletes spewing loathsome tropes, a former president dining with a Holocaust denier, and hate crimes on the rise.

Of course, antisemitism is nothing new. Centuries’ worth of violence have been wrought upon Jewish communities across the globe. Still, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the last five years have seen consistent increases in reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jews. And last year, 2021, saw the highest-ever number of reported incidents since the ADL began keeping track in 1979 — 2,717 incidents. This year the trend is set to hold steady.

For Rabbi Fred Greene, of Boulder’s Congregation Har HaShem, it’s exhausting and scary but nothing new. Still, Greene began his career believing he’d never have to give a sermon about antisemitism.

“The messages, the myths and the tropes have been around for a really long time,” Greene said. “The difference is, the people who used to be on the fringe now have a seat at the main table.”

The fear and anxiety has been tangible in his congregation. But the message he seeks to impart is one of hope.

“Jewish people in all lands and of all colors, of all backgrounds, have had to deal with some real terrible things,” he said, “but being Jewish is much more than suffering or surviving. It is about what we bring to the world and how we stand shoulder to shoulder with other peoples.”

Rabbi Marc Soloway, of Boulder’s Congregation Bonai Shalom, described the freedom of Jewish expression he felt upon first moving to the United States from Britain, where the shadow of the Holocaust loomed over his youth.

“People here felt this safety and self-confidence to express their experience of being Jewish,” Soloway said. “That literally changed overnight with the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh. Suddenly, everything changed. Almost every single synagogue in the country now has an armed guard outside, including ours.”

And while it is sometimes easy to feel like such division and hatred is elsewhere — in some other bitterly divided city far away from our bastion of tolerance and liberal values — hate resides here, too. Both Soloway and Greene pointed to recent shootings and attempted attacks — not necessarily against Jews — and noted that Colorado is home to several hate groups.

Still, for some, including Esty Scheiner, the daughter of Rabbi Pesach Scheiner of the Boulder County Center for Judaism, the Boulder community has shown up.

“From the non-Jewish community in Boulder I feel an incredible outpouring of genuine concern and compassion,” Scheiner wrote in an email. “When the kind people of our city witness baseless hatred, they are inspired to reach out to express their solidarity and love.”

Which shows that our actions matter. And while we have a track record of being a supportive community, there is work to be done. We cannot look at intolerance and feel like it is distant or abstract or as though we have banished it from our city limits. It is still tangible for many of our neighbors.

“Knowing that we have allies and that we are allies to others who feel unsafe, is really, really important,” Soloway said. “There are people feeling vulnerable, and messages of support mean something. The more that we feel we are one community that has each other’s backs, the better.”

This was a point that both Soloway and Greene stressed: The support must be mutual. Our efforts to uplift any community in a time of need should be returned in the other direction when necessary. These bonds, however you frame them — standing shoulder to shoulder, having each other’s backs — are what build communities. It is one imperative way to fight hate and intolerance — by ensuring no one is left behind in the quest for equality.

“There is a line in the Torah that says, ‘You must not be indifferent,’” Greene said. “But if you really parse it out, it says, ‘You cannot hide yourself.’ You cannot disappear. You cannot pretend you don’t see.”

“The thing about Hanukkah is that during the darkest time of the year, our job is to bring light,” Greene said. “And it shouldn’t just be for ourselves.”

Hate cannot be eradicated overnight. No matter our collective might, we will not be able to return antisemitism to the oblivion of irrelevance where it belongs anytime soon. The battle against intolerance will take time. And it will take resolve.

We are busy people. We have jobs. We have families. We have obligations and debts and friends and hobbies. And all of these things take time and energy. And so too does the fight against antisemitism and hate. It is exhausting. But we have shown before that we can do it. When tragedy strikes, time and again we have proven that we have the courage and the capacity to stand together and support and defend those in need.

What we need now, though, is to show up regularly. Not every day. And not always to protest or protect, but simply to do the determined work of building and maintaining the bonds that fortify a community.

Part of this work is to simply connect. Say hi. Make introductions. Ask questions and take the time to learn about the cultures and traditions that abound in our community. Reach out to friends and acquaintances to let them know they are not alone.

Solidarity goes a long way in the face of hate.

In a letter from the Birmingham, Alabama, jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

We cannot remain indifferent. Solidarity takes all of us. And it takes a daily recommitment.

“Showing up is the hardest thing to do, but it is the most profound,” Greene said. “We’ve all missed the mark. That’s why we have a new year. Let’s try harder.”

Gary Garrison for the Editorial Board