"I live in a crazy time."--Anne Frank

Right now, I'm disheartened and I'm horrified.

There is a blatant act of anti-Semitism where Jews are portrayed as vicious blood-thirsty monsters.   Some people I support are promoting it.  When I read it, I was very disturbed.  I pointed out to the group that it was blatant anti-Semitism and I have come to find that the majority of (vocal) people in that group not only don't see it as such, but are arguing with me over the fact.

One such person has made it very obvious that he actually believes the lies in this anti-Jewish propaganda.  He believes certain Jews are monsters.  He came right out and used that exact word repeatedly.

Another person suggested that Jewish tradition is responsible for anti-Semitism.  She claims to have heard Neo nazis discuss those weird Jews, so obviously we did this to ourselves.  She saw no problem in that theory.

These people have made the "I'm sorry you're offended, but it's not anti-Semitic" argument.  One person suggested I was "Anti-semitic sensitive."  I'm not.  I am not one to jump on the "That's anti-Semitic" bandwagon over every little thing.  This, however, is not a little thing.  This is actually a group that I've defended from others who accused them of being anti-Semites.  I argued that, no, that's not what they're about.  But now I see, that for some, it actually is.  This horrifies me.

To a certain degree, I think non-Jews might think we're over-sensitive to anti-Semitism in certain respects just because they don't have the same life experience.  We have different understandings, difference experiences and different world views.  Yes, there are some of my fellow Yids who could be classified as "The boy who cried anti-Semitism," but that's not most Jews.

Luckily, all the non-Jews with whom I shared the anti-Semitic information and who have replied agreed that it was, in fact, anti-Semitic and horrifying.  My fellow Yids who saw it have all been very upset.  I was relieved to hear the non-Jews agreed because I'm really doubting humanity right now.

I'm at a loss.  I'm disheartened.  I'm horrified.  How can people be so hateful as to do this?  How can people be so daft or uncaring as to not see blatant anti-Semitism.  I find it chilling that so many people not only didn't see it, but then argued with me about it.

I'm so thrilled that I have friends who recognize cruelty and hatred.  It really did make me feel better to know that there are people out there who recognize this hatred and are horrified by it too.  At the same time, I'm saddened that it exists.

I was just talking with E today about how, in Germany, her great grandmother's rabbi built a sukkah in his apartment.  When I first heard that story and pointed out that building one indoors didn't fullfill the mitzvah (it needs to be outdoors among other things), Bubbe told me, "It was Germany.  We were Jews.  You just didn't do that there then."

In this day and age, my children's only experience with such hatred should be through stories--old stories of days long ago.  These should be old stories from which we all have learned and moved on to compassion and understanding.

And yet, here, in America, to a frightening number of people, we are still monsters and still portrayed as such.  Even more chilling is that when we are portrayed as such, there are those who argue that it is NOT anti-Semitic.