I’m going to give a lot of disclaimers before I write this post so you can understand where I’m coming from.

Here is the list:

1. I am not a political person.

2. The religious aspects of being Jewish has never been important to me.

3. I like the cultural side of Judaism but that is as far as it goes.

4. I have skipped going to high holiday services to play hockey with my friends.

5. I have never thought of myself as a minority,

6. I have always thought of myself being an American more than being Jewish.

I can’t believe I’m writing a post about the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States. The tipping point for me occurred two days ago when emails were sent to three synagogues in St. Louis, threatening to blow them up. This happened in the neighborhood where I grew up – a nondescript middle-class Midwestern area of St. Louis where being Jewish was never a factor.

Growing up in a city like St. Louis, being Jewish was not a big deal. I was just another kid, no different from anyone else in my class. Yes, I did go to Sunday school, but my non-Jewish friends didn’t think anything of it. We were simply American kids growing up together. Religious differences were never discussed because they simply weren’t important. While this may not be true in other parts of the country, in St. Louis, Jewish people assimilated seamlessly into society. I can’t recall a single instance during my upbringing where I or anyone I knew experienced any anti-Semitic remarks. It simply didn’t happen.

So what’s changed?

Nothing really except that time marches on and history tends to repeats itself. Let me explain…..

One aspect of human history that I wholeheartedly believe in is the repetition of events. Unfortunately, our lifespan of around a century is not long enough to fully learn from or remember lessons of the past. The past remains a distant memory that seemingly has no impact on our present lives. However, as I mentioned earlier, history does tend to repeat itself, and there may come a time when being Jewish is once again viewed negatively.

Throughout human history, the “majority” has consistently persecuted the minority due to their differences. People often believe in their own superiority over others. From the Greeks, Vikings, Romans, Crusaders, Chinese, Turks, Russians, British, Germans, Japanese, to the Americans, all have targeted minorities in order to further the interests of the prevailing majority in power. Minorities have always been convenient scapegoats.

Jewish people have been repeatedly targeted throughout history, although not in my lifetime. It has been almost 100 years since the Holocaust, and most of the survivors have passed away. While my children are aware of it, they view it as a distant event that did not directly impact them, as they rarely consider being Jewish as something different.

With all the recent upheaval in the world, it’s astonishing how much things have changed. I won’t assign blame for these changes as that is beyond my expertise, but I can attest to their dramatic nature. For the first time in my life, I feel like a minority, where my religious beliefs single me out. I never thought in a million years that I would be saying this in my lifetime. Unfortunately, I fear that the rise of antisemitism will worsen before it improves.

I’m not one of those “doomsayers” who believe that the Holocaust could happen again. It’s not that extreme, nowhere near that extreme. However, I do wonder how it will impact the next generation of Jewish people in America. Will they face job discrimination because of their Jewish identity? Will they be denied admission to certain schools because they are Jewish? I sincerely hope not. As of now, I don’t think that’s the case, but the current trend is certainly concerning.

My kids and grandkids will be growing up in a world that is quite different from the one I am familiar with. The term “antisemitism” wasn’t even part of my vocabulary. I don’t have any solutions or profound thoughts on how to address this situation. However, these are the facts that I encounter on a daily basis. Life is already challenging, and the thought of additional obstacles for my kids and especially my grandkids fills me with apprehension. I believe they will be okay because they are growing up in a somewhat sheltered environment that shields them from most of it. Nonetheless, it doesn’t change the fact that they may still face discrimination because of their Jewish identity, and that makes me sad.