Stand Up and Be Counted

Jewish communal leaders know how to stand up to those with whom they disagree. But what do we hear from too many of them about Trump? Crickets.

48 hours to go. 

I know you don’t need a reminder. Anxiety is through the roof, sleep in short supply.

I’m easing my nerves knocking doors in Pennsylvania, turning out low-propensity Democratic voters in a swing district. 

I couldn’t be more clear about the stakes - for our democracy, for my daughter’s right to make her own choices about her health, for the kind of country and world both my kids will inherit.

I’m clear as well that those whose doors I’m knocking have more immediate concerns: making ends meet; the cost of rent, gas and groceries.

I see the Harris campaign stretching to make a closing argument both against fascism and true to the “War Room” mantra that’s guided my political career: “It’s the Economy, Stupid.”

Yes, I’m shocked this is where we’re at. That 80 million people are voting to put a would-be dictator and convicted felon back in the Oval Office.

But I write today not to analyze why and how our democracy is breaking down, but to call out those who should be sounding the alarm and aren’t. 

Not just the editorial pages of leading papers. Not just Republican leaders who know better but stay silent.

My particular concern is to understand how every conceivable warning light isn’t flashing throughout the Jewish community. 

How is it that to find leadership in the old guard institutions of our community I have to quote the former head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman, “The gas chambers in Auschwitz did not begin with bricks, they began with words, ugly hateful words against Jews and other minorities. Jewish tradition teaches us words can hurt, words can kill. The blatant words of hate, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny at [last week’s] MSG Trump rally are dangerous and must be condemned.”

Last week, I wrote of my father and the values he instilled in me – helping me marry a commitment to Israel with the ethics on which I was raised. 

This week, I look to the other side of my family – to a grandfather who demonstrated the backbone and courage to stand up to hate and fascism, no matter the cost. 

My grandfather was an Austrian war hero who received the “Golden Cross of Merit with the Crown” – one of the nation’s highest honors – for bravery in World War I.

With the rise of Hitler, my grandfather Paul – a well-known national figure in Austria – loudly and publicly returned the coveted medal and spoke out against the threat of fascism. For that, he earned a top spot on Adolf Hitler’s ‘enemies list.’

Thankfully, he – and my mom and the immediate family – were able to flee to England before the war. But the Holocaust he warned of claimed many of his relatives, including his mother-in-law (my great-grandmother).

Fascism is no joke. Right-wing nationalism is a proven threat. The danger posed when grievance and hatred are unleashed shouldn’t be underestimated.

What Donald Trump may do with the levers of power firmly back in his hands – particularly with a Congress ready to lend a stamp of legitimacy – should send shivers down the spine of the whole American Jewish community. 

Sadly, the silence is deafening.

Where is the Anti-Defamation League? Where is the Conference of Presidents? The Federations?

“We don’t get involved in politics” is no excuse. 

Call out the hate. The lies. The incitement.

Stand with Gen. Mark Milley and make clear that Donald Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country” and a “fascist to the core.” With Liz Cheney who’s warned us of the threat to the foundations of this country. 

Mark Martin Niemoller’s words: First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came…. [you know the litany] And then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

Donald Trump and the people he surrounds himself with have a frighteningly long list of those they plan to come for. And no one should doubt they will.

Jewish community leaders know how to stand up to those with whom they disagree. We’ve all seen the communal sign-on letters, the pressure tactics, the multimillion dollar ad campaigns.

But with the United States of America teetering on the precipice of dismantling our democracy, our rights and our freedoms, what do we hear? Crickets. 

The danger ahead is clear; the choice stark.

Jewish communal leaders have 48 hours left to stand up and be counted.

P.S. If you need the arguments to send to Jewish friends and family with the case for Harris and against Trump, here’s my crack at it: 5 Reasons Jewish Voters Should Nix Trump.