The Shocking Truth

Shocking. Unbelievable. Unconscionable.  

The now infamous and completely morally corrupt testimony of the three University presidents of MIT, UPenn and Harvard was shocking beyond words. The Presidents didn’t even try to lie or cover up their gross and intentional negligence towards Jewish students. Even more appalling than the smug and brazen refusal to answer simple yes or no questions by Representative Stefanik in the now famous clip, was the utter silence they gave to Rep. John James, an African-American congressman, when he asked the question: “Just remind us, what each of you are doing on your college campuses [to combat antisemitism]?” (I highly recommend that you take a minute to watch it for yourself HERE). 

We all know that if these questions were directed at the Universities’ responses regarding the rights of any other minority group, the answers would have been decisive and definitive.  

We see across the board – whether it’s University silence about the threats to Jews on campus that lead one student of UPenn to testify before Congress that “I do not feel safe,” or the silence of the UN and other leading feminist organizations in the face of the atrocities and crimes against humanity against Jewish women committed by Hamas on Simchat Torah, or the silence and deafening inaction of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to help the hostages in any way – the world has once again chosen to stand against Jews, against morality, and against God Himself. 

Even worse, bodies like the UN and the ICC which were created supposedly to ensure that there would “Never Again” be a Holocaust allowed on this planet – are exactly the bodies that are not only silent in the face of the Holocaust and blatant act of genocide that occurred on Simchat Torah, openly refusing to condemn Hamas, openly refusing to help Jews, but have even become Israel’s worst enemies, gaslighting Israel to say that Israel is doing to Gazans what Hamas actually did to us! The world bodies are even bringing incredible pressure to bear to try to stop Israel from retaliating and eliminating the threat Hamas poses to doing what it already promised to try to do: to commit the genocide of October 7 again and again and again, God should save us! 

When the pot boils, the froth comes to the surface. Against this backdrop, global antisemitism is soaring. Neo-Nazis are marching in broad daylight at the University of Wisconsin, and pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas antisemites are marching around the world. Antisemitic attacks and vandalism are reaching a tipping point. Jewish college students are told not to wear Jewish symbols, and a student at NYU testified before Congress that she was attacked by another student while wearing an American-Israeli flag pin – and nothing whatsoever was done to her attacker who continues to roam freely around campus! [Editor’s Note: According to data compiled by the Mosaic organization for the Knesset Subcommittee for Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy, campus antisemitism has risen by 700% since 7-Oct.] So much for “speech can become harassment if it leads to conduct” – it’s a bunch of bull anyway, but even to that they turn a blind eye! And hot off the press – hundreds of bomb threats to synagogues across America this past Shabbat. 

Scary and depressing does not even begin to describe the deep sea of terror and dread shaking every Jew on the planet to the core. It’s like we’ve been taken back in time into a black and white Holocaust horror film that we never dreamed we would be in. 

I know as a born JAP (Jewish American Princess) I’ve found myself thinking many times that all this is just too much for me. We were taught that this level of Jew-hatred was over, put into a glass box in a Holocaust memorial. Isn’t the new post-modern world past all this hatred?  

It seems that the answer is very clear – all the rules and protection and equality apply to everyone except Jews.  

Jews are still hated, still gaslighted, still held to double-standards, still labeled with whatever the society deems as bad – even if it means total hypocrisy. Even if it means that Jews defending themselves will be labeled as the very “Nazis” who murdered 6 million of us. That Jews in our own lawful land will be called “occupiers.” 

And it’s showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. In fact, Rabbi Arush has already given multiple warnings (see Rabbi Arush’s video Q&A on Aliyah) that the danger to Jews is liable to get a lot worse, Hashem should save us. 

(PS – Check out Rabbi Arush here saying that while Jews outside the Land do not feel safe, the most secure place is in the Land of Israel and especially in Jerusalem, which enjoys Hashem’s special protection. And contrary to what most think, Rabbi Arush says that after Mashiach comes, it will be a lot HARDER to get to Israel.  
So come NOW! We don’t know when it will be too late… I shake while reminding you that the Jews in Europe also thought they had more time.) 

I don’t know about you, but having our belief and trust in equality being spit in our faces in this matter has me shocked – and scared. 

Emuna – or Hell 

The point is not to bring everything out of the shadows in order to wring our hands. The point is to see where the world is going and realize that Rabbi Arush’s motto of “emuna or Hell” has never been so clear as right now. 

What’s the emuna? Rabbi Arush recently said that it’s forbidden to refer to the massacre of Simchat Torah as “Black Sabbath.” He said, “It was White Sabbath! The light of repentance came into the world! We see how many Jews are returning to Hashem because of what happened! Every day – more Jews! The light and happiness in the Upper Worlds are unimaginable. The whole world has waited for these days since creation!” 

Meanwhile, every week Rabbi Arush reminds us to never stop seeing Hashem in the miracles of the thousands of missiles of every type launched at Israel, and “statistically, zero killed.” How much Hashem is protecting us every minute – and to be filled with gratitude, thanking Hashem all the time. 

I don’t know about you, but it’s incredibly difficult to hold on to that reality out here in “the real world.” A world filled with yet another soldier who fell in battle. A world filled with a true war on social media, and yet another story from a captive who was taken hostage on 7-Oct.

This is exactly the point.  

As I mentioned in my article Not Just Another War, this is fundamentally a spiritual war for each and every Jewish soul. Will we hold onto our emuna, as Rabbi Arush teaches us to – or not??? 

Will we spend all day crying over the news and the feed, worried about what the next moment will bring? Or will we spend all day thanking Hashem for protecting us? 

Will we see the heavy darkness of antisemitism everywhere? Or the beautiful light of Jews unifying to help each other and finding their Jewish identity as never before? 

No one is immune from this war. Each and every one of us is struggling with it – and victory is not guaranteed, no matter who you are!  

Take it from me – I’m first in line to testify that I struggle with this fight multiple times each and every day, even with all my closeness to the teachings of emuna. I lose battles, and sometimes I feel that I can’t win. But the energy I receive when I’m in “emuna” mode keeps me going, even if I unfortunately spend plenty of time reeling in Hell… 

What gives me strength is Rabbi Nachman’s teaching: “Who is the one called victorious? The one who doesn’t put down his weapon.” 

The weapon of the Jew is prayer.  

So as long as you keep praying and begging Hashem for emuna, and doing your very best to follow Rabbi Arush’s advice, reading The Garden of Emuna and strengthening your emuna – Rabbi Nachman promises you will win! 

Update: If you still aren’t convinced of just how clear and present the danger is to Jews in America, journalist Ami Horowitz spoke to 35 random students on a left-leaning campus. 80% of them supported killing Jews around the world, specifically hitting soft targets like schools and synagogues. 50% were willing to put money towards the cause. Not one pushed back. Watch for yourself. 

To be continued in Why is There Antisemitism? 

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Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
   
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.