13 Comments
Jun 24Liked by Elissa Wald

Kol haKvod, Elissa! You never cease to amaze me!

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Jun 24Liked by Elissa Wald

Yishar koach, Elissa! May you go from strength to strength!

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Jun 25Liked by Elissa Wald

Thank-you, Elissa! Jeff and I look forward to your substack posts. Keep up all the good work! ✡️🇮🇱❤️🎶

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Jun 25Liked by Elissa Wald

Two groups of people hear dog whistles: those who do the whistling and those whom the whistles affect. Everyone else keeps moving without a flinch-because they didn't hear the whistle.

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That's a lot to digest in one post, but more power to you. You're right in saying that Israel has fought multiple enemies in the past, but you're also right that these enemies are better equipped than before (as is Israel). The part about anti-Semitic moves by publishers and litmags disturbs me as a former member of both groups, but I think it will past in time. Jews not only write books, we buy books. In the end, money talks

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The Jews who remained in Nazi Germany were also sure all the hatred would blow over. I hope it’s true but I'm not going to rely on it. I'm going to fight it with everything I have.

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You're right, in part, but there's very little similarity between the situation in Nazi Germany in the thirties and our country today. Of course it's important to fight anti-Semitism along with authoritarianism but exaggeration isn't really very helpful.

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Jun 24·edited Jun 25Author

Well, we see things very differently. It's true that the government isn't driving antisemitic hatred... yet. But the way Jews are being locked out of public life in countless ways is frighteningly similar. It's important to remember that you don't just wake up one day in a totalitarian state. Marginalization and dehumanization happen little by little over years and years until society is primed for it. The Tea Party was the lunatic fringe of the GOP until it became the GOP and that happened in the space of a single presidency. I see the same encroachment happening on the left. When it's coming from our most prestigious academic institutions and the entire world of arts and culture, things are already dire. Let the record reflect that I'm saying we downplay it at our peril.

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No argument with that, but we're not Germany which has a three hundred year tradition of anti-Semitism. It's true that Jews didn't believe things would go as they did because they were thoroughly integrated in the power structure, as we are here. There's also the matter of the depression they faced durke to determination of West to make them suffer. These are the conditions that produced Hitler. I have family members who died because of European anyi-Semitism, as I suspect you do, but this won't happen here.

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Again, I have no such faith.

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To each his or her own. I do believe in the essential fairness & generosity of America, but it's not out of faith or naivete.

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Thank you. Your bright spirit shines like a lighthouse in this world.

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