This year was not a normal Passover holiday. Six months after the brutal terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th, and over a week since Iran’s direct attack on Israel, Jewish people continue to reel while simultaneously dealing with rampant antisemitism on many fronts. This was a remarkably challenging Passover Seder for my family and many in the Jewish community.

My family held a large Seder, and the many children present loved playing together, but, sadly, the moments of joy from the Seder were quickly overshadowed when I was asked about the impact of antisemitism on collegiate life and Jewish students. My family had little idea about the prevalence and magnitude of antisemitism on campuses today—from the relatively small-scale incidents at Sarah Lawrence to the dangerous and intense situations at UC Berkeley and Columbia. Given how violent these “protests” on college campuses have become, it is shocking that they have flown under their radars.

While my family members were quick to point out that they read the New York Times—a paper not friendly to Jews—they admitted that they were uninformed in any real detail of what was happening throughout the various schools; they were even appalled when I told them about the tent city at Columbia and showed them videos of the hate, violence, and protests calling for the killing of Jews, the destruction of Israel, and acts of terror. I can’t even describe my family’s faces when they saw chants such as “Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too” and, “We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground.”

I mention this not to embarrass my family. Rather, I share this to note just how oblivious the Jewish community is to the threats against us, and they support me sharing this story. For context, the family members I was surrounded by were highly educated, socially and digitally literate, and active in the Jewish community. They are not avid users of social media and get their news from what have traditionally been mainstream, reputable sources. While most are not active in religious services and Jewish liturgical traditions, these family members are involved in Jewish Community Centers (JCCs), local Jewish Federations, and groups such as the American Jewish Community and Anti-Defamation League. These family members came to the Seder, hosted in Virginia, from a host of places, urban and suburban environments such as New York, Nebraska, California, and Florida, that all have varied Jewish institutions.

Despite all of these characteristics and the fact that they would be considered knowledgeable, engaged citizens by most measures, my family members truly were ignorant of the magnitude of the hate-filled, progressive culture shift that is “unlike anything in recent memory” as these anti-Jewish forces “continue to tear apart American campuses.” This lack of awareness poses an existential threat to the entire Jewish community.

The good news, for now, is that most of the nation has little patience for the progressive, anti-American nonsense happening on campuses today, despite how things appear on social media. If my family and members of the Jewish community do not understand the magnitude of antisemitism on college campuses now, they will soon.  However, the violent actions of students, faculty, and administrators, as well as the ideas on campuses, pose a significant threat to the Jewish community. What the country is witnessing is reminiscent of Hitler’s rise to power, enabled by faculty at elite German universities.

The Jewish community needs to be far more engaged with and alert to what is happening now throughout the country and cannot rely on traditional institutional allies to manage these illiberal forces. Although these dangerous social changes and hatred seem to have emerged quite suddenly, the groundwork has been laid at institutions of higher education for decades. These ideas have been supported for years by many proudly activist liberal Jews who foolishly believed that promises of ally-ship with the left and Democratic officials in the government would protect the rights and safety of all. Add to the mix the fact that non-Orthodox institutions are crumbling, communication is not effective, and the raw numbers of Jews have been in steep decline over the past few decades. It makes sense, then, that so many Jews have been caught unaware and blindsided by the perilous forces that are now ascendant on collegiate campuses and moving into the public sphere.  

It is not too late to push back against these progressive forces anchored in higher education that are infecting so many young people in the nation. One lesson from Passover is that the Children of Israel had to learn to become a unified people after the Exodus from Egypt to survive; the Jewish people can and must do this again given this new existential threat now emerging.

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