Thursday, April 18, 2019

This Passover, the Imperative of Educating Americans about Anti-Semitism


By David Bernstein, President and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Passover accentuates so much of the Jewish experience—freedom from captivity, the need to educate ourselves and our children, compassion in the face of adversity and, not least, the continued threat of hatred and anti-Semitism. 

The Passover Haggadah is essentially the story of how Jews fought and defeated anti-Semitism. Pharaoh was the ultimate anti-Semite, enslaving, oppressing and murdering Jews. Unfortunately, the Exodus from Egypt was the beginning, not the end, of the story of anti-Semitism. The coincidence of Passover with the Easter holiday placed vulnerable Jewish communities in great danger for being blamed and targeted for killing Jesus Christ. Such Jew hatred often drew upon bizarre blood libel accusations that Jews made matza with the blood of Christian children.

Click here for the full article.

Source: The Jewish Council for Public Affairs

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