Lessons Worth Learning: Don’t Cry Wolf… and Don’t Cry Antisemitism!

In April of this year, when New York City mayor Bill de Blasio used Twitter to call out the city’s Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community for not following social distancing rules, his message ignited a firestorm.
 
Some — most notably President Trump, Rudi Giuliani, and The Federalist website, as well as many Jews — immediately branded the mayor an antisemite. One cannot help but think the first three were thrilled to have any excuse to pander to Jewish voters.
 
BuzzFeed wrote the following about the brouhaha:
 
“ ‘My message to the Jewish community, and all communities [italics mine], is this simple: The time for warnings has passed,’ [de Blasio] tweeted soon after taking part in breaking up a public funeral of an Orthodox rabbi in Brooklyn that had broken social distancing rules.”
 
“But the broad attacks on the mayor merit a correction. Bill de Blasio, regardless of what the president’s eldest son and others who enjoy punching down at the oft-punched mayor suggest, is not antisemitic. He’s clumsy, and reflective of the frequently well-intentioned but dangerous thinking about Jews that has become increasingly popular in American politics.”
 
Critics of the mayor were infuriated that he seemingly singled out Jewish people (despite my italics above), especially at a time when Jews in New York and elsewhere were still reeling from vicious antisemitic attacks, some of which resulted in deaths.
 
The idea was that de Blasio’s tweet would encourage antisemitism — and that probably is true. But the answer is for all American citizens, ultra-Orthodox Jews included, to adhere to recommendations aimed at stemming the pandemic.
 
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities — both in New York City and Israel — have suffered an enormously disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
 
It is equally true that Haredim who flout the rules represent a small minority of the overall ultra-Orthodox community. Also, ultra-Orthodox rabbis have increasingly come around to urging their followers to toe the public health line. Nevertheless, some huge gatherings of the ultra-Orthodox have continued.
 
Yes, another truth is that President Donald Trump held innumerable massive rallies during the pandemic — few masks and no social distancing. And secular Israelis held huge demonstrations against Benjamin Netanyahu — again, no social distancing.
 
Of course, the Haredim are instantly identifiable by their attire, which is not true in the other cases. That makes them more susceptible to targeted criticism. There is little doubt that something of a double standard may have been at play. As far as I know, no one threatened Trump to stop holding the rallies or called out the attendees for participating.
 
For me, the bottom line is this: It is highly doubtful that Bill de Blasio is an antisemite. His tweet may have been misguided and tone-deaf, but that does not a Jew-hater make. When we are too quick to cry antisemitism in unfounded circumstances, we only dimmish our credibility when real cases erupt. Just like in The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
 
Unfortunately, there is more than enough genuine antisemitism in America and the world these days. We don’t need to imagine and manufacture any.
 
— Lenny Giteck, Publisher and Editor