TORONTO, Ontario – I am a Jew. Over my last nine decades, I have seen and experienced more than enough anti-Semitism. When I reflect on this experience, one thing stands out. Most antisemites I have encountered are hypocrites. They profess to hate Jews, yet they take advantage of everything Jews have done for them and the world.
Look at any demonstration, and what do you see? Men wearing jeans? Don’t they realize that those jeans were the result of a collaborative effort by two Jews, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss. Some of them were taking photos with their cellphones. Wasn’t it a Jew, Philippe Kahn, who first linked a camera to a cellphone? I noted that a few of them had ballpoint pens in their pockets. Yes, another Jew, László Bíró.
Many items we use today were invented by Jews: the grocery shopping cart (Sylvan Goldman), the laser (Theodore Maiman), stainless steel (Hans Goldschmidt), the USB flash drive (Dov Moran), Aspirin (Arthur Eichengün) and even Barbie dolls (Ruth Handler). Hedy Lamarr developed frequency-spread spectrum communication, a vital component of cell and cordless phone technology. Yes, the movie star. Didn’t we more or less invent the movie industry? We were forced to go that route when we were excluded from other established businesses.
The list goes on and on. Why does it do so? Because it is the role of every Jew to perform some form of “tikkun olam”, an obligation to fix or improve the world. Aspirin and ballpoints were not made for Jews alone. They are made for everyone, including those who hate us. We gave Islam a prophet, Christianity a savior, and for Canada we contributed to hockey. While Wayne Gretzky may not be Jewish, could his skills have come from a “Yiddishe kop” (Jewish head) inherited from his Jewish grandfather?
It is not only individuals who are anti-Semitic. Entire countries in the Middle East hate us. I have been to some of those countries. I was initially surprised to see Israeli drip irrigation being used. I had to keep quiet when describing a particular piece of equipment, since the only photo I had showed one built in Israel and installed in Saudi Arabia.
Why do these people hate us? There may be many reasons. I really don’t care. They should be aware that those hateful attacks can backfire. The Polish church forced the Jewish bakers to boil their dough to prevent them from competing with Christian bakers. Now we have bagels. The Inquisition forced Jews to convert or die. Many went through the motions and developed a method to cook fish so they could eat fish on Friday and avoid cooking on Saturday (the Sabbath). They were eventually found out and expelled. They arrived in England with a recipe that evolved into fish and chips. As bad as it was, the one positive from the holocaust was the impetus to create the modern State of Israel.
As Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said when he received the Theodor Herzl Award in 2023, “Antisemitism, born in ignorance and nurtured in envy, is the stepchild of delusion and evil and is a scourge that must be eradicated. Let’s face it, eradicating it is wishful thinking. There have been anti-Semites for millennia, and they are not going to stop now. What bothers me is that most anti-Semites seem unable to do a decent job of being an anti-Semite. Sure they carry on and scream or even throw stones and shoot up synagogues, but look at them. They object to Jews, but take full advantage of everything Jews have done to improve their lives. They use ballpoint pens, wear jeans, take their polio shots, dream about a white Christmas, and enjoy many other benefits provided by Jews.
I’m not going to dictate to anyone whether or not they should be an anti-Semite. I’m just saying that if they decide to be, they should take their actions seriously. Don’t play at it. Don’t be a hypocrite. Do your absolute best and put in a good 100% effort. Google “contribution of jews to society” and make a list. Don’t do or use anything on that list. I expect they might find that extremely difficult, so let me offer a better alternative. You may hate me for being a Jew. I don’t know you and have no reason to hate you. Maybe you should sit down for a coffee with me (or any other Jew) and have a serious chat. Maybe we could find common ground and become friends.
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