Escalating protests on university campuses across the United States are persisting just as the Jewish community begins to celebrate Passover. At Columbia University in New York, after six consecutive days of protests, and more than 100 arrests, officials acted on Monday to move all classes to remote instruction to protect the safety of Jewish students.
Rabbi Rob Morais at Temple Anshe Hesed called the rise in antisemitism across the U.S. "remarkable and quite terrifying." In the kitchen at the temple, we found Edie Joseph preparing the elements of the Passover Seder meal. She shared how each food serves as a symbol to tell the story of their freedom - from the salty tears of bondage to God's faithfulness in leading their Exodus from slavery in Egypt.
But as this Passover arrives, Jewish students on campuses across the nation are not feeling safe or free, Rabbi Morais said. "They are being subjected to not only anti Israel political protests, but personal attacks on them simply because they're Jewish."
Rabbi Morais places the blame squarely on university administrators for not distinguishing free speech from hate speech early on, in the days after the Hamas attack on Israel. "And this is what happens when it's allowed to run unchecked under the guise of freedoms of expression and freedoms of speech, which this is not," the rabbi said. "And so you know, what what we have now is the university saying 'oops what are we gonna do, we we can't control this' --well, yes you can't control this because you let it go," he added.
The rabbi believes the Hamas-Israel conflict has become a new justification for an old hatred. "When the opportunity presents itself, these hatreds not only rise up but explode and and we've seen that with this, as people have used what is happening between Israel and Hamas as a way to express their hatred of the entire Jewish community,"
With the Passover celebration in mind, Rabbi Morais said Jews should be hopeful, for they know the story of God's faithfulness through many times of trials.
While he understands the global criticism of Israel's ongoing response to the Hamas attack and of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rabbi Morais believes it will take accountability on both sides to find a solution, and that includes Hamas releasing the hostages. "So I, you know, agree that Israel has to do its part, but the world is completely letting Hamas slide and without holding both parties to account I don't think we're gonna get anywhere."