By Rabbi Zecharia Rubin
Dear Ms. Owens,
I am the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. I didn’t learn about hatred from a textbook, I watched it unfold in real life with my grandmother who lived in our home. I watched her suffer every single day from PTSD and depression. I saw her distrust in everyone around her.
Her fear didn’t end when the war ended. It was carried home, passed down, and absorbed quietly by the next generations. Antisemitism is not abstract for me. It’s personal and ongoing.
Your recent statements, in which you promoted false claims about Jews controlling the transatlantic slave trade and spreading conspiracies about individuals like Ben Shapiro and the State of Israel, are deeply concerning. These are not harmless opinions; they are echoes of centuries-old lies that have fueled discrimination, harassment, and violence against my community.
You say that the Jews control everything. Was that true when my grandfather hid in the forests protecting his family and others from murderous Nazis? Was it true when my grandmother was placed in a concentration camp for the simple crime of being Jewish? Were my grandparents in control when they celebrated their wedding in the mess hall at the Displaced Person's camp wearing recycled wedding gown and suit, daring to build a family even though they had absolutely nothing?
My grandparents, Helen and Joseph Wasserman, seated second and third from the left in the front row, in the mess hall in the DP Camp
Ms. Owens, who was in control when Jews were massacred on October 7th or more recently on Bondi Beach? Who is in control when antisemitic events rise throughout the world?
By sharing these fallacies, you are fanning the flames of antisemitism. Today, nearly half of American Jews report avoiding at least one ordinary behavior, not attending events, not wearing visible symbols, not posting online, because of fear. After the Hamas attacks in 2023, 78% of American Jews said they felt less safe in the United States itself. Antisemitic incidents rose 139% from 2022 to 2023. This is not paranoia. The data reflects this reality, and you are contributing to this unbridled Jew hatred.
Antisemitism often doesn’t first appear as violence. It starts with words, lies, and insinuations. It’s being told, “That’s not really antisemitic.” It’s being expected to justify your existence, or watching hatred dismissed as politics. It’s hearing claims rooted in centuries-old propaganda, like those you cited, repeated in public forums.
But history shows how quickly words can escalate into actions. Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust because others decided they were different, dangerous, and deserving. Lies can be lethal.
I Refuse to Let Your Hatred Affect Me
Ms. Owens, I do not expect you to change, but your words will not change me either. I will not hate, as you claim all Jews do. I will do my best to be a light unto the nations—through learning and teaching, through acts of kindness and justice, through building rather than destroying. I will continue to live openly as a Jew.
We are a people shaped by memory and survival, who have endured exile, persecution, and loss, yet have continually chosen life. Across history, the Jewish people have helped shape ethical thought, advanced medicine and science, enriched culture and literature, strengthened education, and stood at the forefront of humanitarian efforts. We build families and communities, establish institutions, heal the sick, pursue knowledge, and strive to repair the world.
Even as you project your hate onto us, we continue to contribute, to create, and to hope, affirming through our lives that resilience, morality, and compassion are stronger than prejudice.
Your words cannot erase our history. We will continue impacting the world with resilience and love.
Reprinted from the current website of aish.cm
