The Age Of Complacency Is Over: Why Our Generation Cannot Afford To Ignore The Warnings
By: Chaskel Bennett
History has a way of forcing people to confront hard truths. What if the warning signs are no longer warnings? I fear we have crossed that threshold.
For generations, many of us believed that antisemitism was the residue of history, a prejudice that would fade as societies became more enlightened and educated. We believed society had learned the lessons of the Holocaust. We thought that if we contributed to our communities, defended democratic values, and lived proudly as Jews, hatred would remain on the fringes and this time it would be different.
We were wrong.
Like a cancer, hatred that is not uprooted metastasizes and spreads. It grows more aggressive and becomes increasingly resistant. History teaches us where this unchecked hatred of Jews can lead.
What we are witnessing today is not random or temporary. It is the normalization of antisemitism throughout the Western world, cloaked in new language, amplified by technology, and increasingly legitimized by institutions and political movements that should know better.
The cities and continents may change. Accents may differ, but the slogans remain the same. So do the targets. On university campuses, in the streets of New York and across Europe and Australia, online and in the halls of academia, the pattern is unmistakable: Jewish students are harassed. Synagogues require armed security. Jewish businesses are targeted. Israel is singled out. Terror is rationalized. Violence is excused. Too often, decent people remain silent.
And now, there’s Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. He has campaigned alongside incendiary anti-Israel Twitch streamer Hasan Piker (who has 11.3 million followers across social media and happens to be a nephew of Cenk Uygur, CEO and founder of The Young Turks, a political network that has veered into antisemitism). El-Sayed’s father-in-law, a major financial backer of the super PAC supporting him, holds leadership roles in organizations that federal prosecutors have linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.
El-Sayed could soon be a United States senator.
New Yorkers should recognize the chessboard. Senator Chuck Schumer’s seat is up in 2028, and the Democratic Socialists have their sights on it. The political forces that propelled Zohran Mamdani to victory are eyeing a far greater prize: one of New York’s two seats in the United States Senate.
This is no longer happening on the fringes. It is happening in our time, in our neighborhoods, and at our polling sites.
The Jewish community can affect what happens next or remain irrelevant. We can sit back, shake our heads, and say, “What will be?” Or we can organize, participate, and send a message that will reverberate far beyond any single election. If this situation does not get our attention, what will?
Every era presents its own test. Those who came before us endured exile, pogroms, persecution, and the Holocaust. They rebuilt Jewish life from the ashes with extraordinary faith and determination. Together, they built thriving communities, strong institutions, and the foundation on which to live proudly as Jews.
Our generation is being asked whether we have the fortitude to protect what they built or if we will allow it to fade with apathy.
One of the greatest dangers facing the Jewish people today is not only the reemergence of antisemitism, it is believing that someone else will confront it, someone else will speak up, someone else will organize, someone else will vote, someone else will defend our people.
Apathy is accomplishing what our enemies could never have achieved on their own. Our indifference is threatening us.
The blessings of freedom, security, and opportunity in America are real, but if they blind us to the warning signs of antisemitism, we risk losing our resolve and ability to act.
If we are to prevail, with Hashem’s help, we must strengthen our Jewish identity and connection to our heritage, deepen our commitment to Torah and tefillah, invest in Jewish education, reinforce our institutions, and accept responsibility for our future.
Our adversaries are capable, well-funded, energized and organized: we must be smarter and more determined. We must outthink them, outwork them, out-organize them, and yes, outvote them.
That means showing up where political power is actually decided. In New York and other Democratic communities, that often means voting in the Democratic primary. Sitting it out because changing party registration feels like an ideological betrayal confuses symbolism with strategy.
Our adversaries register and vote.
Allow me to say it straight: Our community is not engaging in the political process. And then we have the unbridled chutzpah to complain about the results.
That is not a principle. It is political malpractice.
But resolve cannot end at the ballot box. It should be the beginning of a communal awakening. Every Jewish family should adopt a Jewish cause. Choose an organization that strengthens Jewish life and make it your family’s responsibility to donate, volunteer, advocate, and invest your time, resources, and voice. The amount matters less than the commitment.
Living as a Jew in America today can no longer be a spectator sport. We are all in this together.
When a Jewish-owned business is targeted because it is Jewish and supports Israel, outrage is not enough. Shop there. Eat there. Recommend it. Support it.
Every act of bullying or intimidation should be answered with greater investment in Jewish life. Our answer to those who seek to weaken us must be to strengthen what they seek to destroy: our shuls, our yeshivas, our chesed organizations, and the institutions that sustain Jewish life.
The responsibility is ours.
We did not choose this moment. This moment has chosen us.
The age of complacency is over.
It’s time to get back to work.
Chaskel Bennett is a Jewish communal leader, writer, and advocate who serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. He can be contacted at [email protected].
