Tag Archives: #antisemitism

A seventeen-year-old’s powerful stand against hate

One million paper clips are piled high on black construction paper on the stage, lit by a spotlight. Above it, the flickering black and white film of Jews walking to their deaths in a Nazi concentration camp is being shown on a theater-sized screen. And standing in front of the stage is the seventeen-year-old Edgewater High School (EHS), Florida, senior who orchestrated this scene, along with several other exhibits that make a powerful stand against antisemitism and many hate.

The first thing you notice about Adam Mendelsohn is his hair. Standing at six feet tall, Mendelsohn adds another two inches with his wild dark brown curls, complimented with a gray yarmulke perched in the back. As the organizer of the January 9, 2025, Hate Ends Nowcommunity event, Adam radiates a confidence and maturity that is unusual in such a young man.

The previous summer, Adam had attended a meeting of the local Jewish Student Union (JSU). Founded in 2002, the organization oversees 200 Jewish culture clubs on public high school campuses to provide Jewish teens with programs that strengthen their Jewish identity and connection to Israel. On that day, Rabbi Daniel Nabatian, the co-director of the Central Florida branch, encouraged the students to make an impact—no matter how small—to fight against the rising wave of antisemitism that had gripped the world since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Adam was determined to bring the JSU message to Edgewater High School students and staff. Following up on his memory of a similar exhibit, he contacted Hate Ends Now, a nonprofit whose mission is to combat hatred and indifference by educating people about the history of the Holocaust and all forms of bigotry. The organization offered not only artifacts from the Holocaust but also an exact replica of a World War Two-era cattle car that was used to transport Jews and other targeted groups to concentration and death camps. A twenty-minute, 360 degree immersive presentation offers an impactful educational experience. With the support of Dr. Alex Jackson, Edgewater’s principal, and his assistant, Valerie Lopez, Adam worked with Todd Cohn, the CEO of the nonprofit, schedule the event in Orlando for January 9, 2025.

Adam then started a fundraising campaign to pay for the cattle car and other expenses. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, including the Ginsberg Family Foundation and Massey Services, the seventeen-year-old raised over $30,000, enough to cover most of the expenses.

Adam’s next step was to contact local organizations whose mission aligned with the core values of the event to sign on. Participants included the Jewish Student Union (JSU); Chabad C-Teen; Shalom Orlando, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida; the Anti-Defamation League, and Central Florida Pledge, a network of community members in Florida who stand up against discrimination and hate.

Adam now began the search for a Holocaust survivor. Jasmine Flores, the community relations manager for the Greater Orlando Massey Services, connected Adam with Ludwig (Lou) Ziemba, an 82-year-old Kissimmee resident, through her involvement in Maitland Rotary. Ziemba was born in the Lodz Ghetto on September 9, 1942, one day before 13,000 children under ten were to be sent to an extermination camp. Arrangements were made for the infant to be hidden in a garbage truck and smuggled outside the Ghetto where a Christian Polish farmer retrieved him and took him home to be raised as his own. Miraculously, his parents survived and were able to retrieve their “hidden child” when they were freed three years later.

The paper clip exhibit was a last-minute miraculous addition to the event. On Sunday, through a conversation with Beth Landa, Ziemba’s wife, Adam learned about Paper Clips, a documentary that highlighted the 1998 efforts of middle school students from Whitwell, Tennessee, to collect six million paper clips representing the six million Jews killed by the Nazis. According to Wikipedia, at last count, over 30 million paper clips had been received.

A preliminary research of the documentary compelled Adam to see if he could locate a low-cost source of paper clips. The manufacturing plant of Bulk Office Supplies was in Tampa, but was closed for the weekend. Undeterred, he located the name of the founder and owner of the company, Alex Minzer, on Facebook. Encouraged by Minzer’s “Never Again,” hat, Adam messaged him; Minzer answered almost immediately. Alex Minzer had sold the company to Levi Haller, who was currently in Jerusalem. Alex helped connect Adam with a wholesaler in Tampa who would provide the paper clips at cost – and later that same day Levi Haller reached out to Adam to say that decided that Bulk Office Supply would donate the 1 million paper clips, inspired as he was by the project’s mission and Adam’s passion.

Next problem: how would the paper clips get from Tampa to Edgewater in time? Fortunately, Adam’s father Jason was returning from a business trip on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday. Adam quickly did the math, his favorite subject, to confirm all the boxes would fit into his father’s car. All good! The clips were successfully delivered at one o’clock, only 28 hours before the event was scheduled to open.

Adam and a group of student volunteers began the tedious task of opening the 10,000 small boxes of 100 paper clips and piling them onto a 7X7 foot square of construction paper that had been placed on the stage in the school’s auditorium. When the school day ended at 2 pm, Adam stayed on, working alone and then with his father, until 8 pm. “When I left, I looked at the pile and despaired,” said Adam. “I had no idea how the project could be completed.”

Adam returned to EHS the next morning at 5 am. By school opening, the whole student body was aware of the urgency to finish the job. “It was crazy!” Adam said. “Students were rotating in and out of the auditorium to provide help over the next several hours.” The pile was completed at 1 pm, twenty-four hours after the initial delivery. “I now hate paper clips,” Adam said with a laugh.

At five pm, the doors opened to the public. Over 500 people attended the three-hour event. They perused the display tables, munched sandwiches provided by Kosher Grill, listened intently to Ziemba, looked over the chilling artifacts on the Hate Ends Now tables, sat in the quiet auditorium to contemplate the million paper clips, and, at scheduled times, viewed the powerful immersive presentation in the cattle car parked just outside Edgewater’s entrance.

Dignitaries included United States Representative Maxwell Frost, Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani, staffers sent on behalf of Senator Rick Scott and United States Representative Darren Soto, and members of the EHS school board.

“This is an incredibly powerful experience,” said Frost. “I believe that every high school student should have the opportunity to witness the horrors of this tragic time in world history through such exhibits. This event serves as a reminder that when we lead with love, we can stop hate in all forms and make sure this type of history never repeats itself.”

Todd Cohn also commented on Adam’s project. “It’s rare to see such a young individual take on such a meaningful project with this level of commitment,” the Hate Ends Now CEO. “He made a lasting impact not only on us but on everyone who experienced the exhibit. Adam is a shining example of how one person can make a big difference.

Ziemba found sharing his story with a large and diverse audience to be exhilarating. Despite his history, Ziemba still believes love will prevail.

“Try to accept people,” Ziemba told Orlando’s Spectrum Cable News reporter Sasha Teman. “I know I grew up loving people, and I still love people.”

Adam is grateful to all involved in making the project a success. He also plans on sharing the message with him beyond high school “Barriers which prevent love and peace can be destroyed by understanding that we are all the same,” he said. “I plan on carrying the torch of compassion, acceptance and tolerance throughout my life.” And the one million paper clips? Plans are underway for the clips to be gathered in a lucite case with signage that will be placed in the Edgewater High School’s entrance hall. Adam’s hope to make a difference and to combat hate of all kinds will now be his lasting legacy.

Originally published January 25, 2025. Updated May 26, 2026

Those who wish to make a contribution to Hate Ends Now in honor of Adam Mendelsohn and his project, please click here.

All photos provided courtesy of Cara Dezso

As a Jew, I will not vote for Donald Trump as he fails to reflect my values. [Revised 10/10/2024]

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On November 5, 2024, Americans will be voting in what many view as the most consequential elections in our history. As I make my selections, it will be imperative that my choices reflect the values that are important to me not only as a Jew but also as a human being, those values concerning freedom, truth, justice, equality, intelligent leadership, and empathy.

In a recent poll by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, 72% of Jewish voters backed Vice President Kamala Harris, and 25% supported former President Donald Trump. In 2021, the Pew Research Center published “Jewish Identity and Belief, ” a study based on a survey of Jews as to what attributes are most essential to being a Jew. Based on five of its most essential, here are some of the possible reasons why so few Jews back candidate Trump:

“Remembering the Holocaust:” DonaldTrump has praised dictators, including Vladimir Putin (“a genius” and savvy”) Victor Urban (“fantastic”); and Kim Jung-un (“tough, smart guy.”) This alone should disqualify him for office. Taking a page from his dictator friends’ playbook, he recently posted on his website Truth Social that he will lock up political opponents.”“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences.” Furthermore, according to the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), Donald Trump has mirrored the fascist rhetoric of Hitler and Mussolini through his antisemitic tropes, including the vile “duel loyalty” lie. He has accused Jewish Democrats as hating Israel and their religion, calling them “fools” and needing to have “their head examined.” On September 19, 2024, Trump asserted, “If I don’t win this election the Jewish people would have a lot to do with that,” (Note: Jews make up only 2.5% of the U.S. adult population).Even J.D.Vance, Trump’s vice president choice, wrote privately to an associate in a 2016 email that he viewed Trump as “America’s Hitler.”

Trump’s recent rhetoric has been as disconcerting if not more dangerous. In two separate talks to Jewish groups in Washington D.C. on September 19, Trump asserted, “If I don’t win this election the Jewish people would have a lot to do with that.”

His comments were immediately excoriated by prominent Jewish groups. including the American Jewish Committee. “Whoever a majority of the Jewish community votes for, Jews — roughly 2% of the U.S. population — cannot and should not be blamed for the outcome of the election. Setting up anyone to say ‘we lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous. Thousands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to antisemitic hate and violence.”

“Leading an ethical and moral life:” According to the Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims over the 4 years of his presidency. Along with six corporate bankruptcies, his legal woes include indicted or alleged crimes including Trump University, hush money payments, sexual abuse and defamation, falsified business records, and attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election show. Most recently, Trump’s lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, with claims that hurricane money was spent to house illegal immigrants, has complicated the recovery. “It is paramount that every leader, whatever their political beliefs, stops spreading this poison,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates wrote in the memo, adding: “This isn’t about politics — it’s about helping people.”

‘Working for Justice and Equality in Society:” Coupled with his being on the wrong side of the law as enumerated above, Donald Trump has known to align himself with and has emboldened dangerous far-right wing extremists. He dismissed the neo-Nazi and white supremacists’ 2017 deadly demonstration in Charlottesville, North Carolina, with his infamous,“There were good people on both sides.” He has disparaged immigrants, the disabled, Gold Star parents, veterans, prisoners of war, veterans, Haitians, Blacks, Muslims and, as noted above, all his political opponents.

“Being Intellectually Curious:” In 2018, Trump defended himself against negative reports regarding his mental capacity to handle the presidency with a tweet stating he was “very smart” and “a very stable genius. On 5/21/2021, New York Times reported on information shared by 10 then-current and former officials involved in the president’s intelligence briefings. They stated Trump frequently ignored information with which he disagreed, veered off in tangents, demonstrated a short attention span, and relied on conservative media and friends for information.

“Caring about Israel:” Trump repeatedly states that as president he did more for Israel than any other president, citing the 2020 Abraham Accords. As we commemorate the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023, massacre, however, his rhetoric demonstrates his serious lack of support for Israel. His initial comments a few days later were to praise Hezbollah, another terrorist group, as “very smart,” Recently, on the event’s first anniversary, he used a conservative talk show’s podcast to put the spotlight on his own grievances.“Israel has to do one thing. Israel has to get smart about Trump,” he was quoted in The Times of Israel,” because they don’t back me.” John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor, warns that the former president cannot be trusted. “ Trump’s support for Israel in the first term is not guaranteed in the second term, “ said Bolton, “because Trump’s positions are made on the basis of what’s good for Donald Trump, not on some coherent theory of national security.”

When someone shows you who they are,” wrote Maya Angelou, “ believe them the first time.” This election day, we can choose a path, a future in which democracy can continue forward. Please join me in voting for Kamala Harris.

Sources:

Britzky, Haley. “Everything Trump says he knows ‘more about than anybody.’” Axios. January 5, 2019.

Cillizza, Chris. “Trump’s ‘very stable genius’ tweet shows he isn’t.” CNN. January 7, 2018.

DeValle, Lauren et. Al. “Jury finds Trump must pay $83.5 million to E. Jean Carroll. CNN. January 26, 2024.

“Hear Trump praise dictators at New Hampshire rally.”CNN. November 12, 2023

Holmes, Kristin Andrew Millman, “Trump praises ‘fantastic’ Viktor Orbán while hosting Hungarian autocrat at Mar-a-Lago for meeting and concert.” CNN March 3, 2024.

Jewish Democratic Council of America Website https://jewishdems.org/

Kelly, Laura. “Trump says ‘Jewish people would have a lot to do’ with his loss ‘if that happens.” The Hill. September 20, 2024.

Kessler, Glenn, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelly. “Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years.” Washington Post. January 24, 2021.

Magid, Jacob.“Trump: ‘Israel has to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me’”The Times of Israel. October 7, 2024.

Markoe, Lauren. ‘Outrageous and dangerous’: Jewish groups blast Trump after he said Jews would bear blame if he loses.” Forward. September 20, 2024.

Pew Research Center. “Jewish identity and belief.” May 11, 2021 (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/jewish-identity-and-belief/)

Rodriguez, Sabrina and Justine McDaniel. “As Trump makes false claims about hurricane relief, White House calls it ‘poison.’” Washington Post. October 4, 2024

Savage, Charlie and Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Michael Gold. B “Trump Steps Up Threats to Imprison Those He Sees as Foes.” New York Times. September 9, 202

Sheffy, Steve. “Your Republican Friends need to know the facts.” The Times of Israel. September 11, 2024.

Soifer, Halie. “Not just about defeating Trump: Why Kamala Harris is the next president that Jews need.” Forward. August 22, 2024.

Slattery, Gram and Helen Coster. “J.D. Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now they are running mates.”Reuters. July 15, 2024.

U.S. News Staff. “All of Trump’s Legal Woes” U.S. News. Aug. 28, 2024.

Reflections on Hanukkah, Israel, and Antisemitism

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On Thursday, December 7, 2023, Jews around the world will begin celebrating Hanukkah, which commemorates a time in Jewish history where we faced the possibility of annihilation.Now, 2190 years later, Jews face yet another enemy whose covenant calls to obliterate the state of Israel and to carry its jihad against all Jews “until judgement day.” As I light my candles over the holiday’s eight days, I will reflect on the following.

One: I stand with Israel. Absolutely. I am sad, afraid, angry and grieving for all the lives lost during this conflict. But Israel did not start this war. Hamas did. And the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), like the Maccabees, must fight with every ounce of their strength to root out the evil that is Hamas.

Two: The rise over the lawsuit and the proposed highway.of antisemitism around the around the world is terrifying, and it is hitting too close to home. Who would have thought that neo-Nazis would be marching outside the gates of Disney? That banners with swastikas would be hung on an I-4 overpass? That our Florida synagogue would have to hire a security guard so that we can attend services without fear of being mowed down like the members of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life?

Shortly after the October 7 massacre by Hamas, Jewish community leaders and a representative from the AntiDefamation League met with Congressman Darren Soto.He opened our meeting by pledging his support for Israel and the Jewish community. “I have your back,” he said. “We must stand against all forms of hate.” He then turned the meeting over to his constituents, where we were able to voice our concerns. As the war continues, I will be in contact with my representatives on the state and national level to encourage them to continue their support.

Three: I am prouder than ever to be a Jew. For many years, I have worn a butterfly charm on a necklace, which represents to me the souls of the six million who died in the Holocaust. Soon after the war began, I dug out my Jewish star and added it to my necklace, displaying my connection to Judaism with pride and resolve.

Four: During this terrible time, attending services at my synagogue gives me a sense of community. At times it feels that it is the Jews against the world. Being in a room where I am not alone in our fears, sadness, and grief. gives me comfort.

Five: I will continue to use my writing to bear witness to moments of Jewish sacrifice, survival, and strength.Since 2017, I have been writing down stories of Eastern European Jews escaping pogroms, Holocaust survivors, WWII Jewish soldiers, and Jews and Righteous Gentiles who fought and continue to fight against Jew-hatred and Holocaust denial. My writing has found a purpose: To make sure their stories are never forgotten.

Six: Israel needs more than hopes and prayers and words. It is in desperate need of funds to counteract the effects of this war on its economy and its citizens.The websites of the ADL and other Jewish organizations list recommended donation sites, including Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical response organization; Leket Israel, the country’s largest food bank; and Hadassah Hospital, which treats both Jews and Arabs.

Seven: I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion and support from my non-Jewish friends. “My heart is broken in two,” wrote Ginny Campbell. “We all share one God. I can only believe His heart is broken too.Know my prayers are with you and all our brothers and sisters who are grieving tonight. Love can and must win out in the end.”

Eight: Following the lead of Israelis who have suffered such great loss, I will find joy and hope. “We are part of a people that sanctifies life,” Rabbi Doron Perez, reflecting on the October 23 wedding of his son, who suffered a leg injury on October 7, and another son has been declared missing “[The future] will be a new dawn and a much better time for the Jewish people”

“I am a Jew because at every time when despair cries out, the Jew hopes,” wrote French writer and thinker Edmond Fleg in 1927. Only time will tell what will happen in the future. Over eight evenings, our family will light our colorful Hanukkah candles. This year, we will add to the traditional blessings the Mi Sheberach, a prayer for physical and emotional healing for all human beings facing illness and pain; and Oseh Shalom, a prayer for peace, salaam, shalom. שָׁלוֹם

Originally published in the Orlando Sentinel, December 3, 2023.

Marilyn Shapiro, Kissimmee, is a retired educator and an author. Her blog is http://www.theregoesmyheart.me.

My Sources:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/neo-nazis-thriving-florida-ron-desantis-1234824505/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/12/hamas-planning-terror-gaza-israel/?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas_Charter#:~:text=The Covenant proclaims that Israel,instilling these views in children.

As a Jew, I fear what is happening in Florida

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“Have money set aside and have flesh on your bones.”

This was the advice given to a friend who grew up as the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her parents instilled in her and her brother the need for hyper-vigilance in case the unthinkable happened again. The couple’s circle of friends, fellow survivors of Nazi Germany, expanded the advice to include a ready passport and a warm coat in which money and jewels were sewn into the lining.

Since 2015, I have been researching and writing stories about Holocaust victims as told by themselves or their children. Each story relives in me the sacrifice, the terror, and the strength shown by the targets of Hitler’s Final Solution. And it comes down to this: Although they comprised a mere 1.7% of the population of Europe when Hitler came to power in 1933, over six million men, women, and children were murdered for the crime of being Jewish.

Hitler’s campaign against the Jews didn’t start with guns and ghettos and gas ovens. It started in 1933 with words: slow building propaganda effort to denigrate Jews, their accomplishments, and achievements. Those words were reinforced with images: distorted drawings of Jews as controlling octopi, fat bankers, and Christ killers. Words and images morphed into book bans and book burning. These actions grew into increasingly more restrictive laws regarding where Jews could work, shop, seek medical attention, and live. By November 10 , 1938, Kristallnacht, “Night of the Broken Glass,” Jews had neither rights nor means to escape. Trapped, two-thirds of Europe’s Jewry were murdered by bullets, beatings, starvation, or the gas chamber.

Unfortunately, the lessons of the Holocaust has done little to end Jew hatred. According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in Florida have doubled since 2020, with 269 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism reported. This rise has been seen across the United States and the world. In a recent interview with Steven Colbert, Stephen Spielberg commented, “Not since Germany in the ’30s have I witnessed antisemitism, no longer lurking but standing proud with hands on hips like Hitler and Mussolini — kind of daring us to defy it. I’ve never experienced this in my entire life. Especially in this country.”

On June 10, 2023, neo-Nazis had held a rally not far from the gates of Disney World, in which they waved posters with swastikas, Nazi flags, the Florida state flag and posters supporting Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida. While other Florida leaders across party lines immediately stepped up to condemn the actions, DeSantis has yet to comment. As noted in an article in the 6/12/2023 Tallahassee Democrat, “While the governor has been quick to tout his pro-Israel support and legislation, his office has in the past been slower to weigh in on public antisemitic displays.”

Books and course work pertaining to the Holocaust have been caught up in Florida’s legislators fight against “woke” education. History of the Holocaust, an on-line course, and Modern Genocide were rejectedfor including topics on social justice and critical race theory. A third book was allowed after “politically charged language” was removed.

As a result of complaints from parents in Martin County, Florida, Jodi Picoult’s The Story Teller, a novel about a friendship between a former Nazi SS officer and the granddaughter of an Auschwitz survivor, was taken off the district’s shelves for “sexually graphic scenes, including depictions of sexual assault by Nazi guards. Picoult, a bestselling author who saw 19 more of her books targeted by anti-woke advocates denounced the move. “Books bridge divides between people, said Picoult. “Book bans create them”

Florida’s current climate comes chillingly too close to what happened in Nazi Germany. Despite the fact that transgender people make up approximately 1% of the nation’s population, the Republican legislators in Tallahassee have passed bills restricting transgenders from using public bathroom, denying them gender affirming medical treatment and drugs, and limiting the rights of parents of transgender children. In response to Tallahassee’s attempts “to erase Black history and restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.” the NAACP justifiably issued a travel advisory to African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals

Since 2021, DeSantis and the Republican legislature have passed bills that, as reported in a 4/23/2023 Washington Post article, will give us an idea what “Make Florida America” would look like under a DeSantis presidency. Restrict third-party registration groups, which have long been in the forefront of signing up Black and other minority voters. Eliminate campus diversity programs. Prohibit state and local governments from making investments based on environmental, societal and governance (ESI) benchmarks. Ban abortions after six weeks, Expand “Don’t Say Gay” to include all grades (K-12) in public schools. Make it easier to sue news media for defamation and win. Make it harder to sue insurance companies. Allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons without permit or proof of training. Allow DeSantis to run for president without resigning the governorship and without having to disclose his travel records while campaigning around the country.

Florida residents have a choice. We can leave, finding a place—hopefully that does not require passport and a warm coat that conceals valuables—that is more accepting. Or we can stay and fight with our words and our images and our vote. Thomas Kennedy, a Florida activist, stated in a 6/27/2023 Miami Herald article that the current far-right climate may serve as a motivation for change. “If we don’t at least check these….far-right figures that are starting to create a laboratory for extremist policies in Florida,” said Kennedy, “the Florida of today could become the America of tomorrow.” Remember this as we celebrate our country’s birth and look ahead to our country’s future.

https://antisemitism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Antisemitic-imagery-May-2020.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/03/steven-spielberg-says-antisemitism-today-is-standing-proud-with-hands-on-hips-like-hitler

https://itstartedwithwords.org/resources/antisemitism/timeline-of-antisemitism/

Bestselling writer Jodi Picoult denounces Florida book ban

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article276707966.html

.https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2023/06/12/nazi-flags-at-disney-how-has-ron-desantis-addressed-antisemitism/70312857007/
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/jodi-picoult-holocaust-novel-banned-from-school-in-inappropriate-books-row-5ciENrdr4HmK7DDw21I4ku

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/16/ron-desantis-florida-proposals

First published in the Capital Region’s Jewish World, a bi-weekly publication.

Musings on Hemingway, cats, and anti-Semitism in literature

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Ernest Hemingway loved cats. I knew the minute I walked into his former house in Key West. Despite the beautiful day and the open windows, the smell of felines permeated every room. Our tour guide Doug introduced us to Gloria Swanson, Rudolf Valentino, and Betty Grable, three of the forty plus six-toed cats that roamed the grounds. All were descendants of his first polydactyl cat, Snow White.

I also love cats. Our family alway had one or two when I was growing up. We had to give away two Siamese beauties when we realized that they were using the space under the claw toothed tub as a litter box. Most of the time, however, the cats stayed with us until they disappeared. My favorites were Romeo and Juliet, the former renamed Rebishka when “he” delivered a litter of kittens on my bed while I was sleeping in it.

When our children were young, we were given a stray that we named Fluffy. She died of feline leukemia three years later. By this time, it was obvious that Larry was allergic. This didn’t stop me from adopting two more. “The children miss Fluffy,” I told Larry.

Salty, the orange tiger, was more loving than his misnamed sister Cuddles, a calico. He especially loved Larry, who sneezed and sniffled every time Salty sat on his lap.

One evening, before Larry left for a synagogue board meeting, he gave me an ultimatum. “Find a new home for Salty or find a new husband.” Soon after he left, I got a phone call from my friend Diane, who is even more allergic than Larry.

“The kids brought home a stray kitten,” she said. “Could you please take it in until you can find it a home?” I couldn’t say no. Within five minutes after receiving the orange ball of fur,, Adam and Julie had named him Pumpkin.

Larry came home that night to THREE cats. Fortunately, I didn’t need to find a new husband. A co-worker immediately adopted Pumpkin, and a few days later another friend adopted Salty. We were back to a one-cat household.

To no one’s surprise, Larry became Cuddles’ favorite human. The two of them often played cat ball. Larry would roll up a piece of aluminum foil, skid it across the floor, and Cuddles would bat it around the house. When she was fourteen years old, our beautiful cat disappeared one night and never returned. (A friend consoled me with the suggestion that Cuddles was “fox food”). We found cat balls for months. Ten years later, while in the process of installing a new dishwasher, we found no less than twenty of them in the briefly emptied space.

By this time, we realized that all of us were allergic to cat dander, but I never have lost my love for them. When I visit a house with cats, I can’t wait to pet them and hear that wonderful purr. So at the Hemingway House, I petted each one that got within arms’s reach.

At one point, I also loved Ernest Hemingway, so much that I completed an independent study on him and his writing in my senior year at University at Albany. The Sun Also Rises, Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea—I admired his sparse style, his characters, and his complex search for the masculine ideal. I was, as I have shared with readers before, young, naive, sometimes clueless.

It was not until many years later that my opinion of the author changed. Reading his novels and other material about Hemingway from a more mature eye, I saw more clearly the man behind the myth—a narcissistic, heavy drinking male chauvinist. As Bernice Kert stated in The Hemingway Women: Hemingway could not truly sustain any of his four marriages. “Married domesticity may have seemed to him the desirable culmination of romantic love, but sooner or later he became bored and restless, critical and bullying.”

His relationship with his third wife, the American journalist Martha “Marty” Gellhorn, clearly demonstrates these characteristics. Resentful of her long absences as she pursued international stories, Hemingway protested, “Are you a war correspondent, or wife in my bed?” The final straw for Gellhorn (and mine!) was when she learned that Hemingway had convinced Charles Cobaugh, her editor at Collier magazine, to send him to the European front instead of his wife. In her excellent novel Love and Ruins, Paula MacLean describes Gellhorn’s reaction to the betrayal. “You could have gone to any magazine in the world, absolutely any of them. I didn’t know you had such a cruel streak in you.” Gellhorn found another—albeit more dangerous—way to the front and divorced him soon after.

Hemingway also has been accused of being anti-Semitic. As Mary Dearborn writes in a 2017 article in The Forward, the author’s letters were laced with “nasty remarks about Jews.” She states that in his first novel The Sun Also Rises, his character Robert Cohn is described as an obnoxious individual, a “kike” and a “rich Jew.” Although some critics have given his writing as expressing the perceived fashionable anti-Semitism of the 1920s, I now find his treatment of Jews in his novels to be disturbing.

Should I stop reading Hemingway’s novels? No. If I boycotted every classic that contain anti-Semitic references. I would have to shelf huge chunks of English literature. including Shakespeare, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Charles Dickens. Even Phillip Roth has been accused of perpetuating Jewish stereotypes in his literature. The list gets longer if I add on other classics that demonstrate other racial and ethnic slurs

So I will continue to read Hemingway and other renowned authors with a little less enthusiasm and a little more critical eye. And maybe, in the future, I will have on my lap while reading a lovely, Balinese —or another of the seven “hypoallergenic” breeds known to produce fewer allergens than other cats. In a tip of the hat to my favorite Hemingway wife, I will name my new love Marty. Take that, Ernest!

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Gellhorn

https://forward.com/opinion/372351/does-ernest-hemingway-get-a-pass-for-his-anti-semitism/

https://www.petfinder.com/cat-breeds/collections/hypoallergenic-cats/

https://www.wideopenpets.com/story-ernest-hemingway-six-toed-cats/

MacLean, Paula. Love and Ruins. Random House, 2018

MacLean, Paula. The Paris Wife. Random House, 2011.

A version of this article originally appeared in the February 20, 2020, Jewish World News, a bi-weekly subscription-based newspaper in upstate New York.

Photo of Ernest Hemingway courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As hate crimes against Jews continue to rise, President Biden among others who are speaking out.

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A shorter version of this story was published in the Orlando Sentinel on January 8, 2023. This is the full article as published in The Jewish World in its January 5 issue.

“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

On December 19, 2022, President Joe Biden used the White House’s Chanukah celebration to call out the rising anti-Semitism in the United States. “Silence is complicity,” he stated. Biden joined Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and other notable Jews in lighting the first ever official White House hanukkiah, which was created by the Executive Residence Carpentry Shop out of wood removed from the building in 1950 during a Truman-era renovation “Today, we must all say clearly and forcefully that anti-Semitism and all forms of hate and violence in this country have no safe harbor in America. Period,” Biden said.

This theme echoed the president’s tweet earlier in December. The remarks came one day after Ye, the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, announced “I like Hitler” during an anti-Semitic rant on right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars show and five days after Donald Trump dined with Ye and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. “The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure,” stated Biden. “And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting anti-Semitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.” Trump, meanwhile, has yet apologize or to condemn the men he dined with at Mar-a-Lago. He has hidden behind an excuse of innocence, claiming he didn’t know who Fuentes was.

Condemnation

Some Republican leaders were swift of their condemnation of Trump’s actions. “Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier a seat at the table,” stated former Vice President Michael Pence. “And I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed Pence’s words. “There is no room in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism or white supremacy,” he said. “[A]nyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced Fuentes, stating that the white supremacist “has no place in this Republican Party,” but follow-up statement which supported Trump was blatantly untrue. “I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn’t know who he was.” According to CNN and other reputable news sources, Trump claimed four times that he didn’t know Fuentes but never denounced him or his views.

While condemning anti-Semitism, many other Republicans who spoke out condemned the ideology but avoided invoking the former president’s name. As a matter of fact, when PBS reached out to 57 Republican lawmakers to condemn the meeting, two-thirds never responded. Many, like McCarthy, have put the blame on Ye and Fuentes for showing up.

The silence is also deafening in my own state of Florida .In January, a small band of white supremacists converged in Orlando, where they chanted “White power!” and roughed up a Jewish student. Governor Ron DeSantis’ press secretary suggested on Twitter that the white supremacists were actually “Democrats pretending to be Nazis.”The governor himself is yet to speak about the Trump/Ye/Fuentes debacle.

In March 29, 2022, article in New York magazine, Jonathan Chait opined that DeSantis’ silence may be rooted in his own strategy to obtain the 2024 Republican nod for the presidential candidate. Chait went soon to say that it may be even more deeply rooted in what Chait called the Republican presidential candidate hopeful’s “unembarrassed courtship of right-wing extremists.”

Look Who Is Talking?

So who is speaking up? Certainly the Anti-Defamation League, whose response was immediate and unequivocal. “Former President Trump’s dinner with anti-Semites Ye and Nick Fuentes underscores the ugly normalization of extremist beliefs — including anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of bigotry,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, its National Director and CEO. He went on to warn that the dinner further emboldened extremists.

And thankfully, many others have refused to be silent. Government officials, religious leaders, journalists, athletes, entertainers, and many others have raised their voices against anti-Semitism.

In November, over 200 leaders of the entertainment industry, including Mila Kunis, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, released a letter through the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace urging Amazon and Barnes and Noble to stop its sale of the highly inflammatory book and film, Hebrews to Negros: Wake Up Black America. “At a time in America where there are more per capita hate crimes against Jews than any other minority, overwhelmingly more religious-based hate crimes against the Jewish people than any other religion, and more hate crimes against the Jewish people in New York than any other minority, where a majority of American Jews live,” the letter reads, “it is unacceptable to allow this type of hate to foment on your platforms.”

Survivors

There is another powerful but diminishing group that continues to bring the reality of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism to the forefront: Holocaust survivors. January 27, 2023, marks the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Most of the survivors are in their eighties and beyond; the oldest known survivor, Yisrael Kristal, died at 113 in 2017. Through the efforts of Steven Spielberg , the Shoah Visual History Foundation has recorded over 55,000 stories Holocaust survivors in more than 50 countries and more than 30 languages. Events such as the International March for the Living and venues such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and other Holocaust museums across the country and world also bear witness.

“There are very few survivors left, and I want the world to know that there was a Holocaust,” Estelle Nadel, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who has talked to hundreds of groups for over forty years stated. “There’s so much denial, that every time I get a chance to tell my story, I feel like I’m doing something against it.”“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are,” wrote Benjamin Franklin. President Biden knows this, as should all who wish to push back agains hate.

Sources

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/02/biden-condemns-antisemitism-after-ye-praises-hitler-post-trump-dinner.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/politics/fact-check-mccarthy-trump-fuentes/index.html

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ron-desantis-trumpism.html

(https://www.npr.org/2022/11/29/1139742844/republicans-denounce-trump-dinner-white-supremacist-nick-fuentes).

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/02/biden-condemns-antisemitism-after-ye-praises-hitler-post-trump-dinner.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/politics/fact-check-mccarthy-trump-fuentes/index.html

First published in the (Capital Region, New York) Jewish World, January 5, 2023.

We cannot stand silent in the face of anti-Semitism

Is This Any Way to Stop Hate?

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In 2021, ADL reported 2717 antisemitic incidents throughout the United States, a 34% increase over 2020. The recent mass shooting in Highland Park, Buffalo, Colorado Springs, and Virginia, are deplorable testimonies to the level of hate in this country. More recently, the New York Times YT has reported on the “unsettling stream of anti-semitism. [“Between Kanye and the Midterms, the Unsettling Stream of Antisemitism,” 11/4/2022] More recently, the NYT has reported on the “unsettling stream of anti-semitism].Then why does the online behemoth Amazon continue to sell material that profits from that hate? And more personally, why am I trying to be a David to Amazon’s Goliath?

Much has been written recently about the Kyrie Irving’s eight-game suspension after the Brooklyn Nets’ basketball star tweeted a link to a documentary containing antisemitic messages. Hebrews to Negros: Wake Up, Black America, is based on book of the same name by Ronald Dalton, Jr, which espouses virulent misinformation including Holocaust denial and claims of an international Jewish conspiracy.

Although too few members of the Nets team spoke out against Irving’s actions citing reasons as insubstantial as “I just want to play basketball,” other notable athletes spoke up.”Charles Barkley said that The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) commissioner, Adam Silver, himself Jewish, “dropped the ball” when the NBA didn’t immediately suspend him. Shaquille O’Neal said “we gotta answer for what this idiot has done.”

The most eloquent quotes came from Kareem Abdul Jabbar. In June 2020, the retired basketball player admonished celebrities who failed speak out against the antisemitic comments by Ice Cube, DeSean Jackson, and Stephen Jackson. “If we are going to be outraged by injustice, let’s be outraged by injustice against anyone.” He reiterated his concerns after what he perceived as a tepid response to the recent anti-Semitic comments by Kayne West and Kyrie Irving. “A number of Blacks expected support from Jews during the Black Lives Matter movement, and they got that help,” he stated. “But when the reverse was necessary, we ended up with silence…for weeks.” He went on to say, “If we don’t protect everyone, we don’t protect anyone. “

What many people, including myself until recently, may not be aware of is that Amazon offers both the book and DVD version movie on its website. The controversy has only caused a massive spike in sales. On November 4, Hebrews was the number one book in Amazon’s Religion and Spirituality and Social Sciences categories. As of Monday, November 28, the book was ranked #1 in the Christian education category in Kindle. What is even more disturbing to me is that Audible, a division of Amazon, is now offering the audio book as one of its free options with a trial membership.

Requests by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and other groups to stop its sale were first met with deafening silence. In a letter addressed to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO, stated, “By platforming this film, and other clearly hateful content, you are knowingly and willingly propagating antisemitism.”

Other influential groups have also taken on the fight. On November 10, over 200 leaders of the entertainment industry, including Mila Kunis, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, released a letter through the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace urging Amazon and Barnes and Noble to stop its sale. “At a time in America where there are more per capita hate crimes against Jews than any other minority, overwhelmingly more religious-based hate crimes against the Jewish people than any other religion, and more hate crimes against the Jewish people in New York than any other minority, where a majority of American Jews live,” the letter reads, “it is unacceptable to allow this type of hate to foment on your platforms,” Soon after, Barnes and Noble, as well as Apple, removed the material. Amazon, however, had not.

As I read all this disheartening news on the days leading up to Ere of Yontiff, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Jewish activist in me kicked in. In the midst of my husband Larry and I prepping a 22-pound turkey, assembling stuffing, and peeling five pounds of potatoes for our eleven guests, I got onto Amazon’s customer service chatline, expressed my concerns, and then was told that my remarks were being forwarded to the business department. I then hammered out a letter to the editor regarding the issue and emailed it my local paper, Orlando Sentinel, who published it on Saturday, December 3, issue with the headline, “Kyrie Irvings hurtful views still spreading.” A victory!

On Cyber-Monday, I upped the ante when, through the same Amazon chatline, I requested a callback from a real person with whom to speak about my concerns. Judging from the typing in the background, the representative took copious notes. After a couple of brief holds, I was told that the issue was passed to the appropriate channels. My comments regarding what I regarded as “offensive” material would be reviewed and someone would be in touch at an indeterminant date. Later that day, I got a follow-up email from the Amazon representative. “I am delighted for the warm and nice approach you gave me on the call,” she wrote. “It was indeed a pleasure helping you.” As gratified as I was by her lovely note, I rightfully held off pressing “Yes” to the “Did I solve your problem?” button.

I also Googled to find other outlets selling the book or DVD. Only one other retailer, BooksaMillion, has continued the sale. An Etsy seller removed its sale immediately after I wrote him stating that its sale was violating its anti-discrimination policies. Another victory!

Alas, in the end, requests by the Anti-Defamation League and other groups to stop its sale have been rejected. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, himself Jewish, stated on 12/1/2022 that the online retail behemoth has “to allow access to those viewpoints, even if they are ….objectionable and they differ from our particular viewpoints.”

If the ADL and the Creative Community for Peace have not been able to persuade Amazon leadership, why am I entering the fray? I feel as if I am David battling Goliath, ending unknown. But stone by stone, I will keep using my slingshot. Or maybe, during this Hanukkah holiday, I should feel more like the Maccabees, who overcame incredible odds to vanquish a much larger enemy.

I got encouragement from a fellow SOLWriter and a dear friend, Ginny Campbell, who wrote in response a draft to my Orlando Sentinel submission, stating that my letter and work as a writer was “shining a light in a dark world. ” What a beautiful metaphor for me to contemplate as we celebrate the Festival of Lights! Ginny’s words will add an extra glow to my Hanukkiah candles.

In the midst of your holiday shopping please do your part to shine a light in a dark world. Please urge Amazon and other retailers to remove these titles and others that profit off attacks on targeted populations. Rather than give more stuff to people who already are overwhelmed with stuff, consider contributions to the ADL, which is fighting anti-Semitism every day. We all need to lessen the fire of hatred, not add to its flames.

There Goes My Heart

The stories on "There Goes My Heart " capture special moments in a lifetime spent in Upstate New York, Florida, Colorado, and beyond.