Is It 1939?

How many times have you heard that we are going through 1939 once again? Pundits, podcasters, promoters of aliyah, and even Holocaust survivors have all weighed in to depict the current times as 1939 pre-war Europe.

The truth is, who can blame them? After all, global anti-Semitism is rampant throughout the world. Israel is vilified while Hamas is glorified. Just last week, Toronto hoisted the Palestinian flag in its city hall area. Portland, Oregon, has done the same.

Shuls have been targeted with maliciously set fires with hardly any consequences for the perpetrators. Australia set free an arsonist who caused extensive fire damage to a synagogue on the pretense that he is mentally ill. Jewish stores are targeted for harassment, while Israeli goods are boycotted. Jewish students continue to be tormented on college campuses.

It can be easily compared to Kristallnacht in Germany, November 1938, when Jewish stores were vandalized and synagogues were set ablaze.

I know I may be too optimistic, but I really do not believe that we are undergoing 1939 once again.

Number one: Despite the complicity of many governments in referring to the Israeli actions in Gaza as a genocide, and despite their turning away when it comes to punishing the perpetrators, the governments are still officially fully engaged in fighting anti-Semitism, even though that often does not appear to be the case. In Nazi Germany, on the other hand, the government was officially behind the atrocities that took place.

And despite the occasional hooliganism that breaks out, Jews are still free to roam around, worship their religion, and conduct their business as Jews. This is despite the protest in front of the Park East Synagogue, which prompted an apology from Jessica Tisch, the Jewish police commissioner of New York City.

Yes, in New York we have a lot to be concerned about with the advent of a Mayor Mamdani, but at least he claims to want to be the protector of the Jewish community. That is not the way things went in pre-war Europe.

So, while things are ominous for the Jewish people, I think we need to tone down the hysteria level just a bit. Things are not great; but things are not at the level of 1939 Europe.

Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.