shmadsy

Empowered Jew Empowering Jews

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Forget Jews for a moment.

Name another minority group you
would be comfortable watching
the Mayor of New York discuss this way.

Take your time.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Housing.
Crime.
Transit.
Sanitation.

And somehow the Mayor of New York
keeps finding his way back to Jews,
Jewish money, Jewish influence, and Israel.

At a certain point,
you’re allowed to notice a pattern.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

A thought experiment:

Replace “Zionists” with literally
any other minority group.

Would you still hear a policy argument?

Or would you hear an obsession?

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

The post-October-7th world has produced
no shortage of people who are trying
to make Jews to feel small.

The people applying the pressure
imagine they are creating fear.

What they often create instead is belonging.

And belonging is a remarkably stubborn thing.

Shabbat Shalom!

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Something strange happens when Jews
are reminded that we belong to one another.

Candles are lit.

Communities grow.

Ancient words are remembered.

The tighter the world tries to
close its fist around us,

the stronger we seem to become.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Pressure creates diamonds, they say.

I think pressure creates Jews.

History is full of people who believed that
enough pressure would make us disappear.

History is also full of people who were wrong.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Now they say Jews steal organs,
commit genocide, control the media,
and secretly run politics.

At some point, you have to stop asking
why the conspiracy keeps changing.

And start asking why the Jews
are always cast in it.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

They said Jews poisoned wells.

They said Jews drank children’s blood.

They said Jews caused plagues.

They said Jews controlled banks.

They said Jews controlled governments.

They said Jews controlled the world.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Well, someone blinked and Iran
launched missiles at Israel again.

I continue to be fascinated by the belief
that firing missiles at Jews is resistance,
while stopping missiles from
hitting Jews is oppression.

Just kidding.

It’s not fascinating.

It’s bigotry. And it’s boring.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

People who hate Israel are morons.
Jews are awesome. Shabbat Shalom!

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

So, respectfully, to all the people still trying:

Good luck.

History has watched stronger enemies than you make the same mistake.

We’re still here.

And we’re not going anywhere.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

I just finished a Zoom call with
President Isaac Herzog as part of my work
on the Voice of the People Council.

He answered a question in a way that was
more profound than he may have realized.

I wanted to share it with you:

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

We are 0.2% of the world’s population.

Our homeland is roughly the size of New Jersey.

Tiny? Sure.

Weak? Never.

For thousands of years, we’ve outlasted
empires, kingdoms, and movements
that were certain we’d disappear.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Raise your hand if you’ve stopped reporting
hateful comments because
you already know the outcome.

“We reviewed this content and found
it doesn’t violate our standards.”

Apparently the standards are being
kept in a witness protection program.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Meta’s community standards are fascinating.

Every week I read comments that would
get someone fired from their job,
disinvited from Thanksgiving,
and escorted out of polite society.

But somehow they’re
perfectly acceptable online.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Funny how every generation
finds a new excuse for an obsession
that never actually went away.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Nobody spends more time
thinking about Jews
than people who claim
they’re tired of hearing about Jews.

[shmadsy @shmadsy]

Call it “activism”.
Call it “resistance”.
Call it “social justice”.

Just don’t call it what it is.