I grew up in Memphis in a Jewish neighborhood. I’m embarrassed to say that it wasn’t until I was in high school when I realized that other cities in the South did not have as sizable a Jewish population as Memphis. Matzo ball soup and fresh challah bread were staples in my home. My grandparents lived in a well-established Jewish neighborhood of East Memphis. My grandfather would turn the lights off for his Rabbi neighbor on the Sabbath. Some of his neighbors were Holocaust survivors. I remember seeing the numbers tattooed on their arms when I was a child. At Christmas every year, dear family friends who were Jewish, the Segals, would make the entire Christmas dinner for my extended family so that we could spend more time with each other and not worry about cooking. It was an incredible act of kindness and generosity. This was just the wonderful community in which we lived.
Each day I see the rising anti-Semitism in the U.S., and I am horrified. Recently, Kanye West has spoken publicly praising Hitler, supporting neo-Nazi white supremacists, and speaking negatively about Jews. In November, Dave Chappelle hosted Saturday Night Live and opened with a monologue giving Kanye advice on how to buy himself some more time by just saying that he denounces anti-Semitism. Then there is Whoopi Goldberg’s constant denial that the Holocaust had anything to do with race, for which she was suspended from her television show, The View, back in February of 2022, yet still went on to make the same comments in December.
In 2018, we saw an even greater level of hate with the mass shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 lives were taken. This is not the only mass shooting targeting Jewish people in the United States. It doesn’t help to have elected officials such as Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories which supported the story that the Rothschild family used “Jewish space lasers” to purposefully ignite the wildfires in California to make way for a high-speed rail system. This is as ridiculous as it sounds. It seems that people have no fear of speaking negatively about Jewish people, no matter how outrageous or ignorant it may be. They sadly have some constituency or fan base that is listening. This sort of hatred is sickening and should worry us all.
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and well-known author of Night, won the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1986. In his acceptance speech he said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.”
We have a tendency not to care about things until they personally affect us, but this is not how it should be. It is easy to think that as an individual, we cannot make a difference with regards to anti-Semitism. We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can make a difference to our Jewish neighbors and friends. In the sacred Jewish teachings of the Talmud it says, “He who saves one life, saves the world entire.” This is a reminder that a single act can have a tremendous effect.
Memphis is the chosen home of a healthy Jewish population. Speak out against anti-Semitism. Stand up for your Jewish neighbor.
Here are some simple tips to show solidarity with your Jewish friends, coworkers, and neighbors:
• Support local Jewish-owned businesses.
• Don’t plan important events, meetings, rehearsals, classes on Yom Kippur.
• Don’t know when Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur are? That’s okay. Look them up and add them to your calendar.
• Having a party? Make sure you have acceptable foods for those who keep Kosher.
• Don’t support politicians, celebrities, restaurants, or other businesses that are anti-Semitic.
• Educate yourself about Judaism and anti-Semitism. If you need somewhere to start, Memphis has an incredible resource in the Bornblum Judaic Studies Department at the University of Memphis. A great resource that covers what is going on worldwide is The Tel Aviv Institute (check them out on Instagram or visit their website at tlvi.org), and check your local library for books by Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, Simon Wiesenthal, and other Holocaust survivors.
Melanie W. Morton is a high school Spanish teacher originally from Memphis.