American Disgrace

An American citizen was murdered by terrorists four days ago.

The American president has been silent everyday since. 

In times of great national crisis, we expect our leaders to show up. We expect our leaders to stand before the nation and speak to us. We expect their presence. 

But Biden has been anything but present for American Jews. 

Sadly, his silence on Hersh’s death is just another betrayal in a long train of neglect. 

I take great pride in my American citizenship. I am very proud to represent a nation that has always stood for freedom and democracy. I have always been an American Jew, or a Jewish-American, proud of the hyphen that bridges the twin pillars of my identity. 

But now I am ashamed. 

I am ashamed to be an American and watch as our nation blinds its own eyes so as to turn away from the obvious truth. 

Jews are under assault the world over. 

Democratic society is under siege.  

American university students and professors are burning flags and calling for an end to our nation. 

And the American President is nowhere to be found. 

Emperor Nero played the lyre while Rome burned, but at least his citizens knew where he was. 

If the president cannot make himself available to his people in a time of crisis, he should resign.

American Jews are not a large portion of the population, but our lives and our feelings still matter. 

We are American citizens, but, more than that, we are human beings.

We are not some political football to be tossed around whenever your party needs a few extra points in the polls. 

The American betrayal of Hersh Goldberg-Polin hurts us more deeply than can be put into words. 

We came to this country from the old world, a world filled with antisemitism and ignorance.

We came here seeking nothing more than a decent life. A life that was equal in value to that of our neighbors. We came here seeking freedom. 

But even here, even now, in 2024, Jewish lives don’t matter. 

Hersh had been in captivity for 11 months. 

He fought like hell to survive for that long; he overcame more agony than any of us could ever imagine. 

He fought for freedom the way a true American would – with everything he had. 

There has been no greater symbol for what freedom means than the smile on Hersh’s face and the determination in his parents’ heart. 

This country stands for something. 

It stands for man’s eternal desire for freedom, his endless search for the right to live his life how he wants to. 

And, when we let monsters of old world hatred murder our sons and daughters, we disgrace that eternal struggle. 

There is no moral gray area when it comes to Hersh Goldberg-Polin. 

He was an American citizen who was murdered by an organization of fanatical cultists who made war on human freedom and American ideology. 

And the American president was silent. 

Culture comes from the top. 

When leaders speak and act with moral clarity, their citizens speak and act with moral clarity. 

When leaders hide behind empty statements and turn away from hard truths, their citizens will do the same. 

We should not be surprised that our college campuses are embroiled by antisemitism while their leaders take refuge in their ivory towers – cowardice has become our culture.  

I am a proud American Jew.

I always have been, and I always will be. 

I am proud of how the Jewish community has acted in these last 11 months of hell. I am proud of how we came together and put aside our differences to focus on what really matters – bringing the innocent captives home. 

Could we have done better? Sure. Have there been major rifts inside the community despite our unity? Of course. But have we let our internal differences distract us from the moral calamity so obviously staring the world in the face? Absolutely not. 

But, as an American, I am ashamed. 

I am ashamed to know that if I, or your, or any of our countrymen, were murdered by freedom-hating barbarians, our country would do nothing.  

It is a national disgrace. 

Where our nation once stood for freedom and the liberation of all, we now quietly acquiesce to the threats and demands of slavers and kidnappers. 

For what should we call these men who make war on innocent civilians and steal them from their homes to extort wealth and power? 

Can there be anything more antithetical to the American way of life than Hamas? 

Could you imagine an evil more clearly anti-liberty than theirs? 

America’s moral confusion over the assassination of an innocent American citizen is disgraceful, and the people who are tasked with leading our nation should be ashamed of themselves. 

We will not forget you.

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Spread Love, Spread Light,

Am Yisrael Chai