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Over the weekend more than a few people sent me a clip from the closing of Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special. In it, he says that when he now wants to be honest, he was going to say the words: “I stand with Israel”, but that what he really meant was something else entirely: That he abhors Israel.

As someone who loves comedy and who has long appreciated Chappelle’s brilliance, it’s deeply disheartening. Watching certain celebrities, especially ones whose work I respect, drift into anti-Israel rhetoric, and sometimes outright antisemitism, feels like a quiet kind of loss. Not just of admiration, but of trust.

This morning I was sitting in a coworking space in NYC that JGO operates out of. I was in a public area in mid-conversation, and about to tell someone that I’m scheduled to go to Israel tomorrow afternoon. But before the word Israel came out of my mouth, I stopped myself. I don’t know who’s listening to my conversation. With antisemitism so openly present, I’ve become worried about things I never thought I would need to be careful about.

So instead, I used the Hebrew word for Israel.

And then I caught myself thinking: Dave Chappelle is condescendingly speaking in code because he hates Israel, but why am I speaking in code?

Israel has always been the historic homeland of the Jewish people. My entire life I’ve felt comfortable saying that out loud. Are we really at a point where saying its name out publicly feels risky?

This morning, I read that an Israeli in Cyprus was beaten so badly, nearly losing an eye, simply because people on the street heard him speaking Hebrew. Not arguing or protesting, just speaking. I don’t agree with everything the government of Israel does, but all Jews are being dropped into one category and it doesn’t matter if we like it or not.

How careful does the Jewish community have to be? How quiet, how invisible? I don’t have the answers, but the unsettling realization that something has shifted within our community and that many of us are now adjusting our language, our dress, or our posture, is worrying.  

Maybe that, too, is something we shouldn’t accept quietly.

Our JGO community is shifting along with these challenges and we are meeting these issues head on.

No one should have to face these fears in silence. How do you navigate these moments in your own life? Do you ever find yourself stopping and rethinking what you want to say to feel safe? I’d really like to hear your perspective.

Warmly,
Dave