Save Us from the Time of Trial

Hostages rescued at Congregation Beth Israel,
Colleyville, TX on January 15, 2022 (NY Post)

Writer Mark Oppenheimer says that times have never been better for American Jews who are not overtly religious: [bold added]

for people who are Jewish but don’t do Jewish things, the U.S. is less oppressive than ever. Fifty years ago, there were still meaningful prejudices and structural obstacles that plagued the most secular, non-affiliated Jews.

There were country clubs that didn’t allow Jews (or only allowed a token few), and there were law firms and Wall Street banks where making partner was that much harder for a non-Christian.

But I have been writing about American religion for 25 years, and in that time, I have not encountered a single business, school or social club where Jews are unwelcome. I am sure there are outliers somewhere, but let’s put it this way: The average Jew is no longer worried about being excluded by gentlemen’s agreements at law firms, restrictions at clubs or real estate covenants. These are artifacts of the past.

The anti-Semitism that does remain is more extreme and violent and targets outward and visible signs of Judaism:

The recent heightened antipathy toward Jews hasn’t been focused on the general Jewish population. Rather, it has targeted the shrinking minority of Jews who regularly do Jewish things in Jewish spaces—go to synagogue, for example, or shop at kosher markets...The Jews at risk of anti-Semitic attack will include the small but growing number whose clothes make them targets, like many Orthodox, including Hasidim. Then there are the teachers at Jewish schools, the kosher butchers, the nurses in Jewish homes for the aged.

The decline in synagogue attendance ("only a fifth of Jews attend worship services at least monthly, and only 12% weekly") parallels the drop in church attendance. I wonder how many Christians would attend Sunday services if there was a chance, however small, that their lives would be endangered by an anti-Christian extremist.

Pray that we will not be put to the test.