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If a governor’s mansion burns in the forest and nobody notices, did it really happen?

The biggest Jewish story in North America at the moment is, to my mind, the rather gruesome attempted assassination on April 13 of Pennsylvania governor (and recent Democratic vice-presidential hopeful) Josh Shapiro. I know, this is a Canadian publication, but we will just have to stamp a red maple leaf on my column another week, as a man allegedly breaking into a Jewish politician’s residence to set it aflame strikes me as of enough concern that Jewish Canadians might see fit to cast a metaphorical glance across Lake Erie.

It’s a big story generally, or so you’d think. It took a few days for details about the case to become clear. But the more details emerged, the more of a nothingburger it got treated as. By mid-week, it was a smaller story for The New York Times homepage than Google going on trial, or tariffs disrupting the global economy, fine, although I’d like to think it could hold its own against “Our 17 Most Lemony Recipes.” Social media is bored of this story and well into other news cycles.

“In every generation…”

What’s notable is both the story itself—the horrific attack—and its reception. Why did such a symbolically-charged act of political violence just sort of come and go, without much notice? How does one square it with the refrain, no Jews, no news? A household-name politician was nearly incinerated alive with family right after his Seder.

Also: why is it being received the way it is, by the few who’ve noticed it? Two separate questions, which I will address separately.

First, the ignored bit. The story is not being outright ignored, but is getting buried all the same, because it doesn’t fit into anyone’s narratives. Above all, it........

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