There is a reason a group like a new Jewish Defense League (JDL) can sound compelling right now. It has emerged in a moment when Jewish fear is not theoretical, when many Jews feel newly exposed in public, newly watched, newly measured, newly alone. Recent research found that over half of Jewish Americans reported experiencing some form of antisemitism in the past year, and nearly one in five reported assault, threats, or verbal harassment because they were Jewish. Separate reporting this week found that 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks globally in more than three decades.

So when a group like JDL 613 presents itself not only as a response to antisemitic violence, but as a brotherhood for Jewish men — a place where frightened, isolated, or angry men can find strength, purpose, belonging, and even an answer to loneliness or suicidal despair — that appeal should not be dismissed with a wave of the hand. It should be taken seriously precisely because the wounds it is trying to speak to are real, even if the vision of manhood and Jewish power it offers is deeply troubling.

That includes wounds many men barely know how to name. In the United States, men still die by suicide at dramatically higher rates than women, and federal health authorities continue to describe loneliness and social isolation as a major public-health danger. A movement that offers not only vigilance but brotherhood can therefore feel, to........

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