The American Jewish community has lived by an unspoken bargain through our nation’s history. If we work hard and give back through civic leadership, philanthropy and joining other communities in their own fights for social justice, we would prove our value. The discrimination against us would be finished for good.

But given how antisemitism has skyrocketed since October 7, 2023, that bargain has been exposed as a myth. We cannot achieve our way out of the prejudice against us. We cannot “out-success” hatred. We have no other choice but to stand openly and proudly as Jews.

I often think of the actress Alex Borstein and the speech she gave at the Emmys in 2019. She told the story of her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, who was standing in line at the edge of a pit, waiting to be shot by the Nazis. Her grandmother turned to a guard and asked, “What happens if I step out of line?” The guard said, “I don’t have the heart to shoot you, but someone else will.” And she stepped out of line.

Alex’s grandma Naji walked away and survived. Because of that act of defiance, her granddaughter was able to stand on a stage in Hollywood decades later. Alex’s message: “Step out of line.”

For us, the line is assimilation. It is the quiet path of blending in and hoping we aren’t noticed. But we have learned that the line doesn’t lead to safety; it leads to the slow erasure of our identity and, eventually, to our vulnerability. Stepping out of line – standing apart and being unapologetically Jewish – is not just an act of pride. It is our survival.

If we are to find our own way out of the line of assimilation, we have to be honest about three things:

First, the evidence:  Why hasn’t our success bought us the forever immunity we thought it would?

Second, our approach: Why is living with a covenant of Jewish peoplehood essential to our survival?

Third, our solution: Why does Zionism remain the most logical road to our survival?

Let’s start with the evidence.

Antisemitism in the United States has moved to a scale we never imagined. Last year, the ADL recorded nearly 9,000 incidents – the highest number in nearly 50 years. While Jews are only two percent of the population, we are the victims, the FBI says, of 60 percent of religion-based hate crimes.

Today, antisemitism has moved into the social circles that told us the question of belonging was settled. We see it at the universities we attended. We see it among our allies, perhaps now former allies, vocal about every other form of injustice, but whose so-called intersectionality” excludes fighting against the oppression of Jews.

There has never been a time or a place in history where hiding our Jewishness has protected us. From 15th century Spain to 20th century Germany, the attempt to disappear never worked. They find us anyway. The mask of assimilation doesn’t hide us. It makes us more vulnerable when it’s eventually pulled away.

Well, if we can’t hide, we might as well lead.  We Jews are not simply an historic people.  We are also a people who make history.

That brings us to my second point:  Why is living with a covenant of Jewish peoplehood essential to our survival?

In the professional world, we live by contracts. A contract is transactional: “I do this, you do that.” For decades, we thought we had a contract with the American elite: We will add value, and you will let us be.

But when the culture gets hostile, the contract is the first thing to break. What we need now is to return to the covenant, the brit.  A covenant is a relationship that cannot be broken.

When we believe our Jewish identity is optional or private, we tell the next generation of Jewish professionals to hide, no matter how many times history has taught us that hiding doesn’t work.  We owe our children more than the results of our success.  We also owe them a spine.

We are the most influential generation of Jews in history. We’re not simply knocking on the doors of these institutions anymore – we are among those who hold the keys. That means the future of the American Jewish story will not be decided by others. Aleynu, it’s on us.

Will we treat our Jewish identity as a wrinkle to be softened? Or will our identity be the proud foundation of our leadership?

When we refuse to be the quiet Jews of previous generations, something powerful happens. We stop being victims of a shifting culture and start becoming the architects of a new one.

That brings me to my third and final point, the solution:  Why does Zionism remain the most logical road to our survival?

I’ve spent my career as a civil rights lawyer fighting for the marginalized. And I’m here to tell you that it’s because of those values – not in spite of them – that I am a passionate Zionist.

Let’s understand once and for all: Antisemitism existed long before Zionism emerged as a political movement in the late 1800s. Zionism is not the cause of antisemitism. Zionism is how we fight antisemitism.

When the bargain of assimilation fails – and it always does – we Jews need a place where the majority doesn’t view us as a complication. Israel is the only place on earth where Jewish safety is the mission, not a favor. And that mission protects us even if we never move there. When we know we have a homeland by right, that gives us the boldness to live as ourselves in America.

As Elie Wiesel said: “I can live as a Jew outside Israel, but I cannot live as a Jew without Israel.”

Now let’s get something straight about Israel’s being an “ethnostate” that exists nowhere else. 82 countries around the world have official ties to a specific religion – almost all of them to Islam or Christianity.

And unlike other states in the Middle East, Israel grants equality in its Declaration of Independence and embraces coexistence through large Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities living and working together in peace. Just last month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted an Iftar for the country’s Muslim leaders.

You think such coexistence exists elsewhere in the Middle East?  I promise you:  No Ayatollah is going to break out gefilte fish for Pesach.

Around the world we see a push to make Zionism a dirty word. We’re told we can be Jewish but have to distance ourselves from Zionism to be part of the human rights community.

As a civil rights lawyer, I reject that double standard. If you believe in self-determination for every other people on earth but you find the Jewish version to be problematic, that isn’t just another political opinion. That’s Antisemitism. And it rejects this basic tenet: We Jews must never live at the mercy of a so-called tolerant majority again.

The limits of assimilation do not have to be the end of our story. They can be the hallmarks of our integrity.

So let’s lead with pride.

Let’s protect one another with our covenant.

And let’s ensure the next generation of Jews doesn’t just see our success, but also sees our courage.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)