Degradation and Not Dignity
“וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ־חָדָשׁ עַל־מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדַע אֶת־יוֹסֵף”—”There arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). The Talmud (Sotah 11a) debates: “רב ושמואל חד אמר חדש ממש וחד אמר שנתחדשו גזירותיו”—”Rav and Shmuel disagreed: one said he was actually new, and one said his decrees were new.” Either way, the result was the same—a systematic degradation of Jewish security and dignity.
Today in New York City, we witness our own version of “new decrees.” The new administration has quietly dismantled protections for our community while offering symbolic gestures as substitutes for substantive action. They point to an office addressing antisemitism—a fig leaf that accommodationist voices eagerly embrace—while simultaneously pursuing policies that embolden those who target Jews and delegitimize our connection to Israel.
The Sforno comments on Pharaoh’s strategy: “התחכמה לו – נתחכם למצוא עלילה”—”Let us deal wisely with them—he schemed to find pretexts.” Modern degradation follows the same pattern: not through overt declarations but through calculated erosion. Platforming voices that normalize antizionist rhetoric as mere “criticism,” and treating violent attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers as isolated incidents rather than patterns are why we need the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
While there is still an unwillingness to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” and to stop terrorist sympathizers and activists from endangering Jews outside of Jewish communal spaces, we will see an emboldened crowd. Did we not just see a massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney? Just this week in New York City, Nefesh b’Nefesh had to change the venue for an event and hold it covertly, to avoid Hamas supporters and those calling for the dismantling of Israel.
The accommodationists among us, like the Israelites who initially believed they could work within Pharaoh’s system, insist that having a liaison, an office, a title, means we’re protected. While we thank the police for protecting a Queens synagogue by locating thugs half a block from the shul’s doors the other night, there is not enough being done to say that antizionism is antisemitism and unacceptable. Authorities insist that some of the demonstrators are ignorant when they chant “From the River to the Sea.” But Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch teaches on our verse: “‘אשר לא ידע—willful ignorance’ is itself a form of oppression.”
When those in power choose not to “know” us—our history, our vulnerabilities, our legitimate needs for both physical security and dignity, our eternal right to Israel, the need for laws and policies that protect Jewish rights in our era—no amount of bureaucratic window-dressing can substitute for genuine protection. We must name this reality clearly: degradation has indeed arisen. Righteous action is called for.
Even if we agree with some of the communitarian sentiment that has been expressed by the new administration, we must hold steadfast. The Book of Exodus reminds us of the specter of socialist tyranny and outright Jew hatred. Today we must fight against those who enslave the next generation to the idea that Jews are colonialists and not deserving of their own unique culture in the diaspora and destiny in Zion.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bolton