A bipartisan show of unity brought together a large contingent of organizations representing New Jersey’s Jewish community and legislators to voice support for the passage of a bill to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

The January 30 event at the Statehouse in Trenton attracted Jewish federation representatives from throughout the state among those comprising the IHRA4NJ
Coalition.

“This morning, sadly, I must speak about the alarming rise in antisemitism in our country and in our state,” said Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Bergen Passaic), a primary sponsor of the IHRA bill. “Today we have an opportunity to do something truly profound—pass bipartisan legislation that will protect a religious minority.”

He noted that the bill is something of a rarity in today’s political scene, having garnered 79% of the Assembly as co-sponsors.

The bill would also create a public awareness campaign and appropriate $100,000 for educational purposes. A companion bill was voted out of committee by the state Senate in June, but has been stalled in committee in the Assembly for almost a year.

“Passing this bill is an existential issue to the Jewish community,” said Schaer. “For those opposing this, you do not comprehend the immediate threat that we feel as Jews. For those treating this like any other bill, it is not. It is our existence.”

Despite being just over 2% of the country’s population and about 6% of New Jersey’s, FBI statistics show Jews are the targets of most religious-based hate crimes. Schaer noted the Anti-Defamation League reported the highest level of antisemitic incidents ever recorded in 2023, and New Jersey in 2022 recorded a 25% increase in incidents over the previous year.

The IHRA cites “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” and lists beliefs in a world government controlled by Jews, Holocaust denial, and accusations of dual loyalty as among the examples of antisemitism.

The definition has been adopted by 37 states and dozens of countries as well as the State Department.

Adriana Kertzer, ADL senior associate director for New Jersey, said after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the organization has seen antisemitism surge to an even higher level.

Avi Posnick, the northeast and New England director of StandWithUs, said the gathering was designed to coincide with the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day three days earlier.

“We cannot defeat antisemitism if we can’t define it,” he noted and added, “Antisemites often attempt to camouflage their own bigotry … Jews alone must have the right to define how they experience antisemitism. Right here and now, you have the representation of the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population of New Jersey calling for the passage of this bill.”

Michael Cohen, the eastern regional director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, pointed out that although the Jewish community knows what antisemitism is and knows what hate can lead to through its Holocaust history, without the IHRA there is no way to legally define antisemitism.

Two students spoke about their own brushes with antisemitism and how having a clear definition would have helped them.

Ori Alaluf, a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow and vice president of Hillel at William Paterson University in Wayne, said one of the most disturbing incidents occurred this past October when a campus vigil was held to honor the “martyrs” who perpetrated the October 7 attacks.

“As a student with dual Israeli-American citizenship, I felt personally threatened, unsafe and unwelcome on my own campus that week, more than ever,” Alaluf said. “The vigil and the rhetoric expressed during it ignored the horrific violence and loss suffered by the Jewish people, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, staff and faculty.”

However, Alaluf said that the director of campus activities, service and leadership claimed that students were only exercising their right of free speech and their actions were not antisemitic.

Abigail Thaler, a StandWithUs Kenneth Leventhal intern and senior at Biotechnology High School in Freehold, said she never felt unsafe at school until about a week after the terrorist attacks while sitting with two other Jewish friends in a classroom. Another student came up and asked whether they would be coming to school the next day, which had been declared an international “day of Jihad.” One of her friends said they would since school was a safe place, to which the other student chillingly said, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Although the student quickly said he was only joking, Thaler and friends went to their guidance counselor who reported the incident to the principal. The principal questioned whether they thought they had been threatened and ultimately “the school determined it was just a joke and we took it too far.” And while this same student has continued to make “countless Jew jokes, stereotype Jews, and commit other microaggressions” she said she didn’t report them because she knew the school would do nothing.

Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (R-Sussex Morris Warren), a co-sponsor of the bill, praised Schaer for taking the lead, saying, “New Jersey should no longer be in the back of the pack.”

Assemblywoman Aura Kenny Dunn (R-Morris Pasaic) reiterated that “hate has no place in New Jersey,” while Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D-Bergen) said that as a Jewish legislator, “I’m so happy to stand with my colleagues to say that antisemitism will not be tolerated here or anywhere.”

Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D-Monmouth Ocean) said as the grandson of four Holocaust survivors who grew up listening to stories of the atrocities they survived, he believed what kept them moving forward was their unity and support by the Jewish community. That unity of purpose holds a lesson for today.

“We need to be there for each other, to have each other’s back,” said Schnall.

Along those lines, Swami Venkataraman, an executive council member of the Hindu American Foundation, told the group, “We are proud to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters against all forms of hate,” adding that both communities have experienced demonization because of their beliefs and both have been victims of terrorism.

Joseph Lemkin, president and founder of JBar, the Jewish Bar Association of New Jersey, had his own Holocaust history to share. Not only were more than 60 members of the Lemkin family slaughtered in the Holocaust, but his father’s first cousin, Raphael Lemkin, was a legal expert who worked with the Americans to prosecute Nazis at the Nuremberg trials and coined the term “genocide.”

He said he has been “shocked” to witness the rise of Holocaust deniers and the “perverse use of [the word] genocide” by anti-Israel protesters to describe actions in Gaza.

“The First Amendment can’t be used as a shield tactic for bullying and harassing Jews,” said Lemkin. ”The First Amendment does not give blanket immunity.”

Eli Berne, the senior manager for government relations and management for the Jewish Federations of North America, recalled the many stories of Holocaust survivors he heard in his synagogue and added, “The way we can honor them is to make sure ‘never again’ means never again,” by passing the IHRA.

Debra Rubin has had a long career in journalism writing for secular weekly and daily newspapers and Jewish publications. She most recently served as Middlesex/Monmouth bureau chief for the New Jersey Jewish News. She also worked with the media at several nonprofits, including serving as assistant public relations director of HIAS and assistant director of media relations at Yeshiva University.