On Nov. 9, 1938, a massive pogrom swept Nazi-controlled Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland. Hundreds of synagogues were burned to the ground, thousands of Jewish businesses vandalized, and tens of thousands of Jews were arrested and brought to concentration camps. The night later became known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. This was the beginning of the end for 20th century European Jewry.
There are many parallels between the rise of Nazism in the 1930s and the antisemitic forces that the world’s Jewish communities are facing today. Back then, the Nazis murdered nearly half of the world’s Jewish population. Today, less than a century later, the mullahs who rule from Tehran are menacing our people with the threat of genocide. Starting with the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and now with Hezbollah and Hamas rockets and drones, they have launched a multi-front proxy war against Israel.
The Iranian mullahs have named this the “Ring of Fire.” Over the course of decades, they have surrounded Israel with heavily armed terror proxies. The mullahs don’t mince words when they describe their goal: “Death to the Zionists, Death to America.”
Although every generation since the Holocaust has made the promise to our children of “never again,” it seems that the American-Jewish community is not yet rising to the gravity of the moment. Yes, we showed up on the National Mall back in November to protest antisemitism. But since then, what have we done to fight those who are rising against us? Let this letter serve as a call to action for each and every one of us.
We must raise our voices so that Jewish leaders who lobby on our behalf know that this is the most critical issue facing our community today. We must let our government representatives know that we will be voting in November based on this singular issue: the survival of our Jewish people. We must name the most dangerous enemy we face, the Islamic Republic in Iran, and insist that the Biden administration reinstate and enforce sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Unfortunately, in recent years, U.S. policy toward Iran has enabled the regime and its genocidal ambitions.
To this end, there are multiple bills that passed in the House of Representatives which would codify heavy sanctions on the Iranian regime. These include the MAHSA Act and SHIP Act, which have stalled on the desk of Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We must let our senators know that these bills must be urgently marked up in committee so that they can pass handily on the Senate floor.
Finally, we need to put pressure on Jewish lay and rabbinic leaders to get out front and/or stay aside and be replaced. Most of all, we need a united community willing to take a muscular stand on our behalf.
