Prominent Congressmen Pen Historic Letter in Response to Increased Antisemitism

It is the dirty secret that everyone knows but few are ready to discuss publicly. The secret is the exponential increase of antisemitism in America today. While overt antisemitism was once reduced to fringes of discourse, today it has become almost acceptable in quarters of the far right and sadly even more so on the progressive left.

It has become acceptable in universities to marginalize Jews and discriminate against them, using Israel is a convenient scapegoat by claiming to be anti-Zionist, not anti-Jewish.

Even worse, prominent entertainers and sports figures feel comfortable spewing the most vile, antisemitic tropes without being ostracized from civilized company.

There are three courageous congressmen, one Democrat and two Republicans, who in honor of Chanukah, have courageously stood up and in a bipartisan voice released a statement of support and defense for the Jewish Community.

Those three, Congressman Don Bacon, Congressman Henry Cuellar and Congressman Randy Feenstra, have come together in a bipartisan way to jointly declare that Congress stands united with the Jewish community against this “cancerous hatred being harbored towards the Jewish Community.”

The representatives addressed their letter to well-known Torah figure, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Nasi of Dirshu. The three congressmen have worked together with Rav Hofstedter in the past on several burning issues facing the Jewish community and understood that as a son and son-in-law of Holocaust survivors who is at the forefront of trying to restore scholarship to its pre-Holocaust levels, Rav Hofstedter’s concern over this matter was acute and he would spread the word among fellow Jewish community members.

The following is the text of the historic letter in its entirety:

Rabbi Hofstedter,

We wish to take this opportunity to wish you and the entire Jewish community a Happy Hanukkah. The story of Hanukkah is one of good triumphing over evil, as the Maccabees defeated the Greeks. In today’s world, this evil has manifested itself in the form of anti-Semitism.

We in the United States Congress have a responsibility to stand up against this anti-Semitism and to call it out unequivocally. The polarization in our political climate underscores the importance of us doing so, more than ever before. Regardless of our political persuasion or which side of the political aisle we might belong to, we must stand in the United States Congress in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, especially during these trying times.

We have sadly already seen the real-life tragic consequences that inflammatory rhetoric targeting the Jewish community has had in the last two years. Just two years ago during the holiday of Hanukkah, and four years ago, the awful attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh where eleven worshippers were gunned down in cold blood.

Sadly, since these events, the number of hate-crimes against the Jewish community has only increased, requiring a coordinated and mobilized response on the part of us in the United States Congress. As such we write this letter not only to wish you and the entire Jewish Community a Happy Hanukkah, but to commit to you that we in the United States Congress stand with you. Democrat and Republican members of Congress alike stand united with the Jewish community against this cancerous hatred being harbored toward the Jewish community. Let us hope and pray that just as in the story of Hanukah the Jewish people’s perseverance will ultimately prevail, and this hatred of anti-Semitism will be eliminated once and for all.

Sincerely,

Don Bacon, Member of Congress

Henry Cuellar, Member of Congress

Randy Feenstra, Member of Congress