I write these words from my home just outside Bethlehem—yes, the very Bethlehem where David was born. Today, it’s home to thousands of Arabs, many of whom would gladly murder me and my family simply for being Jews living in our biblical homeland.
And yet, despite the danger that surrounds us, I feel safer and more at home here in Israel than I ever could in the United States—the country I once proudly called “the land of the free.”
I moved to Israel four years ago, but like many Jews, I grew up loving America. For generations, Jews saw it as a place of liberty and refuge, a nation blessed by God. And for many years, America was good to the Jewish people. But today, I’m no longer sure. With rising violence and hatred against Jews across the U.S., we must ask: Was America ever truly a safe haven—or was it only an illusion?
In recent weeks alone, we’ve seen a terrifying wave of antisemitic terrorism across the United States:
- In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed while his family was inside.
- In Washington, D.C., two Israeli embassy staffers were shot outside a Jewish museum.
- In Boulder, Colorado, a Holocaust survivor was one of many injured by a man wielding a homemade flamethrower, shouting he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.”
Where is America’s outrage? Where is the national soul-searching?
When the criminal George Floyd died during an arrest, America rose up in protests. Cities burned. Political leaders took knees. Corporations made pledges. The country declared that Black lives matter.
But when Jews are attacked or murdered simply for being Jews, the silence is deafening. No mass protests. No nightly headlines. No corporate solidarity. Jewish lives, apparently, don’t matter much at all.
As Jewish actor Michael Rapaport put it bluntly: “The cavalry ain’t coming for us.”
Glenn Beck recently pointed out the double standard: “If a white man had firebombed a mosque while shouting ethnic slurs, this country would be on fire right now. But a Holocaust survivor gets burned alive by a radicalized immigrant? The media yawns.”
And Megyn Kelly summed it up: “This keeps happening, and yet it doesn’t shift the national conversation. It doesn’t dominate news coverage the way a mass shooting would. Instead, it’s met with a collective shrug.”
To their credit, the Trump Administration has acted quickly. The Boulder attacker’s family was taken into ICE custody, and federal hate crime charges were filed. Officials rightly called these acts terrorism. But we’re not just talking about government policy. We’re talking about the American people. We’re talking about the spiritual and moral soul of a nation. And when it comes to the Jews, that soul has grown cold.
But this isn’t just a message for America’s Christians—it’s a message for America’s Jews.
Too many Jews in America are like the awkward child on the playground who desperately tries to fit in. He laughs at the jokes of the cool kids. He defends them, gives them his lunch money, tries to be liked. But no matter how hard he tries, he never truly belongs—and he’s too blind to see it.
American Jews donate to every cause, march for every progressive movement, and bend over backward to prove their loyalty to the ideals of tolerance and justice. But where are those movements when Jews are being hunted and burned in the streets?
Rabbi Mayer Twersky teaches that when a Jew publicly debases himself, he desecrates God’s name—a chilul Hashem. It’s not just about personal honor. When Jews accept second-class treatment, when they stay silent in the face of hatred, they send a message that God’s chosen people are willing to live without dignity.
Whether it’s students applying to universities that celebrated the October 7th Hamas massacre, or entire communities trying to win the approval of those who do not mourn when Jews are murdered, the result is the same: a quiet shame that dishonors the God of Israel.
But we are not meant to be silent or ashamed. We are the people of Israel, chosen by God with a purpose and a promise. We were not meant to be tolerated—we were meant to shine as a light to the nations.
Yes, Israel is dangerous. But when Jews are attacked here, the entire country stands still. When Jews are murdered, the nation mourns. When rockets fall, we run into bomb shelters together. Because here, Jewish lives matter—not because we’ve convinced the world of our worth, but because this is our home. This is where God placed His name.
It is time for Jews to stop begging for acceptance from a country that will never fully embrace us. If America does not treat the Jewish people with the honor due to God’s chosen nation, then perhaps America is not where we are meant to remain.
To our Christian brothers and sisters who love Israel: we are deeply grateful. You have stood with us when others stayed silent. You have prayed for us, defended us, and carried the banner of truth when it was unpopular or even dangerous. But your role doesn’t end there.
America is at a crossroads. The moral foundation that once made it a beacon of liberty—and a friend to the Jewish people—is crumbling. The silence in the face of antisemitic terror, the apathy when Jews are burned or shot in the streets, is not just a Jewish problem. It is an American problem. A moral problem.
If America is to be great again, it is not enough to impose tariffs on China or to fight transgenderism. America must remember its covenant with truth, with justice, and with God. And that starts with how it treats the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
The cavalry isn’t coming. Not for the Jews—and not for America. You must be the cavalry. You must care enough to speak up when others are silent. To stand for truth even when it costs you. To shake your churches, your communities, and your country out of their moral slumber. Because if America does not rise now, it may not rise again.
We Jews are returning home. But you still have a country to fight for.
