On the first night of Passover, an arsonist tried to burn down the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro while his family was inside. The attacker shouted “Free Palestine” as he lit the fire.
This was a shocking act of political violence against a Jewish leader—and yet, outside the Jewish community, the outrage has been disturbingly muted. No national protests. No front-page editorials. No calls to reevaluate the atmosphere of hate that made this possible.
Josh Shapiro is no hardliner. He’s a Democrat who has shamefully backtracked on his support for Israel. Just days before the attack, he gave $5 million in taxpayer funds to a mosque with a documented history of antisemitism. He has bent over backward to signal his alignment with progressive values.
So why was he the one targeted? Appeasement does not protect us. It invites contempt—it always has.
We see the same cowardice in the ten left-wing Jewish groups—including the ADL, Bend the Arc, and the Union for Reform Judaism—who signed a letter condemning Donald Trump’s executive order to protect Jewish students on college campuses. These groups are not standing up for Jews. They are protecting their place in progressive politics—at the expense of Jewish safety.
And the danger isn’t limited to the left. On the anti-woke right, figures like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Dave Smith have platformed or spread vile lies about October 7 and the Holocaust. Smith, a regular guest on Rogan’s podcast, calls Gaza a genocide, dismisses the Holocaust as “a few million Jews died,” and calls Israel a terrorist state – all without any pushback from Rogan. This isn’t open-minded conversation—it’s a malicious blood libel.
But most upsetting to me, personally, is the silence from Christian leaders who I’ve counted as friends and allies for years. I’ve broken bread with them. I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with them defending biblical values and supporting Israel. We’ve locked arms against the erosion of faith in public life. And now, when antisemitism creeps in from our shared side of the aisle, they fall silent.
I understand the dilemma. For years, Tucker Carlson was a lone voice challenging progressive orthodoxy. Joe Rogan broke the liberal media’s stranglehold on public discourse. These men became heroes to many conservatives, Christians included. But when these same figures now platform Holocaust minimizers, spread conspiracy theories about Jews, or downplay the horrors of October 7 – where are my Christian friends’ voices?
The silence is deafening. And heartbreaking.
I’ve watched these same Christian leaders boldly call out Ilhan Omar and AOC without hesitation. But when Tucker Carlson and Andrew Isker breathe new life into replacement theology – the ancient lie that the Church has replaced the Jews in God’s covenant – these leaders suddenly lose their prophetic voice. When right-wing pundits flirt with Holocaust denial or praise Hitler as a misunderstood figure, the outrage machine falls curiously silent.
This selective courage is not what our shared biblical faith demands of us.
There are exceptions, thank God. Pastor Laurie Cardoza-Moore called for Tucker Carlson to be banned from the White House because of his spreading of “Jew-hatred.” Reverend Luke Moon has repeatedly condemned Tucker and others for their old-fashioned supersessionism and antisemitism. But these brave voices are the exception, not the rule.
The Passover story offers us a powerful lesson for this moment. When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, they had nearly lost everything: their faith, their identity, their courage. But what truly began their redemption wasn’t divine intervention alone – it was an act of defiance that God commanded.
The Israelites were instructed to slaughter a lamb – one of Egypt’s most revered deities – and mark their doorposts with its blood. This wasn’t a quiet, private ritual. It was a public act of rebellion against the dominant power and its idols. Every Egyptian walking past a Jewish home would see this blood and understand the declaration: “We reject your gods. We stand apart.”
This act was dangerous, audacious, and nearly suicidal in a society where these animals were worshipped. But it was the necessary first step toward liberation. Only after the Israelites had the courage to publicly reject Egyptian idolatry did God strike the firstborn and begin their path to freedom.
The lesson is unmistakable: redemption begins not with accommodation but with moral clarity. Not with trying to blend in but with standing firmly for truth – even when that truth offends powerful people you once admired. The Israelites didn’t earn their freedom by apologizing to their oppressors or finding common ground with Egyptian theology. They earned it by slaughtering Egypt’s gods – by rejecting the lies that kept them in bondage.
To my Christian friends and leaders across America: this is your test. Not when antisemitism is easy to condemn, but when it’s hard. Not when it comes from political opponents you already oppose, but when it comes from voices you’ve trusted and amplified. Will you speak? Will you name evil for what it is? Will you stand with truth – even if it costs you subscribers, viewers, or political allies?
Our shared biblical faith demands moral consistency. If antisemitism is wrong when it comes from the Squad, it’s wrong when it comes from Tucker Carlson or Joe Rogan. If blood libel is evil from the mouth of Rashida Tlaib, it’s no less evil from the mouth of Dave Smith.
I ask this of you not as a critic but as a friend who has walked alongside you. I ask because I’ve seen your courage in other battles and know your hearts are aligned with truth, not political expediency.
The question isn’t whether you’ll fight antisemitism and stand up for Israel when it’s convenient. It’s whether you’ll do so when it’s costly – even when it means slaughtering your own side’s sacred cows.
Because history will ask where you stood in this moment, and heaven already is.
Rabbi Elie Mischel is Director of Education at Israel365.
