By Debra Rich Gettleman

Everyday I wear a very tasteful, and very noticeable Jewish star around my neck. It falls just above the necklace that reads my Hebrew name, Devorah. I also wear a blue ribbon when I go out to show my support for Israel and my hope that all of the hostages will be returned to safety. I’m not screaming or shouting from rooftops. I’m quietly asserting who I am and speaking up about what I believe.While friends of mine are taking down their mizuzot, removing kippot and affirming not to put their hanukiahs in their windows this year, I am asking you to honor your Jewishness by displaying meaningful Jewish symbols in your homes and on your person. 

It’s not enough to support Israel silently right now. It’s about standing proudly for the Jews and the Jewish state. Because back in 1938, when the Nazi regime was gaining power, most Jews preferred to tamp down their identities and try to wait out the antisemitism creeping into their lives.

In pre-World War II Germany, it was incomprehensible to imagine that Jews, successful members of a cultured society, could ever be targeted in one of the deadliest genocides the world had ever seen. Jews were barred from certain professions. Their businesses were shut down.  Jewish children were no longer able to go to school. Jews were defined as biologically inferior through their blood lines. And as all that happened, no one believed that it would lead to the systematic destruction of 6 million Jewish men, women, and children. Look around right now. Jews are being targeted. Jewish businesses are being boycott. Jewish students on campuses all over the world are not safe. And yet, most Jews I know continue to assert that something like the Holocaust could never happen today. We say, “never again” and yet, we are watching history repeat itself.

Look at the Cooper Union Jewish students who hid in a library while pro-Palestinian rioters banged on the glass doors threatening violence. Or the Jewish people in Rashida Tlaib’s 12th district who lost family during the October 7th massacre and have to grapple with the reality that their congresswoman sponsors terrorism and hate. Or, think about Aaron Dahan, Upper East Side owner of Caffe Aronne, whose half a dozen baristas walked off the job due to his support of Israel.

This is history repeating itself. And it is up to all of us to say something, do something, stand for something, and not pretend it isn’t happening. Let’s applaud business icons like Bill Ackman  and Idan Ofer who spoke out against Ivy league alma maters that support anti-Jewish student groups. Let’s support the 234 Democrat and Republican Representatives who voted to censor Tlaib’s insensitive pro-Hamas rhetoric.  Let’s cheer loudly for Pro-Israel community members in New York who showed up to volunteer to work at Café Aronne. Doctors, lawyers, Rabbis, Jews from all walks of life came to help and encourage people to buy gift cards to bolster the business. Customers now line up around the block to support the store and the business continues to see a significant bump in customers after news of the barista walk-off spread.

Elie Wiesel said, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” 

Speak your truth and speak it now.