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The Rising Tide: Understanding Modern Antisemitism

Prerecorded for the week of October 5, 2026: Antisemitism isn't simply a historical problem — it is a present-day threat that is changing how Jews live, worship, educate their children and participate in public life. In this special episode, Mike examined the rising tide of antisemitism, what is driving it and what can be done to fight it. This special episode asks difficult questions about where modern antisemitism comes from, why it continues to spread and how education, community and a deeper understanding of Jewish history can help confront it. How we can move beyond simply remembering what happened to ensuring that Jewish communities can live openly, safely and proudly today?
 
Although Jews make up only about 2% of the U.S. population, they are victims of a disproportionate share of religiously motivated hate crimes - a staggering 91% of American Jews report feeling unsafe because of the rise in antisemitism and Jewish communities are spending approximately $1 billion each year on security.
The episode also explored the increasingly blurred line between criticism of Israel, anti-Zionism and antisemitism, examining its growing presence on the radical right while also asking how antisemitism manifests in other ideological spaces.
Can teaching the Holocaust prevent antisemitism? Only 29 states currently require Holocaust education, while troubling numbers of young Americans demonstrate a lack of basic understanding about the Holocaust. Perhaps the deeper problem is how we teach the Holocaust;  too often, education focuses on what was done to Jews while giving too little attention to the antisemitism that made the Holocaust possible. In trying to make Holocaust education universally accessible, have we inadvertently erased what makes Jewish history and antisemitism unique?

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