Privilege is not a dirty word. To be clear, it is critical to be aware of what- ever privileges one is blessed with, recognize and appreciate that others do not share that blessing, and incor- porate that awareness and recognition while demonstrating care and com- passion for others. Nevertheless, one needn’t apologize for privilege or be ashamed or feel guilty for having it. Quite the contrary, privilege is, well, exactly that—a privilege. One should be grateful for, appreciative of, and most of all feel tremendously obligat- ed by the privileges we have.

We Jews are particularly privileged, but not in the way you may think.

For some, privilege means receiving the benefit of the doubt, or the as- sumption of innocence. For others, privilege means having access, en- trée, and opportunity. For yet others, privilege means the comfort of feeling safe, protected, and secure.

By these definitions, in the context of history, and even now, Jews are among the most underprivileged people. We have been the target of libel, false accusations, assumptions of guilt. These aren’t part of ancient history. A blood libel occurred in Mas- sena, New York, in 1928. We have been denied access and opportunity. As recently as the 1970’s Jews and blacks were unabashedly denied entry into country clubs in South Florida, an area thought of today as “so Jewish.” Many had signs that said “No dogs, no colored, no Jews.” And it wasn’t that long ago that Jews were similarly denied or limited to enter universities and graduate schools. In 1935, a Yale dean instructed his admissions com- mittee: “Never admit more than five Jews.” Harvard’s president wrote that too many Jewish students would “ruin the college.”

Safety and security? The Anti-Def- amation League reports there were 2,107 hate crimes against Jewish people nationwide in 2019, the high- est since the ADL began tallying hate crimes in 1979. Antisemitic incidents comprise a majority of reported hate crimes in New York City. According to 2018 FBI data, Jews were 2.7x

more likely than blacks, and 2.2x more likely than Muslims to be a hate crime victim.

In the context of recent rioting and looting, the Los Angeles Jewish community recently experienced what one called a “modern-day po- grom” in which Jewish businesses were ransacked and five syna- gogues and three Jewish schools were vandalized.

The current attention to racism in America and the fight for racial justice is important. As I have said, racism is an evil we must actively, categorically reject. At the same time, we should also be aware, and make others aware, that antisemitism is on the rise globally and there re- main entire nations and countless in- dividuals who seek the extermination and elimination of the Jewish people. Just last week, what are widely con- sidered A-list celebrities with large social media presences praised Louis Farrakhan, a vile, unapologetic anti- Semite. In 2018, Farrakhan warned his 335,000 followers on Twitter about “the Satanic Jew.” As recently as October, 2018 Farrakhan told his followers in a widely-attended and shared speech, “When they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you know how they do – call me an anti-Semite. Stop it, I’m anti-termite!”

A high-profile spokesman during this important current conversation on jus- tice, equality, and discrimination is Al Sharpton, a man who once said, “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house…All we want to say is what Jesus said: If you offend one of these little ones, you got to pay for it. No compromise, no meetings, no cof- fee klatch, no skinnin’ and grinning.’ Pay for your deeds.” He has never apologized or offered contrition for those remarks, or for his role in incit- ing the Crown Heights riots (perhaps he still stands by them), and yet he is consistently given a public platform with no hesitation or qualification.

In many places around the world, including too many right here in the United States, a Jew feels the need to remove a yarmulke or outer Jewish symbols to feel safe. There is no privi- lege to protect him.

I share this all not to make the argu- ment we are more underprivileged or victimized by prejudice than anyone else, but that even today, access and opportunity, assumption of innocence, and especially safety and security, are not privileges the Jewish people can so readily count on and enjoy.