We spend enormous resources combating antisemitism. We refute accusations, defend Israel’s image abroad and monitor hate speech online. Israel’s Foreign Ministry allocates hundreds of millions of shekels annually to hasbara efforts. American Jewish organizations invest similarly massive sums. Yet antisemitism persists, and in many corners, it grows stronger.
Perhaps we are missing a critical key.
The virus of Jew-hatred has always needed fertile ground to flourish. That ground isn’t primarily found in ideological manifestos or ancient prejudices. It’s found in broken, depressed people with nowhere to turn. Today, across the Western world, an entire generation of young men sits isolated in their parents’ basements, struggling with drug addiction, pornography addiction, and a profound sense that life has no meaning or direction. They have college degrees but no jobs. They face an AI-driven economy that seems to have no place for them and a social-media landscape that has destroyed their ability to form real relationships.
Even those who are bastions of hate have recognized this problem. During former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with antisemite Nick Fuentes, which softly debated the relative evils of global Jewry and Zionists, and which Jews might be exempted from guilt, the conversation slid into an extended discussion about young male despair in the United States. That seeming non sequitur was revealing.
These young men are the breeding ground for extremism. Fuentes’s fan base, so-called “groypers,” is made up largely of young disenchanted men, whom Fuentes has become a figurehead for. They are one pool of the fertile ground for the explosive mainstreaming of anti-Jewish Christian nationalism, thinly veiled neo-Nazi sympathy and mind-boggling conspiracy theories villainizing Jews.
In many ways, they mirror the raging fanatics of the woke left. A drug-ridden, depressed mangle of Godless and prospectless college graduates find a cult-like movement of social justice to give them meaning, purpose and a target for their rage: the Jewish state.
There is a pattern here, and it is an old one. But the pattern represents both a crisis and an opportunity for the Jewish people.
The crisis is clear. If America turns against Israel, it will be through these disaffected youngsters. If the leadership of the United States gives voice to people like Fuentes and Carlson, then its relationship with Israel is under direct threat. The Jewish state’s national security depends not just on Iron Dome batteries but on American support.
Indeed, it is not just America, but across the world that the collapse of mental health, the evaporation of hope and the pandemic of despair have become a strategic threat to Israel and world Jewry.
Even 10 years ago, such a diagnosis would have been just that—another pundit casting a new light on a depressing reality with no solution (other than prayer). But today is not 10 years ago.
God has placed us in a remarkable situation where our survival depends on assisting our fellow human beings to be happier and healthier around the world. He has also blessed us with unique gifts to be perfectly placed to rise to the challenge.
American Jewish philanthropy and the State of Israel must invest in understanding and solving this sociological pandemic. Not just by throwing money at the problem, but by genuinely researching it, understanding it and deploying our best minds to address it. We need to approach this young male crisis with the same focus we brought to developing Iron Dome.
The Jewish people now have options that we have never had before. Whereas in the past, we simply had to ride the wave of antisemitism, having an organized nation in a state offers choices we never had before.
Israel already contains technological power disproportionate to its size. We’ve developed systems that save lives through medical innovation and reduce traffic congestion through navigation apps. We also have a spiritual depth that the world needs. We have been rehearsing for the day when there are no more human jobs for thousands of years; it is called Shabbat. We have produced societies whose meaning depends not on their work or net worth, but on their wisdom and kindness.
Where the Western world has seen the collapse of families and demographic decline, Israel is the only one with a growing population, based on large, thriving families. Despite constant wars and security threats, the nation consistently ranks among the happiest on earth. We have something the rest of the world desperately needs, and we must share it.
The four pillars that help people thrive are well known: faith, family, community and giving to others. Israel and Jewish wisdom have profound insights into all four that are applicable to all humanity. Abraham was told that through him, all families of the earth would be blessed. That blessing flows primarily through our covenant with God, through keeping the laws and bringing divine light into the world. But it also flows through using our gifts to heal a broken world.
We have spiritual clarity to offer. We have ingrained in our culture lessons that assist in family and communal development. If we put our minds to it, we can find solutions that help people to achieve health, happiness and success in a hyper-evolving world.
This is not the one-stop solution to the social pathology of Jew-demonization. The battle is physical, psychological, sociological and spiritual, and must be fought on all fronts. But this is an important piece that can be all too easily overlooked.
Antisemites claim that Jews are responsible for the world’s problems. Our response must be: We may not be responsible for them, but we will help solve them. We can fight hard against the absurd demonization campaigns and grotesque accusations. But we can also hear, beneath the shrieking howling mass, a painful cry of help.
Rather than scream back, we can put our efforts into fulfilling the mission we were tasked with: to be ambassadors for God in His world, to be teachers and guides to the world, and through that, help bring about an era in which all peoples are truly blessed.
