(((Semitism)))

I'm going to start my review of (((Semitism))) by Jonathan Weisman (only hours after starting my reading) with a quote from Becoming, Michelle Obama's memoir that I finished immediatlely before starting this commentary. What she says, I believe, will explain the the experience of Jonathan Weisman.

As minorities across the country were gradually beginning to take on more significant roles in politics, business, and entertainment, our family had become the most prominent example. Our presence in the White House had been celebrated by millions of Americans, but it also contributed to a reactionary sense of fear and resentment among others. The hatred was old and deep and as dangerous as ever.

I think I might have been wrong about my first thought. I now don't really think that the uptick in anti-semitism is a reaction to Obama's presidency.

My daughter was the one who pointed me towards this book. I don't know where she heard about it, but she asked me if I'd read it. I looked into it, read some of the reviews, and put it on my library waitlist. I got it fairly quickly.

Now, just several hours after completing (((Semitism))), I don't think I can accurately summarize what the book was all about. Partly, I think because of the writing. Weisman, an editor for the New York Times, wrote this in the style of a newspaper column. But newspaper columns are limited in length. This was very long, very circuitous, somewhat repetitive. I often felt I didn't have ample background information to make sense of all he wrote.

Much of the content of the book was extremely disturbing. Weisman starts out by explaining the ((())) in the title. It's an internet thing. A way for Jewish surnames to be highlighted on the internet, allowing "bad guys" to effectively search for those people. The people with the Jewish surnames are then harassed online. He included lots of nasty anecdotes.

Weisman is a secular Jew. His first wife was a non-Jew and until one of his daughters asked to become a Bat Mitzvah, he was raising his children without religion. He pretty much clumps Jews into two categories. The religious Jews who focus more on the safety of Israel than on safety here at home versus secular Jews who care most about setting a moral compass and assisting those who need a hand up. Personally, I'm conflicted on the whole Israel thing. Where do I fall between those two clumps?

Ironically - or not - this book made more sense about the Jewish/Black organization that was a big part of the novel Single Jewish Male. The logic is that all those groups threatened by "the haters" need to band together and kind of scaffold each other. He feels that the Anti-Defammation League and Southern Poverty Law Center need to be strengthened.

I can ramble on a bit more, but I'll spare you. After reading this, I feel no more nor no less threatened than I felt before I read it.

This book was published in late winter 2018. I wonder how the book would be updated if it was written after attack in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life synagogue. Might google that now.

[Post google: I'm not sure I'm buying what he's saying now. His view seems so narrow. If you'd like to read what I just read, here's the link.]