“We Are Not Alright” For my non Jewish friends that are silent I am not sure you truly understand how your Jewish friends and neighbors feel right now. A few nights ago New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke about a staffer of his at a rally to support Israel and the Jewish community. The staffer told the Mayor that ”I am not alright. Please know that the Jewish community in America and around the world “is not alright.” We are traumatized, mourning and scared. On Saturday, 1,200 Jews were murdered. The largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. To paraphrase the US Secretary of State this morning, Hamas brought a brutalist and litany of inhumanity that brings to mind the worst of ISIS. People slaughtered, bodies desecrated, young people burned alive, woman rapped and executed in front of children, and children executed in front of parents. I’ll also add babies beheaded. Why? Simply because they were Jewish. “We are not alright.” On a CNN interview a few days ago, a Jewish father thanked G-d that his adolescent daughter was killed and that her death was a blessing rather than be a captive to Hamas. What type of world do we live in where a parent would rather have their child dead than to be held captive with these terrorists. “We are not alright.” In Times Square you have protesters chanting the number of Israeli Jews killed while displaying Swastiaks. Our kids colleagues on college campuses across the United States are at rallies glorifying the terrorist martyrs, the murderers of Jews, and calling for a “Day of Resistance.” Jewish students are crying that they want to kill us. “We are not alright.” In Sydney, Australia you have protestors chanting gas the Jews and Jews are being harassed and attacked in Europe. This is happening all over the world, including here in our beloved country. “We are not alright.” We are scared for our children’s safety. We are scared for our family. We are frightened as to what could happen to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world. “We are not alright.” I am not worried as I know we will prevail. We have no other option. The Jewish community has been here before for thousands of years. From the Jews that were almost massacred in Persia in the 5th Century BCE, to the conquering and expelling of Jews from Israel in 70 AD, to the raging antisemitism of the Middle Ages, to the death and violent conversion of the Inquisition, to the pogroms of Russia, and of course the greatest tragedy of all the Holocaust. We say it will never happen again, but it has time after time. So please understand our angst. I am reminded of Martin Niemöller’s quote about being silent… “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” So Don’t Be Silent. Show your support. Reach out and express sympathy, concern and mostly love. And remember “We Are Not Alright.” #AmYisraelChai! @Israel