Jewcla Chabad at UCLA

Since day one, Jewish blood was cheap and treated as if it were worth nothing. Jews were the easy target, blame, punchbag, and go-to victim. Whoever felt like it, from the drunk peasant in a European village to church officials, kings, and rulers, spilled Jewish blood without even batting an eye. Pogroms, burnings, lynchings, take your pick. For centuries, it was open season on the Jews. And why? Because no one cared. There was no one to answer to. Jews did not have a state, an army, and a voice. They were at the mercy of whoever held power that day. It did not matter whether it was the mob or a king signing another expulsion order because he woke up in a bad mood. Jews were nothing more than a target. But I'm here to tell you that Jewish blood is still cheap today. Not in the medieval sense of mobs with torches roaming European villages, but in a modern, sanitized way. Today it happens on podcasts, social media, and television shows. Jews are accused daily for everything under the sun. Wars, politics, money, media, culture. Somehow it all leads back to the Jews. It's being said behind microphones and studio lights. But the result is the same. It normalizes blame. And it turns Jews into a problem again. And history shows exactly where that road leads. That is why everything changed, and it changed for two reasons: the Holocaust and Israel. The Holocaust was one of the most horrific and unimaginable atrocities in human history. It left the world so raw that even those who had spent centuries crushing Jews had to step back. It was too dark and too vile, even for those who once found pogroms and expulsions amusing. The Holocaust acted like a mirror, and it forced the world to confront its own brutality. But even something as massive and horrific as the industrial slaughter of over six million Jews, has an expiration date in people’s minds. Over time, people forget. The world gets distracted, the survivors die off, and the lessons begin to fade. The old antisemitism starts creeping back through the cracks. That is where Israel comes in. Israel is the one that will never let that happen again. Daring, audacious beyond belief, and unapologetic, this is Israel. It is the only country in the world that has no dilemma whatsoever about doing what it needs to do, whatever and wherever that may be, to protect the Jewish people. No questions asked. No permission sought. No limits. Israel will bomb, raid, bulldoze, and defend its people to the last man because no one else will. And that audacity, that unrelenting fire, is precisely why Israel is so hated. The people who miss the days when Jews were weak, defenseless, and easy to oppress are the same ones raging against Israel behind a newly found “humanitarian” mask. They hide their hate behind claims of “human rights” and “justice,” but we know what this is. It is the same hatred that has burned for centuries, just repackaged for a modern age. Deep down, they cannot stand the fact that Jews fight back now. They cannot stand that we refuse to go quietly into the night as we did for so long. But Israel did more than that. It gave Jews confidence. Even Jews who do not live in Israel, or who may have theological disagreements with the state, are louder and more willing to push back. In the back of their minds, they know that if things ever go south, there is a place they can run to. So how long do people think it will take before someone in the United States does what just happened in Australia today? How many Jews need to be attacked, beaten, or killed before people stop and say we have gone too far yet again? How many warnings does history need to give before it is ignored for the millionth time? The Holocaust woke the world up, but Israel is the reason it stays awake. And that is why the hatred is relentless. Israel will not apologize for doing what every other nation would do for its people. And to those who long for the days when Jewish blood was cheap, Israel is their nightmare. And it is a nightmare that will never go away.

Sometimes I try to imagine how easy life must feel for people like her, the ones who blame the Jews for everything They don’t struggle with uncertainties like we do. They don’t lie awake at night wondering why the world is broken. When something goes wrong, whether it’s a war, a crisis, a financial collapse, or a cultural shift, they already have the answer. It’s simple. It’s never messy or complicated. It’s the Jews. Their worldview is neat, predictable, and even comforting. Because if it’s always the Jews, then they’re never the problem. They never have to confront their own failures, never face their leaders’ corruption, never examine their country’s role in global suffering. They’re off the hook. Guilt-free. They can look in the mirror and feel just fine, like a 4-year-old who spills milk but points to the house pet. In their world, they’re just eternal victims of some invisible, powerful Jewish hand pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Always innocent, helpless, and most importantly, they are never ever wrong. It’s a worldview with built-in excuses. You didn’t get the job? A Jewish executive must’ve shut the door. You have economic issues? Must be the banks — AKA the Jews. You notice a moral collapse in society? Hollywood, of course, and we all know who “controls” that. Even natural disasters and global pandemics don’t escape the reach of this delusion. There’s always a Jewish fingerprint to be found, but only if you’re desperate enough to see it. These people get to live in a fantasy where they’re the heroes, or at least the victims, and the Jews are the villains. It’s intellectually lazy. Emotionally safe. Spiritually bankrupt. And it’s old. So old. Can’t be more old than this. This isn’t modern thinking. It’s recycled garbage. Ancient blame, just repackaged with new language and slang, filtered through today’s podcasts, delivered by today’s influencers. But it’s the same script. The same lie. And still just as convenient. Meanwhile, we, the ones being blamed, carry something very different. We carry history, tragedy, and on top of all responsibility. We don’t get the luxury of scapegoating others. We don’t get to blame our suffering on conspiracies. When something goes wrong in our lives, in our community, or even in the world, we’re taught to look at ourselves. To ask, “What can I fix? Where did I fall short? What can I learn?” And sometimes there are no answers, only pain. When disaster strikes, when tragedy befalls us, we don’t scream about shadowy villains. We say Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Blessed is the True Judge. We try to find faith in the chaos. We try to grow through the grief. We try to hold onto God even when we don’t understand Him. That’s not easy. But that’s adulthood. That’s what it means to be responsible in a world that doesn’t always make sense. So yes, maybe they are the lucky ones. They get to sleep peacefully in their ignorance and comforted by lies. But I’d rather be cursed with truth than blessed with delusion. Because I’d rather struggle with questions than to hold on to answers that require no thought, no courage, and no soul.