By Michael Kress
By now, you’ve heard of the foiled plot to blow up two synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx– my neighborhood, my home, my community. Thankfully, the explosives they were caught planting were fakes, sold to them by an FBI informant as part of a year-long investigation. Explosives being planted in our quiet, tree-lined suburban-like neighborhood is jarring enough; two synagogues being targeted is horrifying beyond words. My friends go to those synagogues, and several send their kids to nursery schools at one of them. This wasn’t some farfetched aspiration-only idea. They were planting explosives a quarter mile away from my home at 9pm last night.
The synagogues they chose were not particularly political, nor were they in any way similar, one being a liberal Reform temple and the other being Orthodox. Not similar, of course, except that they were both synagogues, Jewish houses of worship.
Shocking, to be sure, but I was truly chilled by the reported motivations for the attack. One of the attackers, according to the N.Y. Times, “had told the informant that he was upset about the war in Afghanistan and that he wanted to do “something to America,” saying that “‘the best target’–the World Trade Center–’was hit already.’”
Aside from the absurdity of Riverdale Temple being the “second best target” for terrorists, the pure anti-Semitism embedded in that explanation is a terrifying reminder of the hatred that exists in our world, even in our neighborhood. (The attackers themselves were from quiet Newburgh, NY.) It’s not like a “better” or more direct explanation for the plot (like expressing outrage about the Israel-Palestinian conflict) would make me feel any better or safer, or in any way justify the plot. But this taps into ancient anti-Jewish stereotypes of Jews controlling the world and therefore has extra-frightening resonance for us Jews. Hate America? Hit the Jews. It’s an irrational and paranoid fantasy, which is alive and well among too many.
A friend of mine recently observed that much of today’s Jewish activism–social and political–is geared toward helping others, whether they are genocide victims in Darfur or impoverished women in Central America. And that is how it should be. We Jews know affluence and security here in America like we have never known before, and we are at the forefront of social justice movements worldwide. But peril does lurk and occasionally we are reminded that our work fighting hatred, bigotry, and violence is not only about helping others, but protecting ourselves, whether it’s in our backyard or overseas.
(One postscript: I want to know more about this informant who tipped off the FBI and worked with them for a year and sold the fake explosives to these men. Was he a member of their mosque? Whoever he is, a true hero, who we need to celebrate and hold up as an example of civic duty and sacrifice.)