“If I am not for me, who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?”
———–Hillel in Pirkei Avot 1:14
When some student turns in a test with swastikas,
and another shouts, ‘Don’t be a Jew with your money’,
or a third writes, ‘No Jews’ on the bathroom wall,
don’t tell me these are insignificant insults,
micro aggressions or isolated incidents,
because, they’re not.
And don’t tell me to get over it,
or ignore it,
or that I’m over reacting,
because, I’m not.
Each one is one more incident
in a long list of incidents.
We are a people who have been subjected
to poverty and persecution and pain,
stretching back two thousand years.
Don’t trivialize or minimize or downsize this upset,
because, it only cheapens our lives.
Are we not worth getting upset about?
And if not now, when?
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