On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, two years ago, Hamas terrorists murdered over 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages. In this moment when our prayers have finally been realized, and the war appears to be ending after two grueling years, we now must focus on the aftermath. Unfortunately, there is deep concern that the systematic and widespread normalization of antisemitism that we saw over these past two years in the United States and around the globe will continue to live on.
The October 7 massacre unleashed antisemitism at historical levels. Within weeks, Jewish students were being harassed on college campuses for simply existing. Synagogues required increased security. Jewish families began questioning whether to display religious symbols in their homes.
The scope of this