Antisemitism continues to surge in the US and around the world. We have seen attacks on synagogues and Jews in the streets. There are those who are focused on delegitimizing Israel and expanding the BDS. Conspiracy theories are being spread, blaming Jews for negative world events, including Covid-19. For Jews to appropriately address American antisemitism, it is important to understand traditional antisemitism, how Jews are stereotyped, and the false narratives. It is also important to understand the implications for our interfaith communities, and discover steps we can take to address this societal issue.

In the Spring of 2019, Seth Arbital's sister completed her second masters at Rice University in Houston with a capstone video, focusing on the roots of antisemitism, the motivations behind antisemitism, and the false narratives. It gave Seth a new understanding of antisemitism, and how both the Far Right and the Far Left, unified in their hatred of Jews, use similar tropes when demonizing Jews. He was compelled to bring her research and insights to the local Jewish community, empowering our community to address this antisemitic problems.

Temple Beth Ahm's Men's Club led a of 5-temple collaborative committee in Monmouth and Middlesex counties. The Clubs included: Temple Beth Ahm of Aberdeen, Marlboro Jewish Center of Marlboro, Temple Shalom of Aberdeen, Congregation Sons of Israel of Manalapan, and Temple Rodeph Torah of Marlboro. The original program was to be hosted at Temple Beth Ahm in May of 2020, but unfortunately had to be rescheduled as a Zoom presentation in August due to the pandemic. An Eventbrite event was created for registration. Since this was a free event, Eventbrite did not charge us. The program was focused on antisemitic messaging, the philosophy of white nationalists, and the differences between criticism of Israel and anti-Zionist ideology. At the end of the presentation, Rodi gave a variety of recommendations on how to confront antisemitism.

At the event, Seth welcomed everyone and introduced his sister (introduction attached below). The 45 minute presentation was interactive, involving several polls of attendees. Seth monitored the Zoom Chat for questions. Following the PowerPoint presentation, Seth asked Rodi many of the questions posed, which she addressed.

Rodi did not charge an honorarium, but the committee decided to make a contribution to the Houston Holocaust Museum, where she is very active, in her honor. We are not sharing a video of this program at Rodi's request, due to the sensitive nature of the material.