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December 14, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Today's newsletter details my conversation on Thursday with Kenneth Stern, editor of the recently released Simply Human: A Guide to Understanding and Combating Hate.
- All forms of hatred are distinct. Antisemitism is a subset of hate. Fighting antisemitism requires the application of the same principles used in fighting hate generally.
- We must work with other groups to preserve our democracy and to fight hatred because when anyone is vilified or despised or seen as a danger to society, that’s the petri dish in which antisemitism can grow.
- Our tent must be broad enough to include anti-Zionist Jews whose anti-Zionism is rooted in their Jewish values. We don't have to agree with them (I don't), but anti-Zionism is not necessarily antisemitic.
If you can and if you want to, support my work by chipping in via credit card or PayPal, Venmo @Steven-Sheffey, or check. Thank you.
Greetings!
Tonight is the first candle of Hanukkah. Rabbi Joshua Shanes explains that you can conceptualize Hanukkah as primarily about a military victory against foreign forces, a civil war between Jews, or a spiritual holiday.
Regardless of your choice, spin that dreidel, eat those latkes, and enjoy.
On Thursday, I spoke with Kenneth Stern, the editor of Simply Human: A Guide to Understanding and Combating Hate. Simply Human is a collection of essays written by scholars in various academic disciplines on what works to confront hatred, what doesn't, and why. It is mandatory reading for policymakers and those working for organizations whose mission includes combating hate. I highly recommend it for everyone.
Stern is the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. He is probably best known to the readers of this newsletter as the lead drafter of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism (the IHRA definition).
He is the author of, among other books, the indispensable The Conflict over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate. It was written before October 7, 2023, but if you are a college student, the parent of a college student, or otherwise concerned about how this debate plays out on campus, you need to read it.
Hate is part of the human condition. It stems from our tendency to divide humans into us and them, in-groups and out-groups. That's why it has plagued humanity since Cain and Abel.
Stern told me that the goal of Simply Human is to combine academic rigor with real-world considerations to create a better understanding of what works and what doesn't work in combating hate.
The final essay of the book contains a checklist for organizations working against hate and their supporters (the parenthetical following each item refers to the corresponding essay from which the item is derived). All groups fighting hate should use this checklist.
Stern recommends that while "groups that fundraise don't want to share failures, it is important to share failures so others don’t make the same mistakes." Supporters of these groups should insist that they use the checklist and publicly share mistakes.
Stern said that all forms of hatred are different, but all forms of hate share certain characteristics. Antisemitism is a subset of hate, a subset of "who is us and who is them." The key is to look at what drives the hate. For example, "Jews will not replace us" is antisemitic and is based on white supremacy--as are other forms of hate against other groups in the United States, including Islamophobia and anti-Somali bigotry.
It is true that antisemitism is often the canary in the coalmine, the first but not the last hatred of an out-group within a society, but it is also true that "when anyone is vilified or despised or seen as a danger to [society], that’s the petri dish in which antisemitism can grow."
This means that to effectively fight antisemitism, we need to fight hate generally and work to preserve the democratic institutions and guardrails that protect all minorities.
The way to work with other groups, Stern said, "is to develop a larger collective memory where we can agree with other groups." Stern explained that "historical memories are a function of political and communal needs at the moment." For example, Stern noted, when Japanese Americans proposed to memorialize their experience in concentration camps during World War II, some Jewish groups objected to the use of the term "concentration camps," as those differed from Holocaust concentration camps. But a broader concept of collective memory could bridge those differences.
Regarding Holocaust education, Stern said that it is important but it is not a panacea. Antisemitism is complicated and cannot be tethered to a specific set of historical circumstances.
Stern said that our tent must be large enough to include anti-Zionist Jews. He said that there is a “growing number of young Jews whose Judaism leads them to anti-Zionism. They had a strong Jewish education and feel lied to and betrayed [by that education]. To them, at its core, Judaism is about how do you repair the world and how do you treat the stranger." They see Zionism in its practical application (and perhaps even in theory) as antithetical to those values.
Since their anti-Zionism is rooted in their Judaism, "why is their anti-Zionism seen as less legitimate than Satmar anti-Zionism? Both are driven by Judaism. Don’t you want them in the tent?"
One of the problems with the IHRA definition is that it essentially "takes an internal Jewish religious debate" about Zionism and defines as antisemitic one side in that debate. And worse, some in the Jewish community are attempting to codify that one side into law.
Who needs the Sanhedrin when we have the Antisemitism Awareness Act?
We must not conflate anti-Zionism with hate. The line we should draw is not between anti-Zionism and Zionism, but between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. We should never tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Zionism can be expressed as hate or antisemitism and when it is, it should be condemned as such. But it is not necessarily antisemitism or a form of hate
How do we determine where the line is? Stern's essay, Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism, and the Fallacy of Bright Lines further explains the factors we should consider, as does the Nexus Document, as do I.
Our democracy is at risk, our democratic institutions are eroding, and hate is on the rise. Stern said that "hate works in politics; otherwise, politicians wouldn't use it."
That's why it is essential that we understand hate and how to effectively combat it, even if we will never be able to eradicate it. The essays and the checklist in Simply Human can help us do that.
Stern is available at kstern@bard.edu for those with questions. I hope that organizations led by people who are serious about fighting hate will take him up on that offer.
In Case You Missed It:
- Nadav Tamir writes that Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy, which includes Israel, leaves Israel with "no inherent advantage over much richer and larger countries." Tamir explains the dangers to Israel of this deprioritization, and he reminds us that contrary to what our Republican friends would like us to believe, "the Democratic Party has never opposed basic security assistance to Israel nor taken steps that would harm its security."
- Max Boot analyzed Trump's new National Security Strategy. Compare Trump's strategy to Biden's strategy. Boot covered some major differences, but given our focus, do you notice another difference, a word absent in Trump's strategy that is mentioned several times in Biden's strategy? If you read Nadav Tamir's article above you can probably guess, but I'll give you a hint: It begins with "i," it ends with "l," and it's not "inconsequential."
- Following the release of a Public Defender audit that found widespread torture and abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) condemned conditions cited in the report and called for the removal of Itamar Ben Gvir as Israel’s National Security Minister.
- As of this writing, no Republican senators have joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus in cosponsoring a resolution introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that strongly rejects the views of and platforming of Nick Fuentes and condemns Tucker Carlson’s platforming of Fuentes, condemns Nazism and white supremacy in all its forms, and urges all elected officials to condemn them as well.
- Ask your MAGA friends to read this post out loud all the way through without laughing and then tell you with a straight face that they still support Donald Trump.
Tweets of the Week. Amy Spitalnick and Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL).
Thread of the Week. The Nexus Project.
Satire of the Week. The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner Interviews Santa Claus (the last answer is a reference to Chotiner's evisceration of Cass Sunstein).
Video Clip of the Week. Dark humor at its best.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Blancmange--Don't Tell Me.
The Fine Print. I read every reply to this newsletter. I reply as often as I can. All I ask is that you read the Fine Print before you reply or send me anything.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
Be sure to read my posts on how to tell the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, how to heal the generational rift on Israel and antisemitism, and the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
I hope you enjoyed today's newsletter. It takes time to write and costs money to send. If you'd like to support my work, click here and fill in the amount of your choice. You don't need a PayPal account. If you see something that says "Save your info and create a PayPal account," click the button to the right and it will go away. Or you can Venmo @Steven-Sheffey. Or you can send a check.
Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations I support or am associated with.
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