NEW CITY – A Hasidic woman was enjoying a walk with her baby on a sun-splashed morning in New City on Monday when a man pulled up near her in a white sedan.
In a video obtained by Mid-Hudson News, the man shouts aggressively at the woman and a man at her side. The driver pulls away and waves his arm out his window, yelling: “There is going to be a revolution in this country, and we are going to be coming after you people.”
It is the latest example of antisemitism, which is on the rise in this country and continues to be a concern in the Hudson Valley’s Jewish communities.
Ari Rosenblum, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, said sadly he is not surprised by Monday’s incident in New City. He knows of a Rabbi in Rockland County and Jewish Federations staffers who have been the victims of similar hate speech while in public. Rosenblum thanked law enforcement in Rockland County and State and National officials for their support in combating antisemitism.
“It seems to many of us that October 7 opened a door and made it acceptable to spew Jewish hatred,” Rosenblum said. “It is in videos, rallies, demonstrations and graffiti. It is everywhere and many of it leads straight line to violence against Jews. As a community, it is not an acceptable situation for us.”
“This is an age-old problem in America and around the world,” said Wendy Cedar, executive director Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County. “My focus is, of course, Jewish people. You people can mean anyone, and it goes into the hatred and ignorance in this country that I don’t have an answer for. This incident doesn’t surprise me, but it breaks my heart and angers me.”
In May of 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Committee on anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial in Bucharest adopted the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Since the Hamas attacks in Israel last October, U.S. anti-Semitic incidents have skyrocketed. In one two-month span late last year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded a total of 2,031 anti-Semitic incidents up from 464 during the same period in 2022, which is a 337 percent increase. That included 40 incidents of physical assault, 337 incidents of vandalism, 749 incidents of verbal or written harassment and 905 rallies including anti-Semitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel and/or anti-Zionism.
Tension in Jewish communities throughout the Mid-Hudson remain high after Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend.
“Anti-Semitism has been around for thousands of years,” said Rabbi Meir Borenstein of Chabad Goshen. “People, generally speaking, try to control it. Many people talk about it in private, but since the Hamas attacks, they have taken action, and it is completely horrendous and horrific.”
Borenstein said he and his children have been the victim of anti-Semitic comments while walking near their home in the Village of Goshen.
“It happens right in the streets,” Borenstein said. “I don’t want to say the words that they say, but it is Jews this and Jews that. They tell me to go back to KJ (Kiryas Joel). It’s just crazy, its complete insanity, and it has to stop. It makes you feel a very deep pain and it should bother every normal American citizen.”
