Rabbi Marvin Hier Bombarded With Anti-Semitic Messages After Trump Inauguration Blessing

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Rabbi Marvin Hier was bombarded with anti-Semitic messages after delivering an invocation at President Trump’s inauguration.
After the prayer on Friday afternoon, the 77-year-old leader of the Simon Wiesenthal Center received hundreds of racist and anti-Semitic messages, the Times of Israel reported.
Some called to “light the Jew on fire,” or claimed “the Jew put a spell on us,” while others made references to Hitler and Nazi gas chambers. Many of the users are associated with white supremacist or anti-Semitic groups.
What the hell is some Jew rabbi doing at the inauguration?! They are the enemies of America !
— White Lives Matter (@darwinsvaxcine) January 20, 2017
Hier was among six clerics who participate in the inauguration. Before the ceremony, Hier said he believed that “all of us should pray for [Trump’s] great success, because his great success means our great success.”
His appearance was controversial with liberal Jews, some of whom believed his presence signalled an endorsement of Trump’s ties to so-called ‘alt-right’ racists and anti-Semites, along with his disturbing comments about women.
But he insisted all Americans should stand behind the president and cheer for a successful term.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
