Image by YouTube

Sanford Levinson, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, on Monday received a postcard full of anti-Semitic threats that referenced President-elect Donald Trump, according to reports in the Dallas Morning News and Boston Globe.

“Hey Sandy, you just got your kike ass kicked… We are gonna drain the swamp at Harvard Law School, Juden Raus,” the letter read, invoking the Trump slogan “drain the swamp” and the Nazi-era phrase “Jews out.”

Levinson, who holds a permanent appointment at the University of Texas in Austin, teaches constitutional law and has written articles about his field for the popular press.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

He spoke out about the letter to the Boston Globe. “It certainly is as hostile as it could be. But I don’t know what to make of it,” he told the newspaper, noting that the letter appeared to have been mailed from the United Kingdom.

Levinson, who reported the incident to Harvard administration, linked the episode to Trump’s electoral victory, which has coincided with a spike in hate crimes.

“This is a level of anti-Semitic hostility that I have not seen before,” he said to the Globe. “I see it as a very regrettable data point about the extent to which Donald Trump — intentionally or not — has liberated a kind of discourse we haven’t seen in a long, long time.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount