Josh Shapiro at a Atlanta Braves- Philadelphia Phillies playoff game in 2023. Photo by Getty Images

Contributing Columnist Jay Michaelson August 6, 2024

Governor Josh Shapiro is a brilliant, talented politician who would have made an excellent vice president — and maybe will someday. But I have to be honest: I’m breathing a sigh of relief right now.

Of course, I was inspired by the prospect of a proud American Jew running for national office. But I was already dreading it: dreading the prospect of three months of overt and covert antisemitism on the Right, of defending Shapiro’s record to left-wingers holding him to a higher standard than non-Jewish politicians, and of more bilious and frankly antisemitic rhetoric about liberal Jews coming from Donald Trump.

I’m not alone in feeling this way. After I posted a similar “sigh of relief” on social media, several friends chimed in. Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, a poet-rabbi in Massachusetts who cofounded the innovative Jewish resource center Bayit, wrote “I’m deeply relieved not to be facing the spike in antisemitism that would have accompanied Shapiro. Both for myself, and for many of those whom I serve, this feels like one profound anxiety that has now been released.”

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Exactly.

It shouldn’t be like this. American Jews shouldn’t be worried, in 2024, that a Jewish vice-presidential nominee would lead to an increase in antisemitism. In fact, I don’t remember feeling this way in 2000, when Senator Joe Lieberman was on the ticket. Back then, it seemed non-controversial.

But now isn’t then.

Now is a time of Christian Nationalist antisemitism on the Right, and anti-Zionist antisemitism on the Left — both of which were already starting to emerge in response to Shapiro’s possible candidacy.

As I’ve written in these pages before, the former is by far the largest threat to Jewish safety: white supremacists dining with Donald Trump; a Holocaust denier running for governor of North Carolina; and, as described in the terrifying new book by Elle Reeve, Black Pill, the mainstreaming of racist and antisemitic views that, just a decade ago, were considered beyond the pale.

And as if the antisemites on the Right aren’t bad enough, they are joined by hard-right politicians and pundits who impugn the Jewishness of anyone they disagree with. On a right-wing radio show, host Sid Rosenberg called Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, a “crappy Jew,” and Donald Trump said “yeah.” Trump had previously, of course, stated that any Jew who supports Democrats “hates their religion.”

I admit, I was not looking forward to three months of defending my religious identity on television against these vulgar, name-calling, lashon-hara-spouting zealots.

I was also not looking forward to defending Shapiro’s liberal-Zionist politics to progressives on the Left. To be sure, I think the vast majority of progressive Democrats would have supported Harris in November despite their qualms about Shapiro; everyone knows what’s at stake. But there’s always that noisy, hard-left minority — the ones calling Shapiro “Genocide Josh” and distorting his record both on Israel/Palestine and on campus protests related to the Gaza war.

To be honest, some of Governor Shapiro’s statements about the protests do strike me as inflammatory. But the way they were being distorted by the hard left — and in bad faith, when it comes to the Democratic Socialists of America — was outrageous. Shapiro’s politics are basically J Street politics. He supports a two-state solution. He opposes the Netanyahu regime. He has built solid alliances with Muslim and Arab American leaders in Pennsylvania.

This is exactly the nuanced position that represents the large majority of American Jews, who support a Jewish state but oppose its current policies, and who have called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage deal — even as hopes seem dimmer than ever, as an exhausted Israel now readies itself for a retaliatory strike by Iran.

In fact, one is hard pressed to find any daylight between Shapiro’s substantive positions on Israel/Palestine and those of vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz, Senator Mark Kelly, or Vice President Harris herself. Yet somehow, only the Jewish politician faced such vitriol. Why?

As my readers know, I am not one to see antisemitism everywhere. Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, even if some anti-Zionists are antisemitic. One can fiercely criticize the actions and even the existence of the state of Israel, in terms I might find objectionable and offensive, without crossing the line into bigotry.

But holding a Jewish candidate to a different standard from non-Jewish ones? That is clearly antisemitic, and it was already happening to Governor Shapiro. Not only was this rhetoric infuriating and unacceptable, but it was validating the Right’s claim that Israel’s critics are really just antisemites. The (hard) Left was proving the Right correct.

So, yes, I’m glad we don’t have to talk about that for the next three months.

At the end of the day, though, I feel a bit of sadness mixed in with my relief. Governor Shapiro is an American Jewish dream come true: a wildly popular governor who has integrated his Jewishness with his commitment to progressive causes. Like Joe Lieberman in 2000, he’s not just Jewish (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but actively, proudly, and demonstratively Jewish. He’s an exemplar of how Judaism and the pursuit of justice can enrich one another. He’s a role model for my kid.

And yet, the issues raised by his candidacy would have been a distraction. Progressives, liberals, and centrists need to be focused on stopping nationalist authoritarianism from taking hold in America. We can’t afford to waste our energy fighting off antisemitic attacks, trying to keep our communities safe, and fighting amongst ourselves. Let’s work toward building a society in which a brilliant Jewish politician can run for president and we can cheer him on without reservation — or dread.

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