[yanivleven]

At the beginning of the 20th century, a charismatic, highly articulate, and openly antisemitic intellectual rose to power in Vienna, then the cultural and intellectual capital of Europe. His ascent was driven largely by a popular backlash against liberal elites and established political parties. Despite his virulent antisemitism, he surrounded himself with Jewish acquaintances who offered him legitimacy. He insisted he was “not antisemitic,” while portraying Jews, not individually, of course, only “as a group”, as corrupting, dangerous, and harmful to society. The “good Jews” were those close to him. The rest were a problem. His rhetoric was refined, intellectual, and morally laundered by Jewish thinkers who saw themselves first as Austrians, only secondarily as Jews, convinced that enlightenment and proximity would protect them. At the time, his policies caused no immediate catastrophe for Jewish life. Later, in a much darker chapter of history, Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf: “I learned a great deal from him, and I do not hesitate to call him the greatest German mayor of all times.” Hitler did not copy him, he studied him. He refined his methods, stripped them of restraint, and weaponized them with far deadlier consequences. What frightens me about New York today is not what will happen tomorrow, but what can happen when cultural norms shift. The world is never short of Hitlers, Stalins, or Genghis Khans. What restrains them is not their absence, but society’s moral immune system. When intolerance is normalized, dressed in elegant language, and excused as progress, the restraints weaken. Maybe nothing happens now. Maybe nothing happens here. But somewhere, someone is watching. Learning. Adapting. I hope I am wrong. And if I am not wrong, then I hope we recover our moral compass quickly, because if we fail again, it will not be out of ignorance, but out of cowardice! out of the refusal to confront evil when it is articulate, charming, and pretending to be virtuous.