A new commercial that will air this Sunday during the Super Bowl will inform America that “2 in 3 Jewish teens have experienced antisemitism.”
The assumption is that if we tell Americans how much Jews are hated, they’ll be less likely to hate us.
Is that so?
The Jewish teen walking in a school hallway in the commercial looks weak and rather sad. And that’s before he realizes that someone has put a “dirty Jew” sticky note on his backpack. A tall Black student tells him “not to listen to that” and covers up “dirty Jew” with a blue square, the campaign’s visual icon.
At the end, viewers are asked to “stand up to Jewish hate.”
But who will stand up?
When football fans think of standing up during the Super Bowl, it’s usually to get another beer or more nachos.
In any case, why would anyone stand up for Jewish victims? Are Jews seen as that needy and vulnerable? Are Jews so afraid of antisemitism they must run ads on the Super Bowl?
Americans much prefer to stand up for winners.
They’d rather stand up to give Jerry Seinfeld a standing ovation for making them crack up.
They’d rather stand up and applaud Steven Spielberg after one of his great movies.
They’d rather stand up after loving a documentary showing how Jews fought for civil rights.
Let’s face it: No matter how hard we try and how many surveys we show, Americans will always have a hard time seeing Jews as powerless victims in need of ads on the Super Bowl.
The Jewish brand is success, not failure. It’s winning, not losing.
We can and should fight antisemitism, but when we go as public as Super Sunday, it behooves us to show strength, not weakness. Instead of reminding Americans that Jews are hated, we ought to remind them why we’re admired.
The creators of the ad mean well, but on the biggest television stage of the year, “dirty Jew” is a risky thing to bring up, regardless of context. For all we know, drumming up the poison may even give people ideas– the wrong ones.
Ironically, the Jewish billionaire behind the campaign, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is the ultimate winner. He’s won a boatload of Super Bowls and can win it again this year.
If he wins, jubilant Patriots fans across the country will stand up. But they won’t stand up to Jewish hate. They’ll stand up because a Jew won.
