Originally published at National Catholic Register
Antisemitism is not merely a sin against a people but an affront to God’s chosen plan of redemption.
There are two things we must always remember about the Jewish people. First, they exist because God willed them to be. Their identity and existence is rooted in an act of divine intervention and the generosity of Almighty God. He fashioned them as a people after his own heart, which sets them uniquely apart in salvation history.
And the second thing? That throughout history, powerful forces have repeatedly sought to annihilate them. It certainly did not start with Hamas and the murderous rampage of Oct. 7, 2024, a massacre that left 1,200 Jews dead in the desert, while hundreds more were taken hostage to Gaza, there to languish in tunnels where many remain to this day. Nor did it start with Hitler, who succeeded in murdering 6 million. While the numbers may vary, the genocidal fury remains the same, all fired by a common hatred.
Thus, the call to destroy the Jewish people persists, wherever they may be found. Scattered across the world since the great Diaspora, their largest concentration is in a land about the size of New Jersey —
