Good Jews, Bad Jews

Who are we as Jews if we can't disagree?

THE FILM OCTOBER 8, released in March 2025, describes itself as a documentary on the rise of antisemitism in America, especially on college campuses. “The fight for the soul of America” is the somewhat hyperbolic tagline on its marketing materials. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read about it because it’s been controversial, especially among groups working toward Israeli/Palestinian solidarity. It’s been making the rounds of Jewish venues nationwide.

Yesterday, the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse held a long-planned afternoon showing. A Jewish friend in town, Mara Sapon-Shevin, a retired education professor, bought a pair of tickets when they went on sale, and her registration was confirmed. But yesterday morning she got an email from the JCC canceling her registration. The email read:

“Due to the protesting and disruption that took place at a past program that you were part of, your registration for tonight's program has been cancelled. This is a private event being sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse and we reserve the right to deny entry to any individual(s). You and your guest will not be permitted into the Palace Theater this evening for the movie screening."

She went anyway, standing outside the theater with a sign.

As people filed past her into the theater, a few yelled epithets like “idiot.” Someone called out, “Exterminate all of them, it’s fine with me!”

It was an upsetting experience, of course, especially at a time when many perceive President Trump’s anti-Semitism agenda as a cynical pretext for targeting universities and rolling back free speech. Frankly, it makes me, an American Jew, feel sick to see accusations of anti-Semitism used to shut down protest and punish anyone who dares to dissent.

And in this particular moment, when children in Gaza are dying of starvation because of the Israeli blockade, when more than 50,000 people in Gaza have been killed and thousands more have been injured, dispossessed, traumatized, it’s even more sickening.

ONE ORGANIZATION’S DECISION to revoke film tickets is, of course, inconsequential. Personally, I think it was a stupid move. But there’s a much bigger issue at stake. When the American Jewish community chooses to shut down dissent rather than facilitate dialogue, it’s adopting tactics straight from the authoritarian playbook. Shutting people up doesn’t lead to consensus or democratic practices. It’s an end-justifies-the-means kind of rationalization, and that rarely turns out well.

Israelis have been protesting in the streets for months, demanding that Bibi’s government focus on retrieving the remaining hostages. Thousands of Israelis have failed to show up for reserve duty, especially since the government renewed its assault in Gaza last month. In this context, barring people from a film screening 5,000 miles away seems not just short-sighted but counterproductive.

And then there’s the question of who we are as Jews if we can’t disagree. Argument is built into Judaism, as any Talmudic scholar will tell you. It’s how we learn; it’s how we teach others. It’s how we keep our communities alive spiritually, philosophically, and practically.

When only certain beliefs are acceptable, when we turn against one another with accusations of being “self-hating Jews” (I’ve gotten that one many times), when we try to shut down those we disagree with, we play right into the hands of true anti-Semites. Our only hope is to continue to wrestle together with the painful questions of our time.