It was almost two years ago that the horrific Pittsburgh synagogue massacre occurred, in October 2018. In 2019, anti-Semitic street crimes escalated in New York, fatal shootings were perpetrated in Poway (San Diego) and Jersey City. And in Monsey, five chasidim at a Chanukah party were hacked with a machete.

Although the COVID-19 crisis has eclipsed every other problem these days, anti-Semitism has not gone away and continues to fester in the background. Anti-Semitic hate crimes are not new. Ever since the FBI first compiled statistics in 1992, America’s Jews have been target number-one of religious-inspired attacks. The recent increasing violence, mayhem, and murder, including from domestic terrorists, signal us that we must escalate our hishtadlus (efforts) to protect ourselves.