Can American Jews shake off their defensive posture rooted in fear and a distorted conception of Jewish values to begin acting to deter those who attack them and convince them that the Jews are not easy prey for antisemitic thugs?

According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, that’s the question the Jewish community must confront of an unprecedented surge in Jew-hared in the two years since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

He is joined in this week’s episode of “Think Twice” by Benjamin Kerstein, author of the new book , Self-Defense: A Jewish Manifesto .

Kerstein says it’s time for Diaspora Jews to shake off the constraints of what he calls “learned helplessness,” a mindset that conditions victims to believe they have no recourse but to endure violence

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