Rabbi Yaakov Menken—Biden’s Antisemitism Strategy & the Vilification of Jewish Communities | PREVIEW

“Look at what's coming out of the Jewish schools. These are not kids who are hanging out on street corners. They're not kids who participate in street gangs or smash-and-grab robberies. These are people who build their own stable families, bring up their own kids.” Rabbi Yaakov Menken is managing director at the Coalition for Jewish Values. In this episode, we discuss antisemitism targeting New York’s Orthodox communities. According to the NYPD, hate crimes against Jews increased by 400 percent between 2021 and 2022—97 percent of attacks are committed by other minority groups. During the pandemic, Orthodox Jews were further vilified for refusing to abide by government COVID-19 restrictions. “These are the guys who wanted to open the schools and provide education and push for education as soon as possible, which was always better for kids. And now, post the pandemic, we've moved into this demonization of the community for not providing education, when this is the very community that said, ‘This is our prime focus. We've got to make sure these kids have school,’” says Rabbi Menken.