https://www.city-journal.org/article/october-7-and-the-days-of-awe
The anniversary of the October 7 massacre in Israel falls during Judaism’s ten “Days of Awe.” This is the charged period between Rosh Hashanah, when fates for the coming year are inscribed in the Book of Life, and Yom Kippur, when they are sealed. All across America, Jews will be chanting in unison this year’s communal sins and beseeching: “For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!” Jews stand before their fate, not as individuals, but as a community.
This will also be “The Week of Rage,” when anti-Israel groups on America’s campuses will chant in unison for the annihilation of Jews—now entering their 5,785th calendar year—and their nation-state. They will openly express their support for terrorism: killing, raping, and torturing civilians to achieve political goals. “By any means necessary!” they will call out. They will wave the insignias of Hamas and Hezbollah, for whom the goal is death to America and death to Israel—and while they’re at it, death to homosexuals, to political rivals, and even to their own children, if it results in their gaining power. As a community, they stand behind an ideological vision as intolerant in its aims as it is savage in the means it chooses to pursue them.
Sensibly enough, considering what we’ve seen on American campuses over the last year, many universities are planning extra security, erecting additional barriers to movement around their quads and buildings. So far this semester, however, similar strategies have failed to quell the rage: students from Pittsburgh to Michigan have been beaten or slashed for being identifiably Jewish. Creating truly safe campuses will require more than purely defensive measures.
To work a genuine transformation in campus safety this week and onward, universities need to confront the problem as a community. They must embrace the American community tradition, which thrives by welcoming disagreement.
