It started with attempts to protect sexual offenders and child abusers –going so far as co-opting a public official into treating justice as a religious choice rather than an American right. It then moved to vilifying an alleged rape victim with thousands rallying in support of an unlicensed therapist accused of raping a young girl. It peaked when more than 40,000 filled the otherwise empty seats at Citi-Field in Queens, spilling over into the nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium, to hear about why Jews must avoid the Internet. God forbid anyone would get real information, become more aware, or possibly learn to think for himself.

A few years back, I heard Christian pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, proclaim, “Where are the nations that have persecuted the Jewish people? Where is Pharaoh and his army? Where are the Babylonians? Where are the Greeks? Where is the Ottoman Empire? Where are the Romans? Where is that goose-stepping lunatic Adolf Hitler and his Nazi hoards? All are historic footnotes in the boneyard of human history. Where is Israel? Where are the Jewish people? They’re alive and well; they’re thriving; they’re prospering; they’re growing… they’re still going forward.”

It gave me chills to hear a gentile recount the challenges the Jewish people faced; how they overcame each and every one, time and again. The very essence of Jewish history — its survival through history as one of the oldest religions in the world and a nation that has withstood repeated conquest and time — has been its willingness to adapt, its innovative nature, its steadfast faith in God, and the belief in the coming of a Messiah to unify and return them to their kingdom.