WhatsappHillel Fuld recently posted a warning of the danger of growing Jew-hating antisemitism in the West. In response, Chabad Rabbi Anchelle Perl wrote a reply critiquing Hillel’s post.
Let me be very clear: I love Chabad. I have deep respect the Rebbe z”l and deeply appreciate the generations of shlichim who continue to inspire, educate, and awaken Jewish souls around the world.
But I must push back, firmly, on Rabbi Anchelle Perl’s recent critique of Hillel Fuld’s viral post warning about the rising tsunami of Jew-hating antisemitism and the existential threats facing the Jewish people in the West today.
Because while it’s noble to speak about light and redemption, it is dangerous to ignore darkness when it is actively trying to consume us. Hillel Fuld is not spreading fear. He is sounding the alarm that far too many Jews refuse to hear.
Rabbi Perl claims that we’re Not Here to Survive Jew-hating antisemitism. Correct, but we Can’t Ignore It Either
Yes, our purpose as Jews is far greater than merely surviving hatred, but let’s be honest: we are living through a global tsunami of Jew-hatred, unlike anything we’ve seen since the 1940s. What were once local blood libels whispered through medieval villages, or localized to Germany, are now broadcast in real time across the planet, trending on TikTok, justified by academics, and echoed by the so-called enlightened elites of the West. Even in America, Jew-hatred is not just prevalent on the progressive left and the growing US Muslim community, but it is also growing on the conservative/Christian right. We are seeing the dangerous red-green alliance, whose aim is to also destroy America, now getting support from proud US patriot conservatives and Christians.
Let’s stop pretending that the modern Jew-hating antisemitism we face today is just a passing storm. It is a strategically packaged, globalized blood libel, rooted in a fake national identity called “Palestine” created by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, a propaganda campaign that has hijacked human rights language to justify Jewish murder, rape, and erasure.And what makes this moment different from all others in Jewish history? For the first time in 2,000 years, we’re not stuck. We are no longer helpless. The gates are open. The Jewish people can go home, to Judea, to Samaria, to Jerusalem. The time has come to stop waiting for mashiach and start actively bringing mashiach with clarity: our future is not in exile. It’s in our homeland.We are not here to merely survive antisemitism. But we will not overcome it by ignoring it either. We will overcome it by returning home, standing tall, and reclaiming our destiny, and acting like a light unto the nations from our homeland.
Rabbi Perl then claims that “this isn’t the 1930s”. Correct, this Is worse than 1930s Germany. Because This Time, We are back as sovereign in our own State
The Rebbe may have taught that we’re not in exile like we used to be. But we now live in a paradox: we have a Jewish state, and yet too many Jews are still behaving as if we don’t.
No, the modern State of Israel may not yet be the ideal Jewish state we’ve dreamed of — but that’s largely because, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most religious leaders chose to sit out the return to our homeland, leaving the task to secular pioneers. We handed over the wheel and then wondered why the ship wasn’t heading exactly where we wanted.
If you want Israel to become a truly Jewish state — not just in name, but in soul and substance — there’s only one answer: more committed, values-driven Jews must come home and help shape it. Don’t complain from afar. Come take part. That’s how we turn Israel into the Jewish state it was meant to be.
This Isn’t the 1930s — It’s Worse, Because This Time, We Can Come Home
Let’s be clear: this isn’t 1930s Germany. It’s worse — because this time, we have a Jewish state, and yet far too many are still choosing exile. Today, Jews aren’t trapped. There are no locked gates. The doors of our homeland are wide open — and still, millions cling to the illusion that the West will protect them as antisemitism grows louder, uglier, and more mainstream by the day.
And where are our rabbis and educators? Where is the leadership calling the Jewish people home — not just to escape the hate, but to fulfill our Divine mission?
The Torah is clear. The Prophets are clear. G-d didn’t scatter us so we could build comfortable lives in Paris, London, or Long Island. He scattered us so we would return — transformed, awakened, and ready to live as a nation in our land, bringing morality and truth to the world. That’s not a Zionist slogan — it’s the Bible.
For 2,000 years we survived exile because we had no choice. But now we do. Now we have a land, a language, a government, an army — and a mission. And yet too many of our rabbis keep teaching Judaism as if we’re still wandering, as if the words of Isaiah and Ezekiel were metaphors, not marching orders.
This moment demands clarity. We’re not meant to hide in exile and hope things get better. We’re meant to return home and make things better — for ourselves, for our children, and for all humanity.
Anything less is a failure of leadership.
Rabbi Perl then says that Jewish Pride Is the answer to Jewish fear. Correct. But the Rabbi is Ignoring the natural state of Jewish pride.
One can wear a kippah in New York or wave an Israeli flag in London, but true, unshakable Jewish pride is rooted in one place, the Land of Israel. Here, it’s in the air, even among a population that is largely not religious because it is a natural, effortless Jewish identity. Because this is our home, the only place on earth where being Jewish is the norm, not the exception.
Israel is the natural habitat for the Jew. It’s not a refuge from Jew-hating antisemitism, it’s the answer to assimilation. If you want your children to grow up proud of who they are, not apologetic or confused, then bring them home. In Israel, Jewish pride isn’t something you have to teach, it’s something they breathe.
Yes, light the menorah in the public square. But let’s not kid ourselves, public menorahs are not going to stop genocidal Islamonazi jihad. Acts of kindness won’t remove the growing Jew-hatred on college campuses.
You know what will? Jewish strength. Jewish sovereignty. Jewish leadership.
Hillel Fuld is right to say the world is closing in. But he’s also right to point to the solution: We need to return to who we are. Not just spiritually, but nationally. That means unapologetically asserting our rights, not in Brooklyn, Lakewood, Los Angeles or Boro Park, but in Beit El, in Hebron, in Gaza, and yes, on the Temple Mount.
Because the real answer to Jew-hating antisemitism is not hiding behind spiritual platitudes. The answer is Jewish power with purpose in our homeland, as ordained by Hashem himself.
Redemption Requires Action
Yes, Moshiach is coming. But not because we sit around and manifest it with good vibes. Moshiach comes when the Jewish people stand up, proud, sovereign, rooted in truth, and lead the world with moral clarity from Jerusalem.
That’s what Hillel was doing. He wasn’t predicting doom. He was warning the blind that the train is coming and that the tracks lead to Jerusalem. The only way forward is through Jewish awakening, Jewish leadership, and Jewish return.
So to those who dismiss the warnings because they make you uncomfortable, I say: Wake up. The world is changing. The war is here. And we can either lead or be led to slaughter.
Choose to lead.
I’ve spoken with countless rabbis who proudly tell me their role in their communities is to be the captain of the ship, to inspire their communities, to keep their Judaism alive in exile, to steady the waters. But here’s the truth: it’s no longer enough to steer the ship. It’s time to dock it. The next step, the essential step, is to guide their flock home.
Because the purpose of Judaism was never to survive in exile. The purpose is to return, rebuild, and fulfill the mission we were given, in the land we were promised. And any spiritual leadership that stops short of that is not leading us to our destiny. It’s time for our rabbis, and all of us, to recognize that the journey doesn’t end with Jewish pride in exile.
It ends in Jerusalem. It ends in sovereignty. It ends in us actively bringing redemption by coming home.
Am Yisrael Chai.
