As the war in Israel rages on, my focus shifted to matters here at home.

The highlight of my week was watching the Congressional Hearing on Antisemitism and the testimonies of the presidents of MIT, Harvard, and UPenn. All three — interestingly all women — had an incredibly difficult time admitting to Congresswoman Elise Stefanik that calls for the genocide of the Jewish people on their campuses were in violation of their codes of conduct. More to the point, on campuses over the past couple of months, it’s not even acknowledged that chants “from the River to the Sea” and other slurs violate policies against bullying and harassment.

Liz Magill of UPenn sat and babbled with a smirk on her face. Her dodging of Stefanik’s questions informed the world that she clearly differentiated between “freedom of speech” and “acts of conduct.” Claudine Gay of Harvard found antisemitic rhetoric to be “personally abhorrent,” but seemed impotent when it comes to addressing the moral shortcomings of her students.

In all cases, the aftermath of these despicable performances will result in justifiable terminations. And, hundreds of millions of donations to these institutions will be rescinded.

So how’d we get here? Jews have been feared, hated, and persecuted since biblical times. Our extinction has been sought through millennia by many empires and regimes. So, for the most part, what’s happening today — here in the U.S. and around the world — is not a new phenomenon.

Today’s biggest challenge, however, is the total ignorance of our youth. According to The Hill, “1 in 5 Young Americans think the Holocaust was a Myth.” Can you imagine? A myth? Where then did six million of our family members disappear to? The deniers, as a result, continue with misguided loyalties.

It’s these same young people who are chanting new tunes portraying and blaming Israelis and Jews as aggressors who are committing genocide against Palestinians. A senseless story. A false narrative that is based in Tik Tok, memes, and other social media. A tale that undermines facts, ignores on the ground realities, and destroys dreams of peace.

Young Americans need to be better educated about the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. They should learn that Israel and Jews around the world want three things:

• We want the release of our hostages NOW. We’ve been held in death camps before. There should be universal outrage over the fact that Hamas still holds innocent civilians in captivity.
• We want the rape, mutilation, and murder of Israeli women by Hamas to be recognized and acknowledged as war crimes. We oppose the weaponizing of women’s bodies.
• We want the verbal and physical demonstrations of violence against and overt hatred of Jews to stop. The vow “Never Again,” means NEVER, EVER.

Are these basic demands too much to ask for? With this celebration of the miracle of Hanukkah, I can only hope and pray.