In 2016, someone posted an antisemitic article on LinkedIn called “What’s Good for the Jews Is Bad for America,” or something along those lines. At the time, I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC. I commented on the post, and another antisemite got into an argument with me.
The next thing I knew, he had lifted my photo from social media and written an article claiming that I and someone else from another federal agency were Mossad agents. It was shocking and distressing, but over time I stopped thinking about it.
Fast forward three years. My husband and I attended the memorial lecture for Amos Oz at a synagogue in Washington. During the event, they announced that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the surprise guest. We had been videotaping the service, but when we heard that Justice Ginsburg was there, we rushed to the front and snapped a photo. I posted it on social media.
The Jerusalem Post picked it up (see link at the end of this post).
Well, the internet went completely crazy. People became convinced that Justice Ginsburg was actually dead, that the woman in the photo was a body double, and that maybe I was somehow working with QAnon behind the scenes. Then an anonymous “alt” account dug up the old Mossad article and started circulating it again, and people really lost their minds.
In the middle of all this, a random woman I had never met stood up and defended me.
It turned out she had every reason to hate Jews—a story for another time—but she nevertheless stood up against a massive mob of Jew-haters to defend me.
The nonchalant bravado with which she did that, when my photo had racked up well over a million views and social media attacks and videos were flying around everywhere—was nothing short of extraordinary.
I never forgot the way this kind and courageous woman, who had every reason in the world to let me fry based on what had been done by extremist Jewish people to her own family, stepped out in front of me when the bullets were flying.
She and I remain friends to this day, and she will always have my gratitude for her courage and decency.
Here’s a toast to the ones who stand up for others on social media, and of course in real life.
Not everyone has the courage to do it. Not every effort to help is rewarding. Sometimes it’s a total fail.
But if you think about the person being bullied from their perspective, please know that even the smallest words of support make a difference.
The things you do for others generate energy. Even if no one ever sees you, the kindness is never truly lost or forgotten, in this world and in the next.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/ruth-bader-ginsburg-attends-dc-amos-oz-memorial-585419
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 