GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Antisemitic remarks got Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, suspended from Twitter. But the fallout from his comments and beliefs go much further.
“They’re disturbing and antisemitic, and they have significant, real consequences for people who might follow him and listen,” Green Bay Rabbi Michoel Feinstein said.
Feinstein is a Rabbi with the Chabad of the Bay Area. He said comments like the ones made by West go beyond just words.
“People who listen to them and are influenced by them can actually bring those ideas into practical expression,” Feinstein said. “All sorts of assaults whether physical or verbal, intimidation, actual damage to buildings, swastikas’.”
And Feinstein isn’t alone. Rabbi Moishe Steigmann from Green Bay’s Congregation Cnessess Israel said his initial reaction to the comments was shock.
“How can someone hate someone else simply because they’re Jewish?” Steigmann said.
Like Feinstein, Steigmann said there are worries around what people could do in relation to the antisemitic remarks.
“He has incredible bandwidth,” Steigmann said. “So, if people are going to admire him for his artistic work, people might admire him for his thoughts and his beliefs.”
Those fears aren’t unfounded. According to Trent Spoolstra from the Midwest Anti-Defamation League, data has shown a steady increase in antisemitic hate crimes.
“Last year was by far the highest number of antisemitic acts that we’ve seen since we’ve done this report,” Spoolstra said. “In fact, we had over 2,700 instances.”
Spoolstra says the usual action plan for the ADL would be to try to educate.
But West’s case is different.
“It’s past rectification if you will,” Spoolstra said. “With Ye, or Kanye, this is someone who’s blatantly hateful, blatantly antisemitic. And every comment is worse than the previous one that he’s made, with millions of people following him.”
The comments have led Jewish leaders like Feinstein to begin work to ensure everyone feels safe in their place of worship.
“The overall response is to add in positivity to combat that darkness,” Feinstein said. “When there is this environment of a lack of safety, that inner faith, that inner trust in God always is a good bull work to combat that.”
Although Steigmann said the comments made by West are unsettling, he’s more focused on something else.
“I am far more overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation than I am with concern,” Steigmann said. “I do not take for granted that being a Jew in this country is safe; it doesn’t mean it’s perfect. In many ways this is heartwarming — the response from the national community.”
Both rabbis say they’ve been working with local law enforcement and they appreciate the work being done in keeping their places of worship safe.
