Rabbi Noah Chertkoff, senior rabbi at Congregation Shalom in Fox Point, delivered the following remarks before the Assembly Committee on State Affairs, at a hearing in Madison on Oct. 22, on a bill to define antisemitism.
My name is Rabbi Noah Chertkoff and I serve as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Shatom in Milwaukee, the largest Jewish congregation in the state of Wisconsin.
I’d like to begin by sharing a moment around ten years ago, when Congregation Shalom was protested on the morning of Yom Kippur for the actions of the State of lsrael.
It was the holliest day of the Jewish year, a day devoted to prayer, reflection, and Atonement. And yet, as our congregants arrived, fasting, and preparing for worship, they were met by demonstrators condemning Israel, shouting stogans that had to do with the policies of a government half a world away. The message was clear: your faith, your people, your prayers, are fair targets.
And at the same time, inside our sanctuary, in our prayer books, the words lsrael, Zion, and Jerusalem appear more times than almost anything else, except for the names of God. That’s because our tradition and our peoplehood are inseparable from a sense of homeland. We are a people who emanate from that land, and we are a people whose sacred texts, liturgy, and rituals are tied to it.
That reality is beautiful, but it is also complicated. And when something is complicated, when our very identity as Jews can be both a source of pride and the target of misundersta0ding, clear definitions of what constitutes antisemitism become essential. Not to silence criticism or debate, but to draw a moral and tegat line between political discourse and prejudice. Between disagreement and hate.
That is why I support this bill and the incorporation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism into Wisconsin’s framework for understanding hate.
The bill doesn’t create penalties. lt doesn’t criminalize speech. lt doesn’t silence debate about lsraeI or any other country. What it does is ask that when our government or institutions consider questions of discrimination or hate, they also consider this widely recognized definition, one that helps distinguish between Legitimate political critique and language that crosses into age-otd antisemitic tropes.
The inclusion of a First Amendment safeguard in this legislation is not a small matter. lt affirms that nothing in this bill may be used to infringe on free expression. That’s the right balance, moraI clarity without censorship, protection without partisanship.
Because antisemitism is not the property of one political party. lt festers wherever moraI boundaries erode.
Just last week, a private group chat among young Republican activists was exposed that included Nazi imagery and grotesque antisemitic slurs; a chlling reminder that hatred can grow anywhere. And the national leadership of the College Democrats would have benefitted from the IHRA definition before their decision to not issue a statement condemning antisemitism during the campus protests in response to hate fitted chants, signs and intimidation.
Antisemitism is a blind spot that infects all parties and ideologies. lt adapts, it disguises itself and it demands moraI clarity from everyone. Antisemitism hides behind different banners, but its goal is always the same: to dehumanize Jews and deny our right to safety and belonging.
For Jews, conversations about lsrael are rarely simple. We are a people whose spiritual life and ancestral identity are intertwined with that land, and at the same time, we are citizens of this nation, committed to democratic ideas and open debate. The IHRA definition acknowledges that complexity. lt doesn’t end discussion; it helps ensure that discussion takes place within the bounds of respect and truth.
Right now, we are living in a time when Jewish students, in our colleges, and even in our elementary schools, are subjected to awful discourse, the likes of which would never be acceptable if it were hurled at any other minority.
And when that happens, our children and our communities need to know that their state recognizes what they are experiencing for what it is: antisemitism. Not criticism of policy, but contempt for people. Not disagreement, but dehumanization.
Additionally, I want to be clear: I have criticized the actions of lsrael’s government many times from the pulpit, just as I have for the United States of America. ln Judaism, we have a concept catted tochecha (rebuke). lt is not condemnation for its own sake; it is an act of care, of moral responsibility and of love. Nothing about this bill would prevent me, or anyone else, from rebuking lsrael for its actions when conscience demands it.
As Jews, we know the difference between criticism born of love and hatred born of prejudice. The same is true for lsrael, a Jewish nation that is now too often treated as the Jew among the nations. After the Second World War, more than 130 new countries were created, but lsrael alone has been subjected to an ongoing campaign to question it’s very right to exist.
The delegitimization of lsraeI follows familiar patterns that have existed for our people throughout history and throughout the diaspora. That double standard, that singling out, is not policy debate. lt is antisemitism. This is why definitions matter. Because when hatred disguises itself as discourse’, it becomes harder to confront. And when our state chooses to consider this definition, not to weaponize it, not to silence anyone but to guide judgment with fairness and clarity, it strengthens our shared commitment to both truth and freedom.
I love my congregation. I love the people of this state. And I believe that when we bring moral clarity and compassion together, when we insist that all hatred be recognized and rejected, we strengthen not only the Jewish community, but the democratic and ethical foundations we a[[ share. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to ensuring Wisconsin remains a place of fairness and respect.
Rabbi Noah Chenkoff
* * *
Read more
See “After many implementations, antisemitism definition is suddenly controversial”
Loading ...