Israel Has Become A Shanda Far Di Goyim

There’s a Yiddish phrase, “shanda far di goyim,” that’s lived in the background of Jewish culture that is sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted, but always carrying the weight of communal paranoia. The phrase means – an embarrassment, a disgrace, committed by a Jew in front of non-Jews – in such a way that it’s not just personal but collective. When one Jew is seen to do something so wrong, especially in public, that all Jews risk being tainted by association. This has happened in the last several years after decades of mistreatment in the contested areas of Palestine/Israel. For me, the situation there has been a shameful stain on the Jewish heritage, since I became a man in the religion by becoming a Bar Mitzvah in the year 2000.

From before training for my Bar Mitzvah, I recall synagogue services with horror stories about suicide bombings from the first intafada. The context that was given was always very thin, yet I could tell there was an element of manipulation. There is pressure from within synagogues to fundraise for the nation of Israel as well. The broader scheme of roping diaspora Jews into financial attachment to the nation of Israel can be discovered in my piece Bar Mitzvah Bondage.

My point of view on the subject is even more extreme than just a shanda far di goyim as well. I personally think that Netanyahu and his government, along with the collaboration of American Jews like Steve Witkoff or the Miriam Adelson, and the entire system which has led us to this point, is tantamount to blasphemy in front of God. The entire population of Jews in the region should consider collective exile for breaking the three oaths.

Understanding A Shanda Far Di Goyim

The literal translation is “a shame before the nations,” and it’s more than just a cultural trope. It’s a defense mechanism, forged from centuries of diaspora insecurity – when wrongdoing by an individual would spell trouble for all Jews. The phrase has been used to ostracize those whose public misdeeds reinforced antisemitic stereotypes, but also to police behavior out of fear and survival instinct. Sometimes it’s wielded to protect, other times to silence. But always, it’s a lament that echoes through Jewish history. It is something from within Jewish society, that can cause divestment naturally.

Why Israel Is Now A Shanda Far Di Goyim

Today, it’s impossible for me (and many other Jews) to look at the policies of the Israeli government, especially under Netanyahu and the Likud party, without feeling that this phrase fits more than ever. The current situation between Israel and Gaza, the West Bank, and the relentless push for a “greater Israel” is not just a political crisis – it’s a moral one, thrust into the global spotlight. As the bombs keep falling, more land is seized, and human rights erode, it’s not merely a failing of leadership but a public shame that stains Jews everywhere, whether they live in Tel Aviv, Brooklyn, Buenos Aires, or anywhere else in the world.

What makes this a true shanda far di goyim is the tragedy itself. Also, the exposure which has made it impossible for the world to stop watching. People around the globe are now ready to assign blame not just to those in power in Israel, but to the Jewish people as a whole. As I walk around now, sometimes I hide my chai pendant, for fear of retaliation. American Jews are becoming increasingly vocal, wrestling in public and private with the anxiety that this disgrace causes as the actions of the Israeli government fuel antisemitism.

Though figures like Bernie Madoff once were regarded as a shanda far di goyim for example, he was not a government official.

He was not an Israeli government official.

For some, the way Israel itself was created should have been a shanda far di goyim.

But today, it is undeniable.

From Communal Trauma to Public Critique

This fear isn’t new. Jews have always been hyper-aware of how non-Jews perceive us, for reasons rooted in real danger. But when public figures, Jewish or otherwise, debate Israel in spaces like podcasts – Adam Friedland’s interview with Ritchie Torres comes to mind – the conversations are laced with vulnerability, anger, and the gnawing pain that comes from watching one’s own community lose its moral footing in such a public way. The discomfort isn’t just ideological; it’s deeply personal, an ache that reverberates with every news cycle. We are not all to blame for Israeli policy.

However, as you’ll learn if you read my piece Bar Mitzvah Bondage, a vast majority of Jews are responsible in a more direct way than the American taxpayers and elected officials. Jews around the world, especially in America, have an inherited financial structure which pushes for settlements instead of stability. That financial scheme and the greed which flows through the veins of those who perpetuate it, is the real shanda far di goyim. That is why they hide it, pretend it isn’t there, and simply deflect to claims of antisemitism when it is even approached. No Jew has ever articulated it publicly the way I have either. My view, and activism about it, began as a boy, when I was too young and incapable of knowing how everything worked.

Most people (boys and girls) who have had the kind of perspective I had, are discouraged and shamed out of speaking up or doing anything about it, though. Or for others, they recognize that the financial challenges that would come from cutting off or getting family cut off would be too devastating for them to bear. Though some Jews stick together, other Jews can be incredibly destructive to fellow Jews directly and indirectly. In the context of Israel, they are now destroying the very concept of Judaism.

The Possibility of Change For Diaspora Jews

It’s tempting to look for escape routes – to argue that Israeli policy is separate from Jewish identity, or that diaspora Jews shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of a government abroad. But shanda far di goyim refuses to let anyone off the hook so easily. It binds us together in the eyes of the world, whether fairly or not. I do not believe that I should be held responsible for the actions of a foreign nation that I am not a citizen of. In fact, I think I should not be held responsible for the actions of my own government. But we are. That is the reality, and there may be no other way.

That is why it is incumbent upon Jews in America, to not only speak up or speak out in public about this. But rather, to do the more difficult work within the family unit(s) to dievest from Israel bonds, and other investment schemes that perpetuate this genocidal tyranny. If there’s any path forward, it starts with refusing to be silent. It means naming the disgrace, demanding better, and insisting that Jewish identity be defined not by fear or shame, but by a struggle for justice and dignity – for everyone.

People are being brutalized in the name of Jewish identity. That is beyond unacceptable. It is more than a shame. It is a curse on the Jewish people that will only be lifted by Jews of the world breaking it.