'Words can light fires that kill': Jewish leaders blast antisemitic rhetoric in Jackson

JACKSON - When dozens of township residents stepped up to the microphone to speak out against new religious use ordinances, they may have been simply trying to speak out against a potentially impactful land use change.

But the discourse also included words, phrases and tropes weren't just heated or vitriolic: According to regional Jewish leaders, they were blatantly antisemitic.

"We are extremely concerned by hateful comments made during the public hearing, including calls to bar an Orthodox council member from voting," Anti-Defamation League New York/New Jersey regional director Scott Richman said in a statement. "The rhetoric used plays into classic antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories about power and influence. Given the broader context of rising antisemitism in this country, we are especially concerned."

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For nearly four hours on Dec. 12, dozens of Jackson residents stepped up to the microphone imploring the Jackson Township Council to redraft or vote down the ordinances. And while there was numerous criticisms from a land use law perspective, the public hearing also included statements accusing the town's Orthodox Jewish community of orchestrating the ordinances as part of a "hostile takeover" at the expense of non-Jewish residents.

"Isn't it a fact that, if we didn't have a large Hasidic community, this wouldn't be taking place," South Baker Drive resident Bruce Lykes said. "We are witnesses to the hostile takeover of Jackson Township, just as we were witness to the hostile takeover of Lakewood Township. And it has got to stop."

Orthodox Union Advocacy Center Executive Director Nathan Diament said some residents' statements made it clear that "we don't want these kinds of people in our town.

"And in this case, the kind of people they don't want are Orthodox Jews," he said.

The condemnation comes amid spiking antisemitic bias incidents. According to the FBI, more than half of all religion-based hate crimes last year were driven by anti-Jewish bias.

In New Jersey, there were 512 bias incidents targeting Jewish people in 2023 through October, according to state police data, already more than the 446 reported in all of 2022. A total of 133 bias incidents targeting Jewish people were reported in October alone, a trend State Attorney General Matthew Platkin said accelerated after the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7.

And in 2022, more than 1 in 6 bias incidents against Jewish people occurred in Lakewood, Jackson, Toms River and Howell, according to police bias incident reports.

In June, a Manchester man burned a house to the ground and vandalized 15 more with swastikas in an attempt to "keep the sneaky penguins out," referring to Jewish people. And in April 2022, another Manchester man attacked Orthodox Jews in Lakewood and Jackson, injuring four, and later told detectives "it had to be done."

"I hope the people of Jackson realize their words have the power to enflame hatred," said Rabbi David Levy, regional director of the American Jewish Committee New Jersey. "I hope in their hearts they're being driven by a fear of change, but I hope they step back and realize that their words can light fires that can literally kill people."

The idea that the town's Orthodox Jewish community is "controlling everything" is a localized version of an ancient antisemitic stereotype, Levy said. Across the globe, Jewish people are accused of Illuminati-like power, from George Soros conspiracy theories to jokes about the entertainment industry.

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"Jews have been and continue to be vilified as somehow inferior are also somehow perceived as being superior, with too much power or control. And they're being attacked or even killed because of that belief," Levy said. "Antisemitism punches down and punches up."

It's not a secret that the Orthodox Jewish community in Jackson has become a powerful voting bloc in recent years, propelling Mayor Michael Reina to reelection last year in a tightly-contested race in which Reina performed best in voting districts with the most populous Orthodox neighborhoods. Since then, Orthodox Jewish community leader Mordechai Burnstein was elected president of the Republican Club shortly thereafter and, last month, was appointed to replace Flemming on the township council.

Burnstein wasn't surprised to be singled out during a public hearing on the biggest issue facing Jackson in years.

"Mr. Burnstein, with all due respect, you have one agenda here and it's not for the people of Jackson. It's for your people of Jackson," one resident said, shortly after presenting his military service as proof that he wasn't biased.

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But a racial, religious or other kind of cultural group becoming politically motivated when they feel they're being ignored isn't unique to Jackson or its Orthodox Jewish community. It's an American tradition.

"Our whole system is built on people being able to associate, organize themselves into groups and advocate for their communities, values and interests to local government, state government or federal government," Diament said.

Perhaps the most common theme among residents was the insistence that their comments weren't rooted in antisemitism or bias at all. Speakers rarely mentioned Orthodox Jews by name, instead referring to them as "one group," "a minority of Jackson" or, simply, "them."

Instead, many argued that the issue was that the ordinances would lead to wholesale changing of neighborhoods and, in some statements, the entire township.

In an interview, Jackson Mayor Michael Reina said many residents' concerns were likely due to a lack of understanding of the ordinances and, in many cases, their own neighbors.

"Changes are coming everywhere," he said. "Naturally, it's polarizing in Jackson because they're looking at this one-dimensionally. But change happens all over the world. … It's not the end of the world when a neighborhood changes. Neighborhoods change all the time."

The stated goal of protecting the character of neighborhoods or an entire town is often code for "we don't want people who don't look like us to be here," whether they're Black, Jewish, Asian, Latino or LGBTQ, Levy said.

"That 'they're not us'-ism has been a toxic undercurrent in American society that we need to fight against," Levy said. "Jackson, like every other town in the world, is going to change over time.

"The question has to be, how do we embrace that change in a way that makes everyone a part of the community, from those who have been here for generations to those who just moved in last week?"

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson NJ comments were antisemitic, Jewish leaders say