A Vine, a Fig Tree, and a Soccer Jersey

My collection of soccer jerseys is stuffed into a bedroom drawer and hanging in a closet.

There are national team shirts from the United States, England, France, Mexico, Spain, Belarus, Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Iraq, Thailand — and Israel.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, I have wondered how people would react if I wore the Israel shirt at the grocery, a local restaurant, or one of Atlanta’s neighborhood festivals.

In and of itself, a soccer jersey is not a statement of political opinion. Wearing an Israel jersey is not an expression of support for Israel’s government or its handling of the war in Gaza.

But in today’s highly charged atmosphere, anything labeled “Israel” may trigger a reaction.

This thought experiment came to mind as I reviewed a Washington Post poll of 815 Jewish American adults, in which 42 percent said they avoid wearing, carrying, or displaying items that might identify them as being Jewish.

Asked to assess their safety in the United States, 18 percent reported feeling very safe and 51 percent somewhat safe, while 26 percent reported feeling not too safe and six percent not at all safe.

The respondents self-identified as being Jewish by religion or, if not by religion, then by ethnicity, culture, or family background, and were either raised Jewish or have a Jewish parent. The survey, conducted Sept. 2-9 by Social Science Research Solutions, came with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

Combined with the surveys by the American Jewish Committee for the previous three years, the trend line for avoiding Jewish-identifying items is rising — 23 percent in 2022, 26 percent in 2023, 40 percent in 2024, and now 42 percent.

The sharp increase last year followed the Hamas-led terror attacks in which some 1,200 men, women, and children were murdered and 251 kidnapped. Israel launched a punishing military campaign against Hamas, with a Palestinian death toll now estimated in the tens of thousands and much of the Gaza Strip reduced to rubble.

The language and signs at anti-war protests in this country often have veered from condemnation of Israel into anti-Jewish sentiment. Jewish individuals have suffered verbal abuse and physical assault, synagogues have been vandalized, and mob protests have disrupted operations at businesses and educational institutions.

Some Jewish Americans take care, particularly when traveling abroad, not to call attention to their religious identity, by wearing a ball cap over a kippah, for example. Conversely, others have responded by openly, and perhaps defiantly, exhibiting items that might identify them as being Jewish.

The Washington Post poll reminded me of a January 2020 community rally in Sandy Springs, following violent, in some cases fatal, attacks against Jews in New York and New Jersey.

Rabbi Yossi New told a packed Byers Theatre at City Springs: “I am a Chasidic Jew. I look like many of the victims in Brooklyn and New Jersey. I know I’m stating the obvious, but it’s not how Jewish you look that causes antisemitism. The way one looks is merely the canary in the coal mine,” New said.

Mind you, I’m talking about a soccer jersey, not a star of David or Chai pendant, a kippah, or tzitzit.

The Post reported that women (51 percent) were more likely than men (36 percent) to have avoided displays that might identify them as Jewish.

By age, 53 percent of Jewish adults under 35 years old said that they avoided such displays, compared with 45 percent ages 35 to 49, 40 percent ages 50 to 64, and 34 percent of those age 65 and older. The higher percentage among those under age 35 may reflect a response to anti-Israel fervor in their age cohort, people with whom they work, socialize, and interact.

My observation is that many Jewish Americans want to steer clear of even conversation about Israel, Zionism, and the war in Gaza, fearing that it will lead to confrontation.

George Washington, in his August 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R.I., wrote: “May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

The Washington Post poll suggests that maybe one-third of the Jewish community feels that rather than good will, they are experiencing hostility stemming from their religious identification.

Washington drew the “vine and fig tree” phrase from the Book of Micah (4:4) in the Hebrew Bible. Let me suggest that, 235 years later, sitting under that vine and fig tree could be interpreted as being able to safely wear, carry, or display items that could identify someone as being Jewish.

That might include an Israeli national team soccer jersey.

For now, my thought experiment remains just that, a thought. And my Israel shirt remains in a drawer.