By changing my name to (((Greg Marcus))), I made myself a Nazi target on Twitter. They have a way of searching for names with the “echo” ((())), in order to bombard the victim with anti-Semitic comments. (Read more here.)
Then over the weekend, I started seeing Jewish names on Twitter with the echo. I was horrified – what are they doing? Then today, I read this article by (((Yair Rosenberg))) in the Tablet, and I started to get it. By placing the echo around our own names, we are co-opting the Nazi process. Nazi’s are great at anonymously berating someone on social media, which is the equivalent of catching you alone in a dark alley. In the dark they’ll gang up on you like nobody’s business. In the light however, they hide.
As I write this, I am tempted to use phrases like “they crawl back under their rocks.” Pithy, feels good, might even get a retweet. Fortunately, I am constrained by my Mussar practice. It pains me to say so, but Nazi’s too, have a Divine Spark. They were born an innocent soul like the rest of us. Part of me does feel compassion that someone could become so broken by life and twisted by hate. There is no cause for me to go out of my way to say personally insulting things. What I am obliged to do, however, is to bring their activities into the light, and to work to keep them out of power.
I admit it – it makes me nervous that I made myself a Nazi target on Twitter. Extremists cannot be reasoned with. Then it occurred to me: I was already a target. The anti-semites are out there. When you are Jewish, and raise your profile on social media, they will find you. I have a relatively small social media footprint, yet early on I reposted the popular “I’m that Jew” video on my Facebook page, and the haters started coming out of the woodwork. All kinds of things, some outright nasty, others tried to educate me that the Jewish people were a myth with no history. So, rather than just take it, I’ll join my fellow brethren in solidarity and co-opt the Nazi echo symbol.
Strangely, this fits with my Humility practice this week. The Mantra is “No more than my space, not less than my place.” In Mussar, we need to unlearn the Western definition of Humility, which means to be self-effacing. Humility is about taking your proper place in the world. Having too much Humility would mean not stepping up to an opportunity to make a difference in the world. For me not to become (((Greg Marcus))) would be to miss an opportunity to step up and make a difference in the world.
For the record, I think these neo-Nazi’s are dangerous. I’m really not happy that I made myself a Nazi target, even if indirectly. But I think it is the right thing to do. We have only survived as a people by standing up for one another.
Many people on Twitter are (((echoing))) their names, and not just Jews. Please join the brigade of mensches of all faiths as we stand shoulder to shoulder, tweaking the noses of the haters. We are many, they are few. By taking this small step now, you just might change things enough to forestall the need to take a large step later.
