Jew Hatred from the Right and the Left

Being Jewish right now feels a lot like a game I used to play as a kid called “peanut butter and jelly.” We would lie between two mattresses (the bread), and the other kids would jump on top of us, shouting “peanut butter and jelly” as they piled on. It was super fun as a kid; not so much in real life. As a Jew today, it feels eerily similar—caught between both the left and right, shouting their accusations and fears with nowhere to turn for safety.

On one side, I hear the right accusing Jews of being overly liberal promoting community at the expense of individual autonomy.  On the other side, the left condemns the Jewish state for being cruel and promoting its own needs at the expense of the Palestinians. The weight of history, the burden of being a messenger of moral values that now seem to be under attack is exhausting.

But I also understand why this is happening. None of this is new and there’s a grain of truth to it. Jewish people are the messengers who have brought Jewish values and ethics to the world, promoting both the rights of the individual and the importance of community.

The right resents Jews for being the ones who, through the Torah, introduced moral constraints to the world—boundaries that temper raw autonomy and unchecked power. The left, on the other hand, sees Jews as hyper-independent, as the embodiment of the very autonomy and self-determination they believe has led to inequality and oppression. It’s a painful paradox: Jews are blamed both for promoting selfishness and selflessness, for controlling too much and for being too insular, for caring too much and too little.

Judaism speaks to values that both the left and right hold sacred.

Instead of looking at the Jewish people as the problem, what if we recognized that Jewish tradition offers a blueprint for healing? The Torah is not about shaming masculinity or femininity, autonomy or community. It is about balance.

The Torah speaks to values that both the left and right hold sacred. “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) is one of the Torah’s core commandments, emphasizing kindness, compassion, and the moral duty to care for the vulnerable—values deeply resonant with the political left.

The Torah also insists on justice: “Do not pervert the judgment of the stranger or the orphan, and do not take a widow’s garment as a pledge” (Deuteronomy 24:17). The prophets cry out against economic oppression, corruption, and abuse of power—timeless calls for social justice.

At the same time, the Torah champions personal responsibility, autonomy, and the consequences of choice. “I have placed before you life and death, good and bad—choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). This verse is the essence of free will, of personal agency, of the idea that our choices shape our destinies—values that resonate deeply with the political right. The Torah teaches that people must own their actions, that they are responsible for their behavior.

These values are not contradictions. They are not meant to be at war. They are meant to be in balance, like the archetypal father and mother, the masculine and the feminine. The father energy of structure, discipline, and individual responsibility must be held together with the mother energy of compassion, nurturance, and collective care. When one is elevated while the other is diminished, the world falls into chaos. When we pit them against each other, we create suffering.

As a therapist, I see this struggle play out not only in politics but in the lives of my clients. Therapy, when done correctly, is about finding balance between the masculine — autonomy, strength, independence, and the feminine — connection, empathy, and community. I have personally struggled with this balance in my own work, overemphasizing one at the expense of the other. When I focus too much on autonomy and independence without honoring the need for community and connection, clients end up isolated and disconnected. On the other hand, when I promote the needs of others and the community over the individual, clients lose their sense of self and struggle to navigate the world as empowered individuals.

This internal conflict between autonomy and connection is the very thing that creates suffering, both within individuals and within societies. This is what we’re seeing in the political divide today. Both the right and the left are expressing real needs — autonomy, strength, and individualism on one side; empathy, support, and belonging on the other. The problem arises when these needs aren’t heard, when they’re dismissed or demonized. Instead of attacking one another, we need to listen to what these needs are really saying and work to balance them in a way that promotes health, harmony, and understanding.

This Jew wants the world to stop its hateful “peanut butter and jelly” game. Let’s instead work together to promote a culture that honors both autonomy and community.

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