Last week, explosive devices were sent to politicians, federal office-holders and Democratic party donors. The common factor: each was politically opposed to Trump; the President had repeatedly and publicly attacked them. In response to the mail bombs, the President called the terror effort a political “distraction”  that had slowed the “momentum”of his campaign efforts on behalf of Republican candidates. By the end of the week, the captured perpetrator was identified as a rabid Trump supporter, living in Florida. A day after his arrest,  the hatred spread again, this time to  a Pittsburgh synagogue. There, during regular Saturday morning prayer services, a person proclaiming “we must kill all the Jews,” slaughtered eleven and wounded six individuals. The legitimation of hate unleashed by this President and his Enablers had finally reared its ugliness in the worst way: Jews being killed because they are Jews.

For too long, many in the American Jewish community felt insulated from attacks against Muslims, Hispanics, African Americans, etc., launched by this President. After all, they argued, “His daughter is Jewish, married to an Orthodox Jew. He has Jewish grandchildren. He supports and loves Israel.” Well, the elixir of hate is clearly more powerful than blood ties.

Since the weekend, American Jews have mourned, held prayer services and vigils, and begun to ask “Again?” Anti-semitism has  always been present just under the surface in American society. It may have been espoused by many, but it was, for the most part, unspoken and publicly practiced only by the “haters” and “crazies” we must usually tolerate as the cost of living in a free society. Loud statements of “Jew-hatred” were sometimes heard, swastikas were sometimes plastered on buildings, but thankfully, until now, violence against Jews was rare in the United States.

But, evil was in the air. A year ago, in Charlottesville, Virginia, following a race riot inspired and led by White Nationalists, the President stated, “There were good people on all sides,” even when one “side” comprised neo-Nazis and other racists. A few days ago, the President happily proclaimed to his supporters that he was a “Nationalist.”

Meanwhile, too many in the Jewish community and other traditionally threatened groups sat idly by when others were verbally and/or physically attacked. In fact, that same week, an African-American couple was gunned down in Kentucky by a white man who was not able to enter an African-American church. These horrific murders received little public attention and even less in the way of widespread rebuke.

Of course, for some, benefits still accrued. Trump was “good for Israel. He moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem and has sent the country all the weaponry it has asked for.” For the general public, he has provided tax cuts and trimmed business regulations. But, to most Americans, I believe, none of this matters. They want unity instead of chaos, and public condemnation of hate regardless of what ethnic or religious group is attacked. So, as we condemn this worst attack on Jews in U.S. history (and all the hateful incidents that have occurred during Trump’s Presidency), we must remain true to an American value best expressed by a mourner in Pittsburgh: “Love thy neighbor. No exceptions.”