My new life as a lightning rod

I’m never one to look for trouble. In whatever I do, I calculate the benefit-versus-risk ratio. By nature I’m pretty cautious.

But I recently found trouble anyway. Big time. I triggered a tidal wave of outrage and hatred against Jews. Unintentionally, mind you, though maybe I should have expected it.

It all started with an article I wrote for the August 14 issue of this newspaper, titled “What Really Happened: A Jersey Jew confronts a medieval massacre in Italy.” The report chronicled how I grew up in Fair Lawn, later moved from New York City to Martina Franca in  southern Italy, and felt suddenly disconnected from the Jewish community — “Jewless” — and how I then researched the town’s Jewish history online, only to discover evidence, originating with Wikipedia, that all 1,000 or so of its Jewish residents were massacred in 1495.

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To verify the facts, over the next five years I interviewed several scholars who had expertise in Italian Jewish history during the Renaissance. At first, it appeared that, yes, this particular massacre had occurred. But then it seemed that no records of any such atrocity existed. And finally, I determined that the slaughter most likely had happened elsewhere, in the nearby town of Lecce.

I then posted the article on several Facebook pages, including one called Expats/Foreigners in Italy. I received an overwhelming response — more than 700 comments, messages, and emails, feedback of a greater magnitude than anything else I’d ever put on social media. The comments came from all over the world — not only the United States but also, among others, Italy, Israel, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, England, and Vietnam.

 But even more telling than the sheer volume of this verbiage was the nature of those responses. Some readers commended me, while others condemned me. Some of those comments were beautiful, but others were ugly, and unfortunately the ugly far outweighed the beautiful. All in all, it reinforced my suspicions about both the best in us and the worst in us.

I’m unaccustomed to being a lightning rod, but now I know what it feels like to turn into one. Luckily, this controversy revealed some surprising — and unsurprising — insights about the status of Jews on the global landscape. It also taught me some important lessons about being Jewish and about how some people perceive us.

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If you’re ready to read some of the comments, I suggest that first you brace yourself.

“You people are just so desperate to find something to feel oppressed about,” Sandro Laurella said. “This happened 500 years ago!”

Kevin Heike asked: “We could all look back at history, but what is the point? Learning from the past is fine, but it’s the future that really matters. Move on and make your life productive and meaningful.” 

“Who cares?” David Zlatarich said. “Many different people and nationalities were massacred in history. Why should we feel sorry just for the Jews?”

William Benjamin Clay asked: “Why have Jews been expelled from over 150 countries? And persecuted and massacred? Have you ever asked yourself why? It’s a reasonable question. No other race or religion has ever been more hated or persecuted.”

“So basically, you’re a massive idiot who took a Wikipedia posting as truth,” Conor Moran said.

Alessio Esposito Inchiostro said, “Please shut the fuck up and stop invading Italy. You’re unwelcome here. Apparently you’re unwelcome in a lot of places. Maybe it’s your disgusting attitude.”

“Oh, ffs cry me a river,” agreed Tanis Smith. “Go live in Isreal already.”

“Why do you go to other countries and expect everyone to bow to you?” Maria Springer queried. “Learn to assimilate.”

Rodolfo Portoles suggested, “I think you should go to Israel where your people killed the son of God.”

So, to recap some takeaways according to these comments, nothing that happened 500 years ago is any longer relevant, my sympathies lie only with Jews, I take Wikipedia at face value, I’m guilty of invading Italy, I emigrated to Italy expecting everyone to genuflect to me, and Jews murdered Jesus.

Is that about right?

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Hard to believe, at least for me, but some of the blowback went even further. Many commenters conflated the issues my article raised about Jews in medieval Italy with the current war between Israel and Palestine, turning it into a referendum on the conflict underway in the Middle East.

Again, please put on your seat belts before reading.

“You are whining about something that happened 500 ago, whereas your religious kin are committing a genocide,” Alfonso Cristofano said. “I suggest you leave my country.”

Teresa Malacario asked: “So now you want to take back Martina Franca like you’re taking Gaza, right?”

“Do you guys realize how absolutely insane you sound?” Pepponi Pepponi queried. “You go around the world digging up massacres only of your own people. Everyone else who suffered massacres on the planet is unimportant. It’s just vile.”

Birge Aldatmaz proposed: “You guys should all move to Israel where you can live happily with your fellow Jews and talk about how the world had killed all your ancestors back in the day. We are more concerned about the recent events that are caused by Israel.”

Trịnh Thị Ngo explained: “The point of your article is to uphold the supposed ‘exceptionalism’ of one group of people, keeping up the victim narrative while actively supporting the most live-televised holocaust of all times. It’s to keep distracting from the crimes committed against the indigenous people of Palestine.”

“The whole article is propaganda,” Elisa Betta said. “Everywhere you look, Israelis are constantly working to remind everyone of the Jewish holocaust that occurred nearly 90 years ago. They want to pretend that they remain victims from the past while they are now the violent aggressors.”

“I think you are here trying to spread propaganda — not as a Jew, but as someone loyal to the actual Israeli regime,” Mario Monteleone claimed. “I have reasons to think that your tale is fake. You should feel guilty about crimes Israel commits today instead of talking about events dating back to the Middle Ages — if they even really occurred. Hence, if you do not like Martina Franca, please stay put in New Jersey.”

Isabella Cherubini inquired: “If you are so obsessed with massacres, have you ever asked yourself about who your people have been massacring all this time? I wish you never wrote all this, and that you had stayed where you were before.”

If only this toxic tsunami had stopped there. But no. I was also accused of lacking “any compassion for the suffering of others” and having “little appreciation for the hospitality” of my host country. My essay was derided as an “AI-generated sob story.”

So if we are to believe the forgoing comments, let’s once again summarize the key points delivered here. I’m whining about the past, trying to “take back” Martina Franca, regard massacres of non-Jews as “unimportant,” spread propaganda on behalf of the Israeli government — and, oh yeah, I’m also personally responsible for all the bloodshed in Gaza.

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Now, in the interest of balance — and, yes, sanity — I’ll give you a sampling of the flip side. More than a few of the commenters on Facebook sprang to my defense, some no doubt in a heartening spirit of tribal solidarity.

“Did you even read the story?” David Garth asked another commenter.  

“You really missed the point of his article,” Mimi Joy chided.

Jacob Lawrence said: “I’m sorry you’re so lost. This man is just a Jewish expat and has nothing to with Gaza.”

Likewise, Chris Cutrone asked, “What does his research project have anything to do with Israel?”

More bluntly, Michael Weinstein said, “All of you antisemitic swine should move to hell.”

“Some of these comments are off the chart crazy,” Diane Johnson added. “This post has nothing to do with Israel. This is a man informing us about his move to Italy and trying to research history.”

Just as welcome, some respondents praised the article that started all this turbulence in the first place.

“Lovely writing,” Daniel Oppenheim, who used to live in Ridgewood and now lives in Slovenia, said. “Here’s to ya, bro!”

“Excellent research and persistence,” David Suurland said.

Ritamba Allen said, “It’s very refreshing to read of a horror story from the past actually being debunked, instead of being weaponized and used to justify current horrors, which is a current theme all over the Internet. Bless you for your dignity and integrity.”

“Thank you for bringing some realism to history,” Mark Lucera said. “There are too many exaggerated stories of racism or bigotry against Jews, and that ironically inspires antisemitism.”

Former New Yorker Donna Paul said: “I, too, am a Jew living in Puglia. I can relate. I’m well aware of the massive amount of antisemitism in the world now, and it’s right here too.”

“A perfect example of watching what we say we know from any one post,” Katrina Gurciullo said. “I commend your integrity, your tenacity, and in truth your honor to your ancestors and heritage.”

Jennifer Bennett said: “Bravo for being like a dog with a bone on this. Misinformation and historical revisionism on the internet is a serious issue that deserves much attention!”

“What a great role model you are for your children and grandchildren,” Sharon Shepperd-Wolfson said. “Your teaching skills are inspirational.”

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So exactly what, in brief, am I — whose New Jersey upbringing governed, influenced and shaped the mindset I imported to Italy as a Jew — to make of all this? After all, I got insulted with the utmost animosity. I was called an apologist for the Israeli government and an enemy of Palestinian statehood and ordered to leave Italy.

How, in short, am I — by my own lights an innocent bystander merely reporting what I witnessed — to interpret this attack on me and my article in the Jewish Standard? What might all this hostility and fanaticism and vilification, this incomprehension and incoherence and irrelevance, all this willful misunderstanding and misapprehension — this copping of a “go-live-in-Israel” attitude — actually signify?

Okay, deep breath here.

First, few people read anymore. As in read closely and comprehensively, with intention to analyze and understand. Rather, they skim, skipping sentences and paragraphs, thanks to our shrinking attention spans. Who takes the time to read between the lines? The result is often ill-informed, half-baked opinions.

Second, our brains have gone binary — researchers define this phenomenon as “binary bias.” We perceive either black or white, good or bad, thumbs-up or thumbs-down, with no gray and no in-between. Life is an either-or, all-or-nothing deal, nuance and ambiguity be damned. Whatever happened to civil debate? Why bother to interpret an argument, much less discern any subtlety? We prefer to take cognitive shortcuts that process information into action items.

Third — and this observation is in keeping with the previous two — people hear what they want to hear. Social media algorithms only amplify and aggravate this tendency. We listen only to echo chambers, also known as “information cocoons,” that validate our beliefs, reinforce our prejudices, and close the door on opposing views. Partisan allegiance, or “homophily,” may be human nature, but it’s also risky business. As all too often now happens with AI, we’re spared the inconvenience involved in thinking for ourselves.

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As it happens, two years ago I moved from Martina Franca to another ancient southern Italian town, Guardia Sanframondi. In short order, then, my curiosity about my heritage prompted me to research the history of Jews in my new adoptive home, too.

What little I’ve learned so far is nothing short of revelatory and inspiring.

Jews settled in Guardia Sanframondi as early as the 14th century. Many of those Jews worked as leather tanners in the Portella district, near the Carbonaro stream. The leather goods produced in the town were highly valued and widely exported; they boosted the local economy.

As luck would have it, our first house in Guardia Sanframondi was in this very district, with that very stream serving as our daily soundtrack. Conceivably, more than half a millennium ago, another Jewish family had lived in our house.

But soon the peaceful co-existence of Jews and Catholics was shattered. The Spanish Crown and Catholic Inquisition forced southern Italy and the Kingdom of Naples to adopt religious uniformity and demand that all non-Catholics convert. Jews were arrested en masse and Jewish property was confiscated. Some members of the Jewish community, recognizing the grave danger afoot, either fled or were expelled.

In at least one respect, though, in the face of this massive purge, Guardia Sanframondi proved to be an exception. The Diaspora Jews here found an ally in the local sovereign. He granted the Jews still in the town special permission to take refuge in a local Roman Catholic church and live safely fortified against the scourge of nationwide persecution. There the Jews stayed until formally allowed to settle elsewhere — and, most important of all, survive.

Bob Brody, a consultant and essayist who grew up in Fair Lawn, is author of the memoir “Playing Catch with Strangers: A Family Guy (Reluctantly) Comes of Age.”