Last week’s pogrom in Amsterdam has made this city the focus of global Jewish attention. In the 17th century, not only was the Dutch capital one of the great centers of international commerce, but it was also home to one of the world’s most prominent Jewish communities. And although it might be hard to believe today, the Netherlands were a beacon of tolerance when Western Europe was overwhelmingly hostile to Jews. The story of Dutch Jewry, however, was not a uniformly happy one prior to 1939. Bart Wallet discusses this history with Nachi Weinstein. (Audio, 79 minutes.)

In October, a young Mauritanian national murdered an Orthodox Jewish man on his way to synagogue in Chicago. This alone should be sufficient sign of the rising dangers of anti-Semitism. Nathan Diament explains how the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA) can, if passed, make American Jews safer:

We were off to a promising start when the AAA sailed through the House of Representatives in the spring by a generous vote of 320 to 91, and 30 senators from both sides of the aisle jumped to sponsor the Senate version. Then the bill ground to a halt.

Fearful of antagonizing their left-wing activist base and putting vulnerable senators on the record, especially right before the November election, Democrats delayed bringing the AAA to the Senate floor for a vote. Now, the election is over, but the political games continue.

You can’t combat anti-Semitism if you can’t—or won’t—define it. Modern anti-Semites hide their hate behind virulent anti-Zionism. . . . The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act targets this loophole by codifying that the Department of Education must use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism in its application of Title VI.