If you’ve watched the news at all recently you may have laughed at a phrase being passed around. Jewish space lasers. I’ll admit, I laughed hysterically the first time I heard it. I joked that maybe I would have paid more attention in Hebrew school if we talked more about space lasers and less about Hebrew script. But inside this admittedly funny and ridiculous statement, lies deeper and scarier sentiments.

As a modern Jew in America, I grew up learning about the holocaust and various other genocidal incidents around the world. We all know the basics: one group comes to power and another group is “othered.” In the holocaust, it was largly jewish people. Other groups such as disabled people, LGBTQ people, political opposition and so on were also othered which led to their deaths at the hands of the nazis as well. And after the holocaust, this othering didn’t just stop. It just went into the shadows. Not really hiding in the shadows. More like in the shadow of a tree on a sunny day. It’s still there for everyone to see but not as in your face as the sun or the tree itself. These groups have never gone away and have slowly started moving out of the shadows of the trees. When groups are empowered to openly other people (mostly minority groups) the cycle restarts. Over the past few years we have been seeing the cycle of othering openly restart. Yelling about how the Jews have taken over never really went away, but now it’s not as much in the shadows. 

Which brings me to jewish space lasers. Once you look past the funny name and the idea that anyone would believe in this frank stupidity, you start to see the scarier things at play. We have started to accept the blaming of “the jews” for something vague and out of human control. We have started to accept a level of normal antisemitism in our daily lives. Everyday we accept this level of antisemitism, we are expanding the levels we are willing to accept. We have currently accepted that someone who holds an elected position in the government is the reason we all now know about jewish space lasers. There will be a vote about if she gets to keep her committee assignments in congress. Honestly, I don’t think she will lose them. But my real concern is not that she hasn’t been fully condemned by her party, but rather that she was able to campaign in both a primary and a general without raising any major alarms. That is the level of accepted antisemitism we are at. 

I am someone who is not shy about my Jewish heritage. I pray in Hebrew. I proudly rock the stereotypical Jewish features on my body. I joke about how I don’t know Jesus and I am loud about what a good bagel tastes like. I am someone who can easily be othered. Large nose and curly brown hair? Might have the space laser codes. We have already accepted a dangerous level of antisemitism. So when you hear me (and maybe some of your other Jewish friends) joke about space lasers, know that behind that I’m scared. Neo-Nazis aren’t in the shadows anymore. Almost all conspiracy theories have a level of accepted antisemitism. The cycle is openly restarting and there are no space lasers to stop it.