Earlier this week, Hannah Einbinder took the stage at the Emmy Awards ceremony, and in that moment she revealed not glamour, not courage, not artistry — but the dangerous ignorance of a generation. Her performance was not just another Hollywood act; it was a symbol: a symbol of how far so many American Jews have drifted from the harsh, unyielding truths of history and the present.
There she was, bathed in lights, surrounded by applause, yet also wrapped in a cocoon of blindness. The Los Angeles bubble — sunlit, insulated and safe — has created a class of Jews for whom October 7 might as well have happened on another planet. They live as if disconnected from the eternal story of our people, as if the rape of Jewish women, the slaughter of families, and the humiliation of entire communities are somehow irrelevant to their politics, their red carpets, their careers. And what makes Einbinder’s silence, her posturing, her carefully curated political messaging so grotesque is that she is a woman. A woman who chooses not to confront the fact that women — Jewish women — were brutalized in the most savage ways imaginable on that black day.
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Hannah Einbinder wears the bloody hand pin in support of the Palestinians at the Emmy Awards, pictured with Jean Smart
(Photo: AP)
To stand silent before that reality is not only ignorance; it is betrayal. To champion progressive slogans while ignoring Jewish suffering is not moral courage; it is hypocrisy. And to double down on those hollow ideals while basking in the applause of the same elite that demands Jewish silence — that is cowardice dressed up as virtue.
I do not say this with hatred; I say it with sorrow, for I feel pity for someone like Hannah Einbinder. One day, the very people she defends — in their ideology, their rage, their rejection of Jewish existence — may turn on her as they have turned on countless others. History is filled with Jews who believed their assimilation, their solidarity, their silence would shield them. It never did. From Spain to Germany to the Soviet Union, Jews who sought refuge in the ideologies of their day learned, too late, that those ideologies would eventually put a bullet in their heads or a noose around their necks.
This is not alarmism. It is a fact. The mobs who cheer for the “resistance” are not interested in Jewish allies. They are interested in Jewish erasure. They are not fighting for human rights; they are fighting to erase the one Jewish state, to erase the idea of Jewish strength, to erase the Jewish future. To ignore this — to believe that somehow one can stand shoulder to shoulder with those who dream of Jewish destruction — is to live in the realm of ignorance stacked upon ignorance.
To champion progressive slogans while ignoring Jewish suffering is not moral courage; it is hypocrisy. And to double down on those hollow ideals while basking in the applause of the same elite that demands Jewish silence — that is cowardice dressed up as virtue.
But let us be honest: this behavior is not new. History provides us with a tragic gallery of Jews who turned against their own. During the Holocaust, the Kapos collaborated with the Nazis, trading their humanity for temporary privilege. They believed survival was possible if they served the very forces that sought their annihilation. Their betrayal was born of fear, but it was still betrayal. And today, in the comfort of America, the betrayal comes not from fear of a whip or a rifle, but from a desperate hunger for applause, validation and acceptance in elite circles.
The Torah warns us about this phenomenon. Our sages spoke of the "erev rav," the “mixed multitude” that left Egypt with Israel but brought idolatry, corruption, and betrayal into the desert. They were not the core of Israel, yet they influenced the nation, distracting it from its destiny and drawing it toward worship of the golden calf.
In every generation, the erev rav reappears in new forms: those who claim to be Jewish but undermine the mission of the Jewish people. That's why calling out such behavior isn't cruelty; it's essential.
Whether the offender is a Hollywood star, a political leader, or a nonprofit leader, the pattern is the same: narcissism masquerading as morality. They portray themselves as the “true voice” of the Jewish people, when, in fact, they only represent themselves. They are not the center of our world, no matter how much the cameras shine on them. And if we let their hypocrisy define us, we will be judged by their cowardice instead of our courage.
The narcissism here is immeasurable. These figures believe that their platforms, their speeches, and their gestures define the Jewish story. But Jewish history is not written on red carpets or in hashtags. It is written in the blood of martyrs, the sweat of pioneers, the prayers of mothers, the resolve of fighters, and the enduring voice of Torah. To confuse the applause of Hollywood with the covenant of Sinai is the ultimate self-deception.
This is why clarity is essential. We must be unafraid to say: such Jews are not the voice of the greater Jewish community. They are not its heart, not its conscience, not its leaders. They are the noise at the edges, the distraction, the golden calves of our time. And if we do not name them, if we do not separate their ideology from our identity, then their betrayal will be mistaken for our creed.
We can no longer afford to be indifferent. October 7 was not just an Israeli tragedy; it was a Jewish tragedy. And any Jew who refuses to see it as such — who hides behind slogans, costumes or Hollywood lights — is not just ignoring Israel. They are ignoring themselves, their history, their people, and their future.
Hannah Einbinder is not unique. She is the result of decades of assimilation, superficial education and a Jewish establishment in America that traded depth for comfort, sovereignty for symbolism, and strength for silence. And the tragedy is not only hers; it is ours.
As long as Jews like her hold the microphone, our people will appear divided, disoriented and defenseless in the cultural arena. But there is another path. If Einbinder’s performance is a warning, let it also be a call. A call to return to dignity, to unity, to truth. A call to remember that our strength has never come from Hollywood, but from Hebron, Jerusalem, Masada, and the soil and spirit of our people. A call to separate ourselves from the erev rav of our age and to hold fast to the covenant that has carried us through exile and back to sovereignty.
The lights of the Emmys may shine for a moment, but the Jewish story is eternal. If we allow the Kapos of culture to define us, we invite our own erasure. But if we confront them with honesty, clarity and courage, we reaffirm that the center of Jewish life is not Hollywood, but Jerusalem; not applause, but truth; not assimilation, but survival. That is the choice before us — and it must be made now.
Adam Scott Bellos is the Founder and CEO of The Israel Innovation Fund (TIIF) and the author of the forthcoming book 'Never Again Is Not Enough: Why Hebraization Is the Only Way to Save the Diaspora'