Now is the time to offer support and love for Jewish community members, colleagues, friends, neighbors and family members. It is time to stand firmly against all forms and sources of antisemitism without a “but” attached to it. Antisemitic acts have been on the rise for years, and, sadly, in a meteoric mode since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.

Chanukah is about fighting for freedom against all odds. For centuries, Jews have fought for survival throughout the diaspora while they have always been part of the homeland of Israel. The first night of the holiday falls on Dec. 7 this year.

My Jewish friends and family members have expressed feeling viscerally afraid as the world has once again abandoned them. Inherited trauma is very real, and the Holocaust 80 years ago resulted in the murders of two-thirds of European Jews and one-third of Jews worldwide. Jews were expelled and murdered in large numbers during the pogroms, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, and on and on.

Until recent times, Jews in the diaspora could not own land in most countries and were not considered citizens. They were subject to the whims of whomever was in power, and they were blamed wholesale when something went wrong. It is not the least bit unreasonable for Jews to govern their country in the Middle East as a refuge and home.

Unlike the United States where white Europeans killed 90% of Native Americans, stole land from Mexicans and enslaved people from another continent for greed, Jews have an ancient claim to Israel. They are not the progeny of genocidal maniacs as many of us are.

The largest Jewish ethnic group in Israel is Mizrahi: 45% of Israeli Jews are from Middle East and North African ancestry. The second largest ethnic group are Ashkenazi Jews; 32% of Israeli Jews come from middle or eastern European roots. Jews who have been persecuted as a minority such as Ethiopian Jews are welcome in Israel, where the Law of Return (1950) ensures that anyone with one Jewish grandparent can emigrate to Israel. And a spouse — Jewish or not — is included in the right to acquire Israeli citizenship.

Israeli Jews are not racist occupiers. They are not a monolithic group any more than American Jews are.

I am re-reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” and I highly recommend it for anyone of high school age or older. Unless you lack a conscience, you will be devastated by the indifference the world showed during the Holocaust and by the evils of sociopathic pleasure designed to destroy spirit, heart and body. Wiesel as a teenage boy who loses his faith in humanity and God will shake you to your core. It is just over 100 pages yet not a quick read.

What I will never forget in today’s world are the immediate global celebrations and gatherings for Palestinian rights the day after Jews in Israel were systematically tortured, raped, murdered and kidnapped. This was well before the ground war in Gaza, and the targeted victims were mostly peaceniks who believed in the humanity and rights of Palestinians.

Antisemitism is outrageous at all times, yet I wasn’t prepared for this indifference and scorn for Israeli Jews on the heels of the brutal massacre. Hamas as freedom fighters? The same Hamas that denies women human rights and puts lesbians and gay men in prison or executes them? The same Hamas that has not used billions of dollars in European Union aid to improve the lives of Palestinians? Yes, the same Hamas whose primary mission is to kill all Jews.

No wonder Jewish college students everywhere feel unsafe. No wonder Jews are hesitant to wear Stars of David or to light their menorahs in the windows at home. It’s not just Hamas or neo-Nazis who want to hurt or kill Jews. Others’ indifference amplifies the message that Jewish lives are not worthy of basic dignity and kindness.

The second thing I will never forget is the refusal of organizations dedicated to ending violence against women to acknowledge the specific misogynistic cruelty Hamas showed to Israeli women as they raped, gang raped or stripped them naked! The bodies of dead women tell the stories that brutal rapes preceded their murders. So does video coverage by Hamas brutes who laughed along with the horrors. Apathy to women by women’s rights organizations — noted — and I will never support you in any way.

A third phenomenon is the number of so-called progressive organizations in the United States who have blasted emails about Palestine without mentioning Israel. A written eradication. I am losing count of the organizations I have supported and have now unsubscribed from due to their indifference or outright antisemitism. They are antisemitic and not simply nuanced about Israel when these organizations never sent me emails about other countries with far worse human rights records.

They do not write to me about countries where women are kept silent and uneducated or where lesbians and gay men are executed for daring to exist, but they have big and unformed opinions about Israel. I have lost my innocence as I used to think non-Jews on the left could be critical of Israel without being antisemitic.

Wiesel’s 1986 Nobel Peace Prize speech was haunting and gracious. He invoked his younger self as he remembered asking his father before his death, “How could the world remain silent?” He then tells the audience he has told that little boy he has not squandered his life as he refused to be quiet: “Because if we forget, we are guilty. We are accomplices.”

A stance against antisemitism transcends political affiliation. Your mitzvah (act of kindness) is especially needed this year. If not now, when? Happy Chanukah.

J.M. Sorrell is a feminist at her core. Hillel the Elder was a Jewish sage who asked, “If not now, when?” as an admonition to postpone no duty.