James Loeffler is Felix Posen Professor of Modern Jewish History at Johns Hopkins University and Kogod Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. His latest book, Exceptional Hatred: Antisemitism and the Fight over Free Speech in Modern America, will be published by Henry Holt in Summer 2026.
This week's portion, Bo, confronts us with the same challenge. As the text describes the last of the 10 plagues, the one that will finally free the enslaved Hebrews, we encounter the most terrible: the death of the Egyptian firstborn.
Is the bigot evil or merely misguided? Throughout history, Jews have wrestled with this fundamental question. Are antisemites driven by irrational ignorance, or cunning hatred?
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