Woke Antisemitism

How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews

By: David Bernstein

Narrated by: Richard Cefalos

Woke Antisemitism is a firsthand account from a top Jewish leader about how woke ideology shuts down discourse, corrupts Jewish values, and spawns a virulent new strain of antisemitism.

In May 2021, amid another conflict with Iran-backed Hamas, Israel took a beating in both the mainstream press and social media. Notwithstanding the rocket fire aimed at its citizens, the Jewish state was portrayed as the oppressor and the Hamas government in Gaza as the oppressed.

While Israel has always been subject to excessive scrutiny, this time was different. What had changed in the ideological environment? A veteran leader of Jewish advocacy organizations and a self-described liberal who has broken with the far left over the adoption of woke ideology, David L. Bernstein traces the growth of woke ideology in his life and career from a remote academic study to an international post-colonialist movement, then a faddish campus ideology, morphing into corporate diversity programs to a dominant ideology in mainstream institutions, including many Jewish organizations. Bernstein shows how core ideological tenets—such as privilege, equity, whiteness, and the oppressor/oppressed binary—can be and are weaponized against Jews.

What’s more, surveys tell us that Americans are self-censoring at record rates. Jewish institutions, long known for their robust deliberative processes and open discourse, have not been spared. Many have uncharacteristically dodged controversial issues and have simply fallen in line. He warns that, unabated, the ideology will disenfranchise the American Jewish community and sap Jewish pride. He puts forward a strategy for restoring liberal values and countering political extremism and antisemitism, focusing on rebuilding the political center strategy.

©2022 David L. Bernstein (P)2023 Post Hill Press

Critic reviews

“David Bernstein has written an important book which deserves to be read widely and be thoroughly discussed in our community. This book is a powerful defense of liberal values….Bernstein’s treatment is nuanced and respectful, showing understanding for the goals even as he critiques the methods of woke culture and shows us cases where it leads to antisemitism.”—Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, American scholar, author and rabbi

“In every age, hatred of Jews cloaks itself in different moral garb. Today’s fashion goes by many names, Wokeism, Social Justice, Critical Social Justice, etc., but the historical commonalities are unmistakable—as are its ineluctable prescriptions. In clear, plainspoken language, David Bernstein denudes the profoundly unsettling relationship between woke ideology and antisemitism. This is an urgent message few people want to hear, but one that everyone needs to understand.”—Peter Boghossian, author and philosopher

Must read for everyone

I’ll just say this book says everything you need to know, even if you knew it already.

it was not for me. But listened anyway.

I've been a progressive my entire life and altho October 7th changed me & how I view today's progressives in Congress, my values haven't changed. I understand how DEI has hurt the Jewish community but I also know it has helped others. and even though those others are not standing up for us right now I still can't change who I am. I am happy when others succeed. Especially if they've been oppressed because of who they are.

I feel there needs to be a discussion if the Jewish people should be treated as more than a religion because we are. We are united by our history & by traditions that are 1000s years old. Maybe we should be included in DEI?

Yet part of this book hit home. The one thing that surprises me are some of the alliances. I find myself listening to voices of people who's politics I can't stand & 100% agreeing with them when it comes to Israel & the Jewish people. We do need to get used to uncomfortable alliances. There is strength in numbers.

The book is worth reading. I think many in the center-left will enjoy it more than I did. To me it was listening to a similar but different viewpoint.

A must-listen if you to want to understand Woke ideology and its links to antisemitism!

Well-written, well-researched and based on the author’s relevant personal experience. A must-listen!

Great overview

I listened to this after hearing Yashsa Mounk’s The Identity Trap, and this framed the antisemitism problem well in light of general identity politics. Important topic.

Overall, good book, but not great

The author does a good job shining a spotlight on a real problem which is woke antisemitism. On the other hand, the author admits to having a speaker he didn’t like canceled on his own college campus. This seemed incredibly hypocritical for a book that is condemning cancel culture.

15 minutes of kvetching stuffed into 8 hours of book

While the general thesis was on point, the author spent far too much time being “old man yells at cloud” and not enough time on solutions. Ultimately, yet another book looking to profit on anti-woke sentiments, rather than presenting an effective alternative.