Last month, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin visited a CESJDS junior Jewish History class, World Jewry 1945-Present, and taught students that activism is the best way to combat anti-Semitism.

Jewish History teacher Aaron Bregman sent Cardin an email asking him to visit his class and speak about his position on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Cardin answered Bregman and did just that.

In March of 2015, Cardin was named the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance on the OSCE, a 57-nation parliamentary assembly. In the organization, he is responsible for raising awareness for the rising issues of anti-Semitism, and religious and racial intolerance.

Cardin’s chief goals are twofold; keeping the Jews in Europe safe and eliminating discriminatory policing and discrimination against Muslims.

Cardin began his speech by mentioning that there is a 10 percent Jewish presence in the Senate. In fact, he, along with other senators and staffers attend a Talmud class. According to Cardin, America is unique because it allows such study and prayer to be practiced freely. With that however, Cardin stressed that Jewish activism is still critically important because anti-Semitism is a threat. According to Cardin, what begins as seemingly inconsequential vandalism can often end with violence.

“The trend lines are not good, but Jews in America enjoy a certain degree of safety and comfort that is not true in Europe,” Cardin said. “Yes, we are concerned when we have a gathering. Yes, we let the police know about it and yes we are concerned that we could see vandalism and violence against Jews because they’re Jews.“

According to Cardin, anti-Semitism is a “growing” problem, and there is a rise globally in every community. In the local Jewish community, he said, police are called when there is a large gathering at a synagogue, and communities throughout the United States are concerned about vandalism and violence. Nevertheless, “the support network that we have for anti-Semitism in the United States isn’t what it is in Europe.”

“We have the opportunity to make a huge difference,” Cardin said. “I will basically say that our options are activism. That’s where we have to be; we have to be engaged. Assimilation won’t work, sitting on the sidelines won’t work, we’ve got to be engaged on these issues.”