By Rabbi Josh Wander

Robert Kraft reportedly spent between $14–16 million on a single sixty-second Super Bowl advertisement to “combat antisemitism.” On the surface it sounds noble, even heroic. But step back for a moment and it becomes almost surreal. Since when did Jew-hatred become a marketing problem? Since when did two thousand years of exile get solved by better messaging? Antisemitism isn’t a public relations failure that can be fixed with emotional footage and a celebrity voice-over between beer commercials. It’s a historical constant of galus. Wherever Jews live as guests, tolerated minorities dependent on the goodwill of others, resentment eventually follows. You don’t cure that with awareness campaigns. You cure it by ending the condition that creates it.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that trying to convince the nations to like us is a losing strategy. We tried loyalty, patriotism, assimilation, philanthropy, education, and cultural achievement. We built economies, universities, and governments. Still, every generation finds a new excuse to blame the Jew. Egypt, Spain, Germany, Russia, France, America—the costumes change, but the script stays the same. Spending $15 million to ask society to stop hating Jews is like trying to lower sea level with a towel. The problem isn’t image; it’s exile itself. As long as we remain scattered, dependent, and politically vulnerable, antisemitism will reappear like gravity.

Now imagine what that same $15 million could actually accomplish if directed toward the real solution: Aliyah. That money could fund thousands of flights home, housing subsidies, job placement programs, Hebrew education, and absorption centers. It could build neighborhoods, strengthen communities, and accelerate kibbutz galuyot—the ingathering of the exiles. Instead of sixty seconds of airtime, it could permanently relocate thousands of Jews to sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael. One path buys applause; the other changes demographics and destiny. One asks the world for kindness; the other takes responsibility for our future.

The Torah never promised that the nations would eventually understand us if we explained ourselves well enough. It promised redemption through return. לא ישא גוי אל גוי חרב ולא ילמדו עוד מלחמה, כי ביתי בית תפילה יקרא לכל העמים. The vision of world peace and a Beis HaMikdash that serves as a spiritual center for humanity doesn’t come from better commercials. It comes from Jews living in their land, building a functioning, moral society, and fulfilling our role as a light unto the nations. Sovereignty creates respect; begging rarely does.

The hard truth is that fighting antisemitism in exile is treating symptoms. Aliyah treats the disease. If someone truly wants to spend millions protecting the Jewish future, the answer isn’t a Super Bowl ad—it’s tickets, homes, jobs, and communities in Yerushalayim and throughout Eretz Yisrael. Awareness lasts a minute. Return lasts forever.