Kimberly Lifschitz's Antisemitic Attack Exposed in WhatsApp Chat

In an Instagram post, @StreetPeopleofBeverlyHills publicized a screenshot displaying WhatsApp messages attributed to BHUSD school board candidate Kimberly Lifschitz that mock BHUSD Governing Board Member Russell Stuart's wearing of a kippah in connection with his visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall. Stuart confirms the messages are authentic and identifies the WhatsApp community as BH Cares.

The screenshot shows a link preview about Stuart's Western Wall visit, followed by a message displayed under the name Kim Lifschitz:

Maybe he can bust out the kippah from his dress up trunk

A subsequent message under the same name reads:

He probably used it to store his complimentary in-flight nuts

Those words make a Jewish religious object the vehicle for a personal attack. Describing a kippah as something from a dress-up trunk treats religious observance as a costume. The follow-up turns that same object into a snack-container joke. In this commentary's assessment, that is antisemitic ridicule, and it deserves to be called an antisemitic attack.

The comments also deserve to be examined alongside Lifschitz's own statements about respect and the example adults set for students.

At the October 5 BHUSD candidate forum, Lifschitz told the audience:

WhatsApp messages displayed under the name Kim Lifschitz refer to Russell Stuart's kippah.

WhatsApp messages displayed under the name Kim Lifschitz refer to Russell Stuart's kippah.

I respect every single person in it.

She emphasized the importance of adults modeling the behavior expected of leaders and candidates, concluding:

Our children are literally watching.

Her campaign platform likewise calls for leaders to model appropriate behavior and criticizes personal attacks as beneath the district and its community.

That standard applies to her own conduct. A candidate cannot reasonably ask adults to model respect while treating an opponent's wearing of a kippah as material for humiliation. Political disagreement does not justify turning a Jewish religious practice into an insult.

The setting Stuart identifies makes the exchange especially troubling: a community called BH Cares. Care must mean more than a name. It requires respect for people whose politics differ from one's own, including respect for their religious observance.

Lifschitz's public promise of respect creates a clear measure for assessing these messages. Her comments about the kippah fall short of that promise. A school board candidate should be able to challenge an opponent's decisions without making religious observance the target of a personal attack.