No, Attorney General Nessel, Jews will not disappear

(RNS) — And now, let’s read the nominations for “the worst thing a Jewish public figure has said in the past week.”

The envelope, please: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Speaking recently to the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus at its annual “Summer Simcha” gathering, where the caucus honored her, Nessel said: “We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival,” according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency .

So, a Jewish elected official stood in front of other Jews and told them that their desire to stay alive as a people is a self-interest they should be willing to trade away for the good of humanity. And this was a summer simcha — a moment for joy?

She is, tragically, in good historic company.

She is channeling the voice of classic Christian supersessionism, which believes that the New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant, i.e., testament, and that the Jews should cease to exist as a separate people. She is also channeling an Islamic theology that assigned the Jew who would not submit a diminished, temporary place in the world.

Moreover, she is channeling the voice of the…