State Rep. Hillary Cassel’s recently filed “No Sharia Act” is a solution in search of a problem — a political stunt dressed up as principle. In her own words, there is no plan to bring or implement Sharia law in Florida.

But in touting her bill, the Dania Beach Republican went even further. In a podcast interview, she declared that immigrants who “don’t want to assimilate and become American” should “go to other places.” She described the coming debate over her proposal as “fun.”

State Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, is the Florida Senate minority leader.

There is nothing fun about promoting intolerance — and nothing American about telling people to conform or leave.

Cassel’s comments should alarm every Floridian, and especially every Jewish Floridian. Her words echo the very rhetoric that has been used against Jews for centuries: the demand to erase what makes us distinct in order to prove we belong. At a time of rising antisemitism across the country, hearing such language from a Florida legislator is profoundly disturbing.

There is no “Sharia takeover” in Florida. Cassel’s bill manufactures a fear that serves no purpose except to inflame suspicion and signal who is “in” and who is “out.” That’s not leadership. It’s provocation.

As Jews, we know too well what happens when fear of “foreign laws” becomes a political rallying cry. Throughout history, Jews were told to assimilate — to shed our customs, language and identity in order to be accepted. In ancient Greece, Hellenistic rulers demanded Jews abandon their faith, sparking the Maccabean Revolt that Hanukkah commemorates. In medieval Europe, Jews were forced into ghettos or coerced to convert to Christianity. Even the Enlightenment demanded conformity — Jews could become citizens only by “becoming more like everyone else.” In the 20th century, many changed their names or hid their faith to escape persecution.

This pressure to prove loyalty by erasing difference is precisely what Cassel’s rhetoric revives. Her suggestion that “foreigners” or “foreign laws” threaten American life echoes the same exclusionary logic once used against us.

The Jewish community cannot stay silent. We know where fear-based politics lead. We know the danger of framing any faith as inherently foreign or suspect. If Cassel truly values religious liberty, she should remember the separation of church and state — the very principle that protects all faiths, including our own.

There is a growing movement to weaponize religion for political gain that has been targeted toward Jewish people and others. Cassel’s “No Sharia Act” is not a defense of freedom. It is an assault on it.

And her comments about assimilation betray the most painful lessons of Jewish history: that safety never comes from sameness — it comes from the protection of difference.

Lori Berman is the Democratic minority leader of the Florida State Senate.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/11/18/hillary-cassels-dangerous-lesson-in-intolerance-opinion/