The word goy has long permeated throughout antisemitic circles as a means of institutionalising the notion of Jewish supremacy. Recently, far-right antisemites such as Sneako and Nick Fuentes have adopted the term as a means of self-identification. American business tycoon Dan Bilzerian went on social media in June of 2025, claiming without context that “Jews don’t view goyim as humans.” Pinned on his X page is an interview conducted with Pierce in 2024, where he admits he does “…not like a religion that says they are better than other people.”
Today, the origins of the word, which began in last week’s Parsha, Yitro, have become foreign to both Jew and Gentile alike. More specifically, the first instance of the term goy never refers to non-Jews at all. Instead, the Parsha directs goy towards the Jewish people, declaring “…you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (goy).” (Exodus 19:6). In this case, the word goy is used to present the Jewish people solely as a holy collective, with no suggestion of superiority within this distinction. A description of holiness does not imply dominance. Even more so, in this week’s Parsha, Mishpatim, God decrees to the Jewish people that they ought “…not oppress a stranger (Ger); you yourselves know how it feels to be strangers (Gerim), because you were strangers in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). Clearly, God does not desire for the Jewish people to be oppressors of anyone, especially those who are not among them. Therefore, there must be either a linguistic or logical error on the part of those who use the term goy derogatorily, or, more likely, some individuals simply desire to use the term as a means of propaganda against the Jewish people.
The linguistic presence of terms for out-groups is not at all restricted to the Hebrew language. Terms like Gringo in Spanish refer to those outside Mexican culture, typically American. In German, Ausländer means someone born outside of Germany, and even in Arabic, Ajam, describes one who is not an Arab. Colloquially, the word goy today is used in the same manner as these terms and simply has grown to mean someone who is not Jewish. Despite the term’s original meaning of “nation” in the broad sense, the word has come to refer specifically to those outside the tribe.
Nonetheless, a clear linguistic divide still exists between words specifically related to those in an out-group and a slur. To be a slur, a word has to be both specific and insulting, whereas an ethnic out-group term is situational and broad. There are certainly cases, which I will expand on, where the terms goy or gentile can be used negatively; however, they are typically employed far more to express a sense of shared Jewish identity rather than purposefully discriminating against others, the same way that any of the aforementioned terms do. Ethnic out-group terms shift far more focus onto the speaker, whereas slurs, on the other hand, focus primarily on the individuals they are directed towards.
It would be incredibly naïve to believe that popular far-right influencers are incapable of making a simple linguistic distinction between terms. Nevertheless, they often engage in a logical fallacy when highlighting that some of the worst Jews, specifically Jeffrey Epstein, use the term in a derogatory way.
Throughout the newly released Epstein Files, countless emails include Epstein referring to non-Jews as Goyim. One such example occurred when Epstein was discussing a guest list for a party with Jewish entertainment publicist Peggy Siegel, asserting “no, goyim in abundance- jpmorgan execs brilliant wasps.”
Is it really all that surprising that the worst Jew in the world, and the most evil Jew in the last several centuries, deeply untethered from traditional Jewish values, uses this word not as an ethnic out-group term but as a slur? Epstein is the worst of the worst, of course, he is a racist and xenophobic. However, a logical fallacy occurs when individuals cite Epstein as an example of the way that a typical Jew would utilize the term, or even suggest that Epstein is using the term in the proper linguistic manner. This is a classic part-to-whole error, where saying that because Epstein does so, then it must be true for all Jews.
Candace Owens capitalized on her propaganda spree against Jewish people when she learned the term was present within the Epstein emails. On her podcast, she claimed, “remember the end of last year when I was called antisemitic for telling you this is the literal, religious worldview of many people in power?” She continued by urging her listeners to “type in ‘goy’ or ‘goyim’ in the Epstein files and be sure to tag a Christian who needs to wake up and leave the Zionist cause.”
Owens insinuated not only that the Jews are the ones who are in power, but that Epstein’s worldview regarding goyim is true for all Jews. This echoes the earlier sentiments by Dan Bilzerian. By engaging with the part-to-whole flaw, Owens and Bilzerian take advantage of the fact that their uneducated listeners do not care or know that this fallacy is occurring.
Later on in the same live stream, Owens utilized the momentum she gained from the goyim proposition to repeat blood libels against Jews for killing Christians, and ensured her listeners know that “…this is for them a religious philosophy, a racist perspective that we are goyim, meaning cattle, that are meant to be herded and ruled over.” Nowhere is the term goyim in Judaism used to compare non-Jews with cattle; yet again, Owens does not care for history or for truth.
Influencers like Bilzarian or Owens are not unintelligent people. In fact, they are exceedingly intelligent, a testament to their large and devoted following. Whether or not they believe in the slander they pose against the Jews is one thing, but they are certainly well aware of linguistic flaws, and they are well versed in traditional logical concepts. Right-wing antisemites make an active choice to distance themselves from the biblical definition of the word goy and all of the testimonies throughout the bible about treating others, especially non-Jews, with kindness and dignity.
The onus is now on the Jewish people all around the world to prove to these antisemites and their followers, through love and kindness, how wrong they truly are. Rabbi Akiva, arguably the greatest Torah scholar in history, regarded the Biblical commandment in Leviticus 19:18, “love your neighbor as yourself,” as the most important commandment in all the Torah. Later on in the same chapter, God commands the Israelites that “the foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” God here uses the same language we learn in this week’s Parsha as well. Its repetition further emphasizes that this commandment is central to Jewish identity.
It has been true throughout all of Jewish history that the Jews have been subject to persecution and hate. From Egypt, to the pogroms, to the Holocaust, and today, the Jews know what it is like to be subject to hatred. God teaches us, in this week’s parsha, and in several other areas of Torah, that hating someone because they hate you is never an option. To refer to someone who is not Jewish as a goy in a derogatory manner is to objectively disobey commandments directly from God. Any Jew who does so does not represent the Jewish people as a collective but actively rejects their God and their Judaism. Now more than ever, in the face of antisemites like Owens, we must continue to spread love, especially to our non-Jewish neighbors.
