Discouraged and still reeling from the events of the past weekend, I took the story of Colleyville and the continued hatred against Jewish individuals in this country to our school newspaper.

While my first go at standing up to a man in a position of power may not have gone as planned, I've recognized in the events that followed the power of Jewish women, like Ruth and Naomi, to lift each other back up.

There's a difference between being tolerated and being wanted and, for me, wearing a tallit proves that I’m wanted in the Jewish world.