Antisemitism

Content type
Collection
Gold Star of David necklace hanging in midair, in partial focus.

"Tagen Alai": My Magen David Necklace and My Jewish Identity

Noa Gross

My Magen David necklace has transformed from a simple silver chain into an extension of my identity.

Illustration of Curly Hair

Embracing My Curls, Embracing My Jewish Femininity

Simone Miller

My hair doesn’t only destroy hair ties; it also destroys insecurities about my Jewishness and femininity.

Graphic with emergency sirens alternating with dollar signs

When the Pogrom Comes, Can I Afford to Leave?

Sarah Jae Leiber

"I wonder if I'll know when or if I need to leave. And if I do need to leave, will I be able to afford it?"

Topics: Antisemitism
Nadine Batchelor-Hunt crop

Black and Jewish: A Conversation with Nadine Batchelor-Hunt

Emily-Rose Baker

UK-based writer and journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunt talks to JWA about being Black and Jewish, grappling with those identities being pitted against each other.

Illustration of a Plague Doctor wearing beak mask.

Antisemitism During Coronavirus: From Pandemic to Pandemic

Ari Fogel

Antisemitism is, unfortunately, not a unique response to a pandemic.

Women of the Carvajal Family

The devotion of the Carvajal women to forbidden Jewish practices helped their family become the most famous Hispano-Portuguese secret Jews of colonial Latin America. The determination of these conversas, or New Christians, to create a recognizable Jewish identity shows the importance of women to crypto-Judaism at a time when the Inquisition of Spain and its territories prosecuted this belief system as heresy.

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff was a prominent activist of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF/ICUF) and a communist militant in anti-fascist organizations. She was president of the YKUF Women's Organization (OFI) and the main promoter of the reading circle network (leien kraizn) in Argentina.

Female Martyrdom

In various eras, Jewish women chose martrydom, or Kiddush ha-Shem (sanctification of the Divine Name), rather than repudiate God or transgress certain commandments. Examples appear in Jewish Hellenistic writings, rabbinic literature, Crusade chronicles, medieval Hebrew piyyut (liturgical poetry), accounts of the seventeenth-century Chmielnicki pogroms, and documents connected with the Shoah. Scholars differ, however, regarding the accuracy of these martyrological texts, which often reshape actual events to conform to iconic imagery.

Mina Fridman Ruetter

Mina Fridman Ruetter (1922-2003), an Argentinean-born Jew, was the most prominent leader of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF) beginning in the 1970s. She studied and worked as a writer, teacher, and translator in organizations linked to the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. She was a highly visible leader and the disciple of YKUF intellectuals such as Pinie Katz and Samuel Gordon.

Caroline Calloway Polaroid

Caroline Calloway and Antisemitic Caricature

Emily-Rose Baker

We never thought we'd be talking about influencer Caroline Calloway at JWA, but she tweeted something antisemitic, so here we are!

Topics: Antisemitism
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Hanukkiah in front.

Courage in the Face of Rising Antisemitism in Europe

Lila Goldstein

The religious pride I saw among Jewish groups in Paris and Berlin inspires me to show courage through community.

Topics: Antisemitism
Jewish Persecution in Strasbourg, 1349

Lessons from the Black Plague: Rejecting Hatred in the Face of Pandemic

Savoy Curry

Historically, pandemics have inflamed underlying societal biases against immigrants and minorities. We must not let Coronavirus do the same.

Topics: Antisemitism
"Untitled" by Sonia Delaunay, 1917

Each Time I Enter the Synagogue: A Teen on Antisemitic Gun Violence

Madeline Canfield

My reaction to antisemitic gun violence is not one of fear, but of alertness to a threat far more normalized for me than for my elders.

Tik Tok

Is TikTok "Bad for the Jews"?

Julia Métraux

It should not be up to Jews to censor our own content to shield ourselves from antisemitic threats, but it is up to all of us to think carefully about the content we post.

Topics: Antisemitism, Media
Map of Europe, 1923

Reflections on the 2019 UK Election: Antisemitism in Europe

Emily-Rose Baker

In the aftermath of the 2019 UK election, let's talk about antisemitism in Europe.

Ilana Drake standing in a passageway on the Bell Tower of St. Paul's Church, Munich cityscape below.

Raising My Hand High

Ilana Drake

The teacher told us to raise our hands if we were Jewish. I didn’t know what to do.

Memorial outside Tree of Life Synagogue

How to Heal: The One-Year Anniversary of Pittsburgh

Ilana Diamant

This essay is for anyone who froze—whose mind went inward instead of outward, who didn’t leave their home for a bit, or who didn’t want to go home at all.

Topics: Antisemitism

Episode 32: Silence Helps Others Forget

Host Nahanni Rous talks to Holocaust survivor and author, Irene Butter. Like Anne Frank's family, Butter’s fled Nazi Germany, settled in Amsterdam, and was eventually deported to concentration camps. Irene knew Anne Frank, and saw her at Bergen-Belsen just before Anne died. She tells us why she began sharing her story after more than four decades of silence, and how she sees her experience reflected in the current era of xenophobia and rising antisemitism.

Episode 25: A Trip to Pittsburgh (Transcript)

Episode 25: A Trip to Pittsburgh (Transcript)

Anti-Semitic Graffiti

May the Faith Be With You

Emma Nathanson

Because I didn’t have support, because I felt alone, I didn’t confront my teacher about his words that day or about the lack of Holocaust education. I didn’t take a stand, either, when I found the words “JEW HUNTER” scrawled on the leg of a desk. Nor did I speak up when I found the same horrifying phrase on a different desk a few weeks later.

Judith and daughter at the 2017 Women’s March in Cambridge

Ten Thoughts About Antisemitism and the Women’s March

Judith Rosenbaum

Judith Rosenbaum, Executive Director of JWA, shares her thoughts on the Women's March leaders and their associations with Louis Farrakhan. She writes, "I don’t have any easy or solid answers, but here are 10 brief thoughts to add to the conversation."

Justine's Babka

Baking Babka, Taking in Tragedy

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

My pocket buzzes again. “Did you not see the news?” I feel my entire body tense, my fingers shaking as I struggle to open Twitter. In a moment, I am inundated—11 dead, maybe more.

When I wake up, I decide to make a babka.

Episode 25: A Visit to Pittsburgh

On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven Jews during Shabbat services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. While taking lives, the gunman shouted that “all Jews must die.” That morning, he had posted on social media that Jews were responsible for bringing immigrants into our country. Can We Talk? Producer Nahanni Rous went to Pittsburgh with a group from her synagogue, and attended a funeral for two victims of the attack. She shares this reflection.

Memorial outside Tree of Life Synagogue

A Rabbi Revisits Terror: Reflections on Pittsburgh

Rabbi Claudia Kreiman

Despite the despair that comes easily these days, we must continue to believe that change is possible and that we have the responsibility to bring it about. Thankfully, we find ourselves at a moment when there is one obvious way to exercise this responsibility—in these final days of the election season, we must dedicate ourselves to getting out the vote.

Topics: Antisemitism

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