For the first time in my 17 years as a rabbi in the field, every major media outlet and politician is talking about Jewish students on campus. The story of campus antisemitism has blown up way beyond our little Jewish nonprofit world, but despite this it seems that very few pundits are actually speaking to the students themselves and reporting on what they are experiencing. But we do – and given that our team has fielded hundreds of incidents from students around the country, I’d like to share their perspective with you.
Last week I visited several graduate campuses where our students have been dealing with antisemitism (actually, they all have in different ways). At one school, student leaders showed me some really troubling emails and social media messages that their Jewish club had received. I told them how to report the messages to our advocacy partners, and advised them to alert administration and campus security immediately. I also tried comforting them, explaining that it’s probably just some random troll and they should try to ignore it.
One of the student leaders turned to me and she said, “But it’s not some random troll. It’s our classmate. He literally sits right next to me.”
I was shocked. How could this person publicly spew such vicious, antisemitic hate? Aren’t they worried about their future job prospects, or their reputation among the people they see every day?
Apparently, not anymore.
It instantly reminded me of Germany in the 1930s. People are still surprised how Berlin at the time was known for its intellectualism–a place where Jews were highly assimilated into the culture–and yet such intelligent, forward thinking people ended up committing mass murder.
At that moment I finally understood what our students are actually facing – the story that’s not being told on CNN. The antisemite next door.
Violent protests, walkouts and outrageous publicity stunts make headlines. Believe me, our students are intimidated by that stuff too (which is the point). But not all antisemites wear swastika armbands and carry tiki torches, or wear keffiyehs and carry Molotov cocktails. Some attend $100k/year grad schools, get jobs at top law firms and Fortune 500 companies, and sit next to you in class.
That’s the real nightmare our students are waking up to. That even if they’re not attacking you right now, they still hate you. That they hated you all along. That maybe 5, 10, 20% (more?) of your classmates wouldn’t mind if you had been murdered on October 7. That they could find some way of contextualizing, justifying, or even celebrating it. Everyone else? Silent. We’ve seen this movie before, and it didn’t end well.
How do they show up to school the next day? I honestly don’t know and I am so impressed with the strength of character of our incredible students. But what I do know is that JGO will continue doing everything in our power to ensure that grad students keep their heads up high with Jewish pride and solidarity–with your support.
