In 2017, I stopped wearing a yarmulke on airplanes. No, not because of antisemitism. Here's what happened: At the end of a long week traveling for work, I finally nestled into my economy-minus middle seat on the last leg before I reached home. After a few minutes, the man and woman on either side of me began talking to each other, around me. And they were angry, almost shouting. I then realized that they were a couple. Uh oh, I thought, this was going to be a long flight.

At a certain point, the husband noticed my yarmulke, turned toward me and yelled to the wife, “Let’s see what the Rabbi has to say about it!” For the next 5 hours from New York all the way back to Los Angeles I was forced to play rabbinical marriage counselor and solve this bickering couple’s marital woes. It was a long flight.

For twenty years, the yarmulke has been a staple in my wardrobe, a personal decision I made to add a small daily connection to Judaism in my life. A statement that this is who I am privately and publicly and that I'm not afraid of it. It has sparked conversations covering everything from “Can aliens be Jewish?” to “Could my granddaughter be buried in a Jewish cemetery if she has a Fran Drescher tattoo?” But after getting stuck between that couple, I decided that when traveling, it would be easier to just wear a baseball cap.

I rationalized that besides helping avoid spontaneous marriage counseling, covering up my yarmulke might also protect me from some of the rising, frightening antisemitism we’ve witnessed. Plus, isn’t a Yankees cap pretty much the same idea as a yarmulke anyway? :)

But lately I've been torn. While flying, I love performing simple, small acts of kindness for others – helping the elderly with their overhead luggage, sharing a (masked) smile and warm words with the crew, or making funny faces to get crying kids to laugh. And if everyone appreciates those small acts so much, shouldn’t I take the opportunity to let them know I’m a Jew and I care about them as fellow human beings? With my yarmulke covered, how would anyone recognize that I’m a Jew? And especially for people who have never met a Jew before, particularly a Jew wearing a yarmulke, how could I waste the opportunity to put the Jewish community in a positive light?‍

Last week was the first time I traveled for work in 16 months. And as I left my house, I made the decision that the opportunity outweighs the risk and left my Yankees cap at home.

There’s so much fear of the unknown. But the only way to move forward in life is to tackle the unknown; to be your authentic self, to learn, to listen and to grow. I'm willing to take that risk personally--and professionally.

Over the past year, JGSI exceeded all expectations and is now providing Jewish programming and community at more than 107 graduate school campuses across North America, engaging Jewish graduate students in meaningful Jewish experiences, and strengthening their Jewish identity. We were only able to do that through your dedicated support for our mission, and for that you have our deepest gratitude.

But now we’re above cruising altitude, in uncharted skies.

Moving forward, JGSI is ready to tackle the unknown future that lies ahead, to not shy away of who we are, to rise to meet the Jewish needs of our students, and to grow unbounded by fear--with certainty that the opportunity outweighs the risk.

Bolstered by your friendship, I’m excited to travel Jewish again.