CTeenConnection

A lot of people would like to think that anti-Semitism isn’t as strong as it used be, but in fact it’s growing. From where we were to where we are going, we may be faced with anti-Semitism, but our Jewish pride has never been stronger.

I went to a Jewish school for seven years. One day when I was in fourth grade, a man went to a street right near my school and held up a sign that stated, “Jewish bankers ruin the world.” I was young and didn’t really understand what it meant, but looking back on it, I realized that this was not okay and it was an act of anti-Semitism. Another incident I’ve had was when a girl came up to me directly after she heard that I am Israeli, and said that she doesn’t like Jews.

In 2016, a study was conducted by the AMCHA Initiative‚ an organization that seeks to put an end to anti-Semitism on college campuses, which found that the number of incidents involving suppression of Jewish students’ freedom of speech doubled from last year. Here in Cincinnati, we had our fair share of anti-Semitism recently; someone thought it would be a smart idea to spray paint a swastika at Hebrew Union College, a rabbinical school. On one hand, this makes me scared to go to college, because so many college campuses are experiencing stories like this one. How can we feel safe in our own cities and states when things like this are occurring?

At the same time, we can’t think like that. Our nation has always and will always come out strong in the end. We have experienced the worst discrimination, but we always come out stronger. Thank G-d for a place like CTeen—our home away from home—where we can go and just be ourselves, and be free to express our Judaism. We don’t have to be afraid to be who we are, we accept each other and embrace our Jewish identities together.

As you see, there may be anti-Semitism but that’s only temporary. Judaism has been around for thousands and thousands of years and it’s here to stay. Anti-Semitism may be big but our Jewish pride is even bigger.