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Persona: College Students

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Communities Fight Back Against Antisemitism

By Rich Tenorio

An antisemitic letter is left in the lobby of a college Hillel. A middle school student makes a threat against Jewish classmates that raises fears of violence. Orthodox Jews are targeted for antisemitic abuse because of the way they dress. These are all incidents that have happened to Jewish communities in New England in recent years. Members of the communities affected discussed how they responded, which can go beyond only calling out antisemitism.

In 2022, the Boston neighborhood of Brighton engaged in a community-wide debate over whether to change zoning laws to allow local Orthodox Jews to create a synagogue. There was an incident in which graffiti apparently depicted a Hasidic man smoking a dollar bill, accompanied by a potentially antisemitic statement, according to Ariella Hellman, director of government affairs for the Orthodox organization Agudah Israel New England. Hellman noted that this was especially alarming to community members given the summer 2021 attack on local rabbi Shlomo Noginski, who was repeatedly stabbed outside the neighborhood synagogue Shaloh House.

In March 2023, Agudah Israel of America was represented at a Washington, D.C., conference between Jewish community members and elected officials. Hellman was pleased by the concern shown by elected officials.

She also praised the response to the Brighton graffiti from the City of Boston, which included the expedited acquisition of equipment to remove the hateful image and words.

“It meant a lot to us,” Hellman said.

During the first half of 2023, multiple municipalities in Massachusetts faced antisemitic incidents and took decisive steps to respond to them.

In April, a swastika was found in Natick, close to a local commuter rail station and a Chabad house. As The Boston Globe reported, the hateful imagery was addressed in a creative way: A non-Jewish woman from the area showed her support by using sidewalk chalk to cover the Nazi symbol with an image of a flower and an anti-hate message. Meanwhile, the local Chabad rabbi, Levi Fogelman, organized a protest march that drew Jewish and non-Jewish attendees.

In June, during Pride Month, Congregation Agudath Achim in Taunton was defaced with antisemitic, anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-Black graffiti, as the Taunton Daily Gazette reported. Because the synagogue has security camera equipment, the vandalism was captured on video, although the perpetrator remains unidentified. The synagogue took concrete steps to address the incident: Both the local police and the Anti-Defamation League were alerted, while an email about the incident was sent to the congregation. The Taunton Gazette article cited two board members stating that this was the first vandalism of Agudath Achim they could remember in their four decades of involvement with the synagogue.

In 2019, when a student in Great Barrington allegedly threatened Jewish classmates, fears were raised of violence toward the latter, according to Rabbi Neil P.G. Hirsch, spiritual leader of the Hevreh of Southern Berkshire.

“The gun violence couldn’t be actualized, but we realized it still had been traumatic to young people, Jewish kids of the school, many of whom are part of my congregation,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch and fellow rabbi Jodie Gordon held a series of conversations for students and parents about what happens when young people encounter antisemitism. Hirsch also reached out to the school district superintendent, the county district attorney’s office and community organizations, including the local Jewish federation. He found a way to help the Jewish students process their experiences. They traveled to Boston, where they participated in a healing session at Mayyim Hayyim and heard a talk on the history of antisemitism from Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. Hirsch reported no major incidents of hate in the Berkshires since then.

In the fall of 2022, an antisemitic letter was anonymously dropped off in the lobby of a Hillel in Providence, R.I., that is affiliated with both Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

“In the end, it was discovered that it had not been written by a student,” said Rabbi Josh Bolton, the executive director of the Brown RISD Hillel. “The university, the university police, the Providence police, everyone worked very, very fast, with a real sense of mission…We just felt, all around, very, very supported.”

He stressed the importance of continuing to offer vibrant weekly programming that draws not only Jewish students but also non-Jews on campus.

“We really want to be a place where Jewish students feel proud and excited to bring non-Jewish roommates,” Bolton said. “We don’t want to be a parochial club, but one of the great centers of student life that reflects what is best in Brown and RISD. We want Hillel and Jewishness to be seen as one of the thick threads around the fabric of the university, a source of meaning for students who are Jews and non-Jews.”

Sources indicated that fighting antisemitism is a complex process.

On campus, Bolton said, “I don’t want Jewish leaders to feel they have to be reactive to every perspective, every incident that strikes them as somehow distasteful. I want it to be about the fact that our Jewish community, including student leadership, goes beyond the cycle of reactivity.”

He noted, “Brown and RISD are not excluded from the national trend” of antisemitism on campus. “There are incidents.” Yet, he added, “I don’t think those incidents in their own right constitute the actual narrative of the Jewish story here. I think it is one of great resilience, flourishing and vitality.”

Hellman, of Agudah, said, “You have to be very proactive about it. We meet often with Precinct 14 of the local police department. Because we’re proactive about the relationship, when these things come up, we can rely on our government partners to support us.

“Of course, calling it out is important. But the Orthodox community is a little more quiet. In calling it out, we don’t want to be even more attractive to the haters, not give them any more air. We try to keep it as quiet as possible but address the issue. The local police department has increased patrols. The mayor’s office got the graffiti cleaned up. It meant something to our community. Our government partners have our backs.”

Rich Tenorio covers antisemitism news for JewishBoston.com. His work has appeared in international, national, regional and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist. Email him at richt@cjp.org.

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Keeping Campuses Safe for Jewish Students

By Rich Tenorio​​ 

​​In 2021​, when Hillel International learned that Jewish college students were becoming concerned about publicly displaying their identity, the organization led a campaign to help them do so. #OwnYourStar encouraged participants to wear a Star of David and post their photo on social media. Over 2,000 students joined the campaign, which drew 5 million viewers. This initiative reflects Hillel’s goal of keeping campuses a safe space for Jewish students. 

“Participation in Jewish life on campus is definitely correlated to Jewish students reporting that they feel safe,” said Jennifer Zwilling, Hillel’s chief strategy and campus success officer. “It’s one big part of making sure there’s a robust Jewish life on campus.” 

In ​the 2021 ​#OwnYour Star campaign, Jewish students and allies around the world posted photos and videos of their Jewish star necklaces, family Judaica and other beloved Jewish items “to express Jewish pride in the wake of antisemitism,” Zwilling said. “They had been scared to wear Jewish T-shirts. [The campaign] made them feel confident [and] proud to be Jewish.” 

Hillel’s overall approach to countering antisemitism, she said, is “education and training for students, staff and university administrators, calling out antisemitism when it occurs and supporting Hillel’s security, a multifaceted way of being there to support students and Hillel professionals, no matter what.” 

​​In 2021​, the organization continued making outreach efforts to students on and off campus, including through trips to Israel. Hillel conducted several marketing campaigns to gauge student needs. 

“One of the things we see is more open expressions of Jewish pride and students standing up to antisemitism,” Zwilling said. “There’s power in numbers,” she explained. “Seeing an opportunity to do something, you can add your own [voice] and connect to other people expressing pride in their Jewish identity.” 

A ​relatively more recent ​trend is outreach to university presidents and administrators. ​In February 2022​, Hillel convened a two-day summit on antisemitism for 44 university presidents in New York City, including the heads of two New England institutions—Tufts University and the University of Vermont. ​In the fall of 2022​, the Campus Climate Initiative (CCI), another Hillel initiative addressing antisemitism, ​aimed to ​reach 40 campuses. 

“CCI is an intensive, cohort-based program for university administrators,” Zwilling said. “It provides an assessment of the climate for Jewish students and training for administrators, and supports for them to create an action plan to improve the climate on campus for Jewish students. Tufts was part of it this past year. They’ve taken it very seriously.” 

Asked about the increased outreach to university presidents, Zwilling said: “We want to make sure there’s engagement at the senior level. They set the tone and think about policy.” And “university presidents have been incredibly receptive,” she added. “To have 44 presidents for two days in New York City, hosted by the president of NYU, it’s a big deal.” 

​​In 2022​, the Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU also hosted a security training for Hillel professionals from the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Jon Zeftel, manager of operations at the Bronfman Center, wrote an opinion piece for eJewish Philanthropy explaining concerns over security in the wake of violent events, such as the hostage-taking at a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue in January​ of that year​ and the mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket ​that​ May. 

Zeftel wrote that Hillel professionals and other leaders in Jewish communities have a responsibility to participate in situational awareness training, but beyond that, they also have a responsibility to address the sources of the violence currently gripping the nation—in his words, “the root causes.” 

On situational awareness training, Hillel partners with the Secure Community Network (SCN). 

“Hillel has an SCN liaison deployed specifically to support the Hillel network, helping them while applying for and receiving nonprofit security grants, providing training and consultation on security issues,” Zwilling said. “A number of [colleges and universities] in the Boston area in the past year have undergone security training both by CJP and SCN.” 

​​Security-related concerns in the Boston area last year included the tearing down of a mezuzah at Northeastern University and graffiti at several campuses. ​In 2021​, Hillel partnered with six campuses in New England on security assessments, with CJP also joining this initiative.​​​ 

Another area of concern is when criticism of Israel on campus morphs into antisemitism. 

“There is valid criticism of any state or government, and their policies,” Zwilling wrote in a follow-up email. “But all too often and with increasing frequency, anti-Israel rhetoric and actions cross the line into antisemitism. That includes demonization and delegitimization of Israel, its government and its people; as well as Jewish students being singled out, held to a double-standard, ostracized or in some cases barred from participating in groups and causes on campus simply for being Jewish or identifying as Zionist.” 

​​In the​ spring​ of 2022​, an “apartheid wall” was set up in Harvard Yard, with one panel bearing the words: “Zionism is racism/settler colonialism/white supremacy/apartheid.” 

“It does not make for a comfortable environment for students on campus. The intent has a chilling effect on Jewish students,” said Zwilling, about the wall. “It does not make Jewish students feel comfortable or safe.” 

Overall, Zwilling said: “We found in a 2021 survey that more than 80% of Jewish students say they are proud to be Jewish, but only about 60% are comfortable or safe expressing that pride. We want to help close that gap. Fewer students, I think, are saying publicly, ‘I’m Jewish.’ We hear sometimes that it hurts their social standing with peers to do so. What we try to do is counter that [and] show expressions of pride in public ways. 

“Hillel’s core mission is to help Jewish students connect to Jewish life, learning [and] Israel, and be a safe home for the community where you can come to Hillel to be yourself. I think it’s also important, too, that if the larger environment is one where you don’t always feel safe, you can feel safe to be yourself at Hillel. That’s a pretty powerful thing.” 

Rich Tenorio covers antisemitism news for JewishBoston.com. His work has appeared in international, national, regional and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist. Email him at rich@jewishboston.com.