Growing up with a father who owned an HR-focused Consulting business for 50 years, my four siblings and I were taught to never discuss three things: politics, money and religion. This wasn’t for lack of pride in his Jewish identity, but rather a sense of protection. When you are born in the middle of World War II and watch your father change his Jewish last name because it’s affecting his law practice, caution becomes the name of the game.

Before you ask- well where were they living? The Bible Belt, the Deep South, an area with no Jews? No reader, this was on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The cautionary nature of both my father and grandfather shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to many of you, after all, the tale of Jews and inherent generational trauma is a tale as old as time. But after World War II, the Holocaust, the shattering of millions of lives, the pain permeating the diaspora, that lingering fear- it held on tight.

So imagine the surprise my grandfather would feel, and my father does feel, when the topic of so many of today’s conversations revolve around both politics and religion. Gone is the polite political civility of the Clinton and Bush eras of my youth. To simply ignore today’s political landscape feels utterly ignorant. However, no matter what side you stand on, one thing can be agreed upon: it is pure chaos and antisemitism is increasing by the day.

The antisemitism we are experiencing today comes from both sides, leaving many jews to feel politically homeless. The far right and the far left both hate jews, albeit for slightly different reasons, but the goal remains the same: they want us gone.

Antisemitism lives and breathes in the smallest crevices of the world and the loudest imaginable. It’s rampant on social media, with today’s kids getting ill-informed or heavily biased news from their TikTok algorithms. It’s part of a social movement from Gen Z and Gen Alpha who never lived through 9/11 and proclaimed “maybe we deserved it, maybe Osama Bin Laden had a point.” It’s all over the Rockland County Facebook groups with people angered at the changing demographics of their towns.

It’s on the corner of Route 59 when my children want burgers from Shake Shack and inquire about the protests. It’s finding out that your favorite under eye makeup brand was made by a woman who went on an antisemitic rant claiming that Israel started both world wars and other blood libels. It’s signing yet another petition for a brand or a university to drop someone who was found to be threatening Jews. It’s being an avid reader and encountering intense hatred in the book community, with authors and publishers being boycotted simply because they’re Jewish.

Most close to home, it’s my young children asking why we don’t see certain friends anymore and not being able to explain to them “they feel 10/7 was justified on some level and I don’t feel comfortable spending time with them.” It’s a non-Jewish cousin or lifelong friend saying “well your people technically stole the land.” It’s in watching so many people in your life not only remain completely silent since the horrors of 10/7, but also blaming you for a humanitarian crisis that is happening thousands of miles away. Everyday, the circle feels smaller and smaller.

On the other hand, I have seen the banding together of so many people in my community that it does give me some hope. The circle may be smaller, but it’s certainly stronger. These conversations are uncomfortable, but they are also essential. There is no longer the ability to remain passive and silent in the face of growing antisemitism.

I have young children and need to be able to answer to what’s going on as well as give them the tools they need to navigate a world that won’t always be kind to them simply because they are Jewish. This is sadly the reality that we are living in.

To that end, this is exactly why we do the work that we do here at Federation. Jewish authors being silenced? We created Am HaSefer, to platform Jewish voices and get people reading their work. Experiencing prejudice within the community? Contact us. We are working with local elected leaders on all sides to address these issues.

In the summer of 2022, Federation launched our Community Security Initiative to address the security needs of synagogues, schools, camps and other Jewish institutions. In the past three years, CSI has conducted over 150 consultation sessions and 72 Threat Vulnerability assessments, as well as helped institutions apply for state and federal grants.

Federation looks to see where there is a need within the community and sees how we can help. We engage in outreach and create events to bridge divides and encourage unity. The commitment of the Federation is to always be doing the tough and necessary work for our people. Please join us on September 7th for a night of music, featuring two talented artists, Omri Goren and Gabriel Shem! This event is our community campaign kickoff and the perfect opportunity to come together, connect and feel the solidarity of our community.