Antisemitism

Content type
Collection
Collage of various images of Emma Goldman on green background

Emma Goldman and A Jewish Approach to Liberation

Miriam Stodolsky

Goldman drew upon her Judaism as a source of radical moral guidance and held fiercely to her Jewishness without limiting herself to it.

Diana Shklyarov

Project
Soviet Jewry

Gabriel Weinstein and Aaron Hersh interviewed Diana Shklyarov on November 10, 2016, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Shklyarov discusses her desire to leave the USSR, her family's struggles with denied exit visas, her Jewish identity, experiences with antisemitism, her arrival in the United States, and the importance of Jewish identity in her life now.

Ronne Friedman

Project
Soviet Jewry

Gabriel Weinstein, Tamar Shachaf Schneider, and Aaron Hirsch interviewed Ronne Friedman on November 15, 2016, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Rabbi Friedman discusses Temple Israel's involvement in the Soviet Jewry movement, missions to the USSR, a tense encounter with customs agents, reconnecting with the Charney family, outreach efforts by Temple Israel, and a meaningful encounter in St. Petersburg.

Minna Shavitz

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Minna Shavitz on March 22, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Weaving Women's Words series. Shavitz details her upbringing in the South, encountering antisemitism, her family dynamics, college life, marriage, owning a deli, and the challenges and joys of her personal and professional life.

Illustrated Outline of a Woman Sitting Cross-Legged; Background with Stars of David

Microaggressions in High School: Learning to Advocate for More Inclusive Communities

Georgia Fried

I’m calling out a system that doesn’t make Jewish students feel seen at school—a system that doesn’t educate people on religions that aren’t the most mainstream ones in our culture.

Nadia Fradkova

Project
Soviet Jewry

Nadia Fradkova was interviewed in Massachusetts as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Fradkova shares her experiences of growing up in the Soviet Union, facing antisemitism, resistance from her father, imprisonment in a labor camp and psychiatric hospital, and eventually immigrating to Israel and the United States.

Pamela Cohen

Project
Women Who Dared

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Pamela Cohen on February 7, 2005, in Chicago, Illinois, as part of the Jewish Women’s Archive’s Women Who Dared project. Cohen discusses her family's immigration, her activism for Soviet Jewry, her career in advocacy, her reflections on Judaism, and her hopes for future generations in human rights work.

Still from the Bachelorette - woman and man talking

Why Haven't We Had an Openly Jewish Bachelorette?

Catherine Horowitz

Although The Bachelor/ette franchise features extensive discussions of Christianity, even the rare Jewish contestants never talk about Judaism.

Collage with Wallpaper of Illustrated Pens, Illustrated Fists in the Air in the Foreground

Six Months After Colleyville: The Power of Journalism and (Less So) Running

Ilah

Discouraged and still reeling from the events of the past weekend, I took the story of Colleyville and the continued hatred against Jewish individuals in this country to our school newspaper.

Collage of Illustrated Women Swimming; Star of David Patterned Background

Sink or Swim: Antisemitic Jokes Are No Laughing Matter

Elle Rosenfeld

After reckoning with my friend’s antisemitism, it’s clear to me that intersectionality can be a tool to fight this form of hatred.

Collage with TV Still from "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

"Remember That We Suffered": Grappling with Privilege and Intergenerational Trauma as a Jew

Abigail Gilman

We can acknowledge the horrors that our ancestors endured without letting that knowledge stop us from living fully and compassionately in the present.

Lynn Amowitz

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Lynn Amowitz on July 31, 2001, in Providence, Rhode Island, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Amowitz reflects on her childhood experiences of antisemitism, her parents' establishment of a synagogue for her bat mitzvah, the influence of family history on her career choice, her work in human rights investigations, and her aspirations to impact policies and methodologies in her field.

Berlin "Stumbling Stone" to commemorate Holocaust victim with rose and sign reading "never again" placed on top

I Visited Six European Jewish Communities to Explore My Own Identity

Zia Saylor

My travels in Europe helped me reconcile some of the tensions in my Jewish identity.

Movie Still from "Ghost World", 2001: Image of Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch

"Ghost World": Flawed Portrayals of Flawed Jewish Women

Lucy Waldorf

Ghost World is satirical, but is that fact enough to excuse the writing of the Jewish female characters?

Woman stands on in subway car with her head peeking through open doors

"Russian Doll" Season 2: Messy, but Beautiful

Emma Breitman

Despite a sloppy start, the show’s second season ultimately hooked me with its exploration of Jewish themes.

Episode 76: Message From Ukraine

Vlada Nedak lives in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, only an hour's drive from the front lines of the war. She's a wife and mother and the owner of a menagerie of household pets. She's also the Executive Director of Project Kesher Ukraine, a network of Jewish women building community and leadership. When Russia invaded Ukraine, like many Ukrainians, Vlada was faced with the difficult choice of whether to stay or try to leave the country. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Nahanni speaks with Vlada about her experiences of the war and about how it has affected the women in Project Kesher's network.

Collage with Maroon Background and Illustrated Young Woman Carrying a Menorah

“All Too Well”: How I Went From Embarrassed to Proud of My Jewish Identity

Amanda Xinhui Malnik

What if there was a short film of my life with captions describing each stage of my relationship with Judaism, like Taylor Swift’s film for her ten-minute version of “All Too Well"?

My Nose Job Helped Me Embrace the “Too-Muchness” of Being a Jewish Woman

Emma Breitman

I’d learned to love my nose. If I changed it, wouldn’t I betray my Jewish, feminist self?

Tova Ricardo at a spoken word performance at a conference in 2021.

I’m a Black Jewish Woman and I’m Tired of Being Called “Angry”

Tova Ricardo

I refuse to choose between being a “good woman” or a woman who will not be intimidated, belittled, or silenced.

Baroness Germaine de Rothschild

A member of one of France’s most privileged Jewish families, Germaine de Rothschild (née Halphen) was a noted philanthropist, accomplished musician, author of two books, and mother of four. Most significantly, she orchestrated France’s Kindertransport efforts, helping provide refuge to between 350 and 450 Jewish children.

Image of Star of David Necklace Over Star of David Background

How My Star of David Necklace Helped Me Understand My Jewish Identity

Sofia Isaias-Day

The Star of David and its history helps me understand the different layers of my Jewish identity; the symbol represents the different cultures we’ve embraced as part of the diaspora.

Sarah Gorbatov in Her Grandmother’s Traditional Belarusian Clothing

"Invisibility Cloak": Uncovering My Identity as a Descendant of Soviet Jews

Sarah Gorbatov

I’m the daughter of an immigrant family, and nothing appealed to my Soviet Jewish family more than the idea of invisibility.

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