This paragraph of the column makes a bad comparison of possible anti-semitic incidents that Jewish college students may experience.
I realize now that teens cannot sit on the sidelines in the fight against anti-Semitism. It is time to start talking about what it means to be Jewish in America. My generation needs to get involved now and even more importantly before we leave home for college where we will be confronted with anti-Semitism, from Nazi salutes to mock eviction notices on dorm room doors.
Equating nazi salutes with mock eviction notices placed on or under dorm room doors is a 'textbook' (if there was a textbook) example of combining Judaism with zionism to suppress protest of Israeli government policies. Forming a compromise on observance (or not) of Kashrut and not working (even not using anything electrical) on Shabbat between Orthodox and Reform, Reconstructionist, Jewish Renewal, Havurah or Conservative movements with a 'consensus' of 'support Israel' in broad-brush, unnuanced terms is a bad compromise for Israeli and diaspora Jews as well as Palestinians. Two Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at two colleges (Northeastern University and Barnard College) were suspended and reinstated for the actions of posting approved signs and unapproved mock eviction notices.
These paragraphs of the same column center Jews who wear kippot (Hebrew word for skullcap yarmulkes in Yiddish) and their valid fears for their personal safety from
Even though I go to Jewish day school, I am fairly assimilated. I am not worried when I walk down the street.
Until the last few weeks, I thought by attending Jewish day school, going to synagogue on Shabbat and keeping kosher, I was being proudly Jewish. The bar mitzvah was not the end of my Jewish identity.
However, when I take the Metro at Dupont Circle to school, no one knows that I am Jewish. I blend in with the fabric of the community. I only wear my kippah at school and in synagogue. Just the other night with family friends, the discussion was should we wear kippot in public? Is it safe? The real answer is that now I need to wear my kippah in public to make the statement that I am Jewish and I will not hide.
physical and verbal hate crimes. The paragraphs here were one expression of a viewpoint during a #JewishandProud social media hashtag campaign originated by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) that included the opposite decision to not wear a Jewish star attached to a necklace. Both published viewpoints and the American Jewish Committee failed to include other faiths that require (or strongly support the choice) to wear religious clothing outwardly. The experience of Jews was particularized and exceptionalized.
The following letter published
On account of a star
Regarding “Why I stopped wearing a Jewish star,” by Lisa Woolfson (Voices, Feb. 20 [2020]): Dear Lisa, I hear you and understand your worries. It is not right or fair not to exercise one’s tradition due to hate and prejudice.I am Muslim. My daughter wears hijab (by choice) as a part of her religious identity and commitment to her faith. She believes that it is mandatory, thus she has to endure bigots who judge her based on what she wears.
It is a simple solution for you to not wear the Star of David necklace and move on in your life. It is easy for me as a male to move about unrecognized as Muslim, escaping dirty or suspicious looks from some of my fellow Americans.
But this option is not available for many Muslim women, like my daughter, who have chosen to wear hijab. I pray for a better time for all, in which it would not matter who people are, what they believe or what they wear.
Thank you for this article. I enjoyed it and I share your pain!
ISAM ZAIEM
Westlake, Ohio
was the only printed or posted attempt that the Washington Jewish Week made to build that interfaith solidarity.
To build real safety and security people must never forget the praying Muslims removed from a US Airways flight and banned from other flights in the Minneapolis-St Paul (MSP) airport after a bigoted complaint in 2006. Male Sikhs have been confused for Muslims and murdered because of their religious clothing covering their heads. Build real security through interfaith solidarity. Fight hate that becomes the basis for unjust private suspicion leading to bigoted complaints to law enforcement as well as verbal and physical attacks.
Zachary W. Singerman, the author of the problematic column, planned to hold a summit on anti-Semitism that was cancelled to avoid a community spread of covid19 flu.
This is why I founded the Jewish DC Regional Teen Summit on anti-Semitism. It will be on Sunday, March 15, in Montgomery County with New York Times columnist and author of "How to Fight Anti-Semitism" Bari Weiss as speaker. Also, we will have video addresses from Senators Jacky Rosen and James Lankford, the founders of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism. Also, we will have break-out sessions where teens can talk together about issues. The goal is for Jewish teens to learn about anti-Semitism and how to stand up to it when confronted.
The Facebook page for the teen summit on anti-Semitism referred people to an online event carried out by the American Jewish Committee, who had also forgotten the religious clothing and hate crimes suffered by followers of other faiths than Judaism, to watch.
