Educate and Advocate

The Holocaust and Anti-semitism Education Club aims to bring awareness to Jewish issues and allows students to see global perspectives on Anti-semitism.

By Alex Doege

Anti-semitic hate crimes — defined as crimes directed at Jewish people or the Jewish community — have been at an all-time high since 2019, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). This came with a 56 percent increase in assaults and multiple fatalities. However, the ADL says that Anti-semitism isn’t just acts of violence — it can be words, the spread of false information and stereotypes, or even things intended as jokes. BVN’s Holocaust and Anti-semitism Education Club intends to bring change to the BVN community, one step at a time.

Senior Zoe Sher started the club last school year alongside junior Emma Jacobson, with English teacher Rebecca Dalton as their sponsor, in hopes of educating the community and giving resources to help students understand the impact and roots of Anti-semitism.

Dalton has been working to educate on the Holocaust and its impact for nearly two decades before she sponsored the club.

“I’ve been a member of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) teaching for 19 years,” Dalton said. “When I learned that Zoe was wanting to start the club, I was super excited.”

She and the club took outside action in order to know the information they were sharing about the Holocaust and Antisemitism is accurate and relevant.

“We met with the MCHE executive director this summer and talked about the need for the club,” Dalton said.

According to Dalton, there is a strong need, because of the recorded rise in Anti-semitism, which data from experts echoes. Since 2019, there has been a 14 percent increase in Anti-semitic violence, according to the ADL.

“Anti-semitism is probably the highest it has been since World War II,” Dalton said. “We want to show people really what’s going on around the world and help to educate them and make them aware of the hugeness of the situation.”

Club co-founder Jacobson described how the rise in Anti-semitism is concerning to see in 2021 and emphasized the need for a club focused on combating it.

“We’ve seen a pretty drastic rise in Anti-semitism, not only in Blue Valley North, but around the world and on social media as well, too,” Jacobson said. “We thought it would be really cool to kind of make a club to educate and bring in speakers to show students what Antisemitism looks like on an extreme level.”

Anti-semitism is probably the highest it has been since World War II.

- Rebecca Dalton

Jacobson also said that the speakers the club has hosted virtually from all around the world have given club members a greater understanding of global Jewish experiences.

“Once a month we have Zoom meetings and have recently been bringing in special guests,” Jacobson said. “We’ve had some pretty interesting people come to speak, including a DC Holocaust Museum presenter and people from the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.”

According to Jacobson, anyone can join in on these events, and the club is open to all students who are interested in becoming an ally to Jewish people.

“Around 30 percent of our club members are not actually Jewish,” Jacobson said. “I think ... those kids who aren’t actually Jewish are really the ones making a difference [because] they can educate themselves and their friends on how to be allies to their Jewish friends.”

One way to make that difference, according to Jacobson, is practicing Jewish allyship in conversation. She said that Anti-semitism is prevalent in offensive jokes and stereotypes, because what seems like a small joke could have much larger implications.

“We… talk about combating things as simple as Holocaust jokes and I think... that awareness and having professionals outside of BVN [as guest speakers] really helps to give that real world example of why those things aren’t okay,” Jacobson said.

As for how the club spreads that awareness, Jacobson said that word of mouth and social media are essential to inform students, both about club events and to educate all students about Jewish issues.

“It kind of tells people, ‘Hey, this behavior isn’t okay,’ [or], at least, that’s the goal,” Jacobson said. “It tells them that [Anti-semitism is] not just something that is seen on social media, but it’s also a local issue.”

“I think... those kids who aren’t actually Jewish are really the ones making a difference [because] they can educate themselves and their friends on how to be allies to their Jewish friends. - Emma Jacobson “