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Opposing antisemitism After Jewish day school, alumni examine being Jewish in college
Ǝǫȥ qŔȍŹ˪ȥnjơɭ Reporter ne Saturday night sticks out among the many college memories of Tufts University sophomore Micah +VMX^ ·Āþ %R YRJEQMPMEV WXYHIRX ETTVSEGLIH LMQ ERH EWOIH µ=SY¸VI E >MSRMWX VMKLX#¶ µ3OE] ERH#¶ +VMX^ VITPMIH “Okay, that means you kill PalIWXMRMER GLMPHVIR ¶ XLI WXYHIRX WEMH According to Tufts Hillel, the school has a Jewish population of ÿą +VMX^ KVI[ YT MR E TVIHSQMnantly Jewish community. He celebrated Shabbat every week, hosted Passover Seders and felt very connected to his Jewish heritage. However, even before his freshman year of college, he realized that he was going to have to defend his Jewish heritage against antisemitism in college. “Before I even got to campus, XLIVI [EW E ÁVWX ]IEV +VSYT1I GLEX WS XLEX EPP XLI ÁVWX ]IEV WXYdents could get acquainted with SRI ERSXLIV ¶ +VMX^ WEMH µ ?3RI SJ Q] JVMIRHWA QIRXMSRIH XLEX LI [EW Jewish, and the immediate response [EW ·3OE] WS -WVEIP SV 4EPIWXMRI#¸¶
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“Before I even got to campus, there was Ŕ ˪ɭɽʋ࢚ˊơŔɭ GroupMe chat so that all ʋǠơ ˪ɭɽʋ࢚ˊơŔɭ students could get acquainted with one another. [One of my friends] mentioned that he was Jewish, and the immediate response was, ‘Okay, so Israel or Palestine?’” -Micah Gritz (‘20)
Gritz said that much of the antisemitism on campus is intertwined with anti-Zionism. Before he got to Tufts, there was push back from the Jewish community against a class GEPPIH µ'SPSRM^MRK 4EPIWXMRI ¶ %Rother time, one of his professors showed a cartoon in class portraying Israel as a classic antisemitic Jewish caricature with a big nose and juggling nuclear weapons. The relationship between antisemitism on campus and Israel is clear, as according to a poll done by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for ,YQER 6MKLXW 9RHIV 0E[ SZIV Ćþ of openly Jewish college students support Israel. Gritz feels that a lot of antisemitism on campus comes from a lack of education, not malicious intent. µ- XLMRO XLIVI¸W E XSR SJ QMWYRderstanding as to what antisemitism actually is here both on the administrative level and on the student body PIZIP ¶ +VMX^ WEMH After his experiences with antisemitism on campus, Gritz wants Jews to be educated on the topic. ;LMPI LI ETTVIGMEXIW ')7.(7¸W one-hour senior workshop about antisemitism on campus, he believes
that there is still more JDS should do to educate their students about the hate and prejudice they might face in college. “I heard personal accounts from ?.I[MWL ,MWXSV] (ITEVXQIRX 'LEMV %EVSRA &VIKQER ERH SXLIV XIEGLIVW FYX - [SYPHR¸X WE] - MRXIVREPM^IH XLEX - [SYPH EGXYEPP] LEZI XLEX ÁVWX LERH I\TIVMIRGI ¶ +VMX^ WEMH µ- XLMRO MX might be helpful for current college students who went to JDS and are JDS alumni to possibly come in and WTIEO ¶ 8YJXW JVIWLQER %PI\ 0ERH] ·Āÿ thought JDS classes on Israeli history helped him prepare for antisemitism on campus. However, Landy thinks that JDS could inform more students by mandating the History SJ %VEF -WVEIPM 'SRÂMGX GPEWW µ-¸ZI EP[E]W WEMH XLEX - XLMRO that the course on the Arab-IsraePM GSRÂMGX WLSYPH FI QERHEXSV] ¶ 0ERH] WEMH µ - XLMRO MX¸W E VIEPP] RIGIWWEV] GSYVWI FIGEYWI [I¸VI EPP being catapulted into a world where [I¸VI RSX KSMRK XS FI YWIH XS XLMW .I[MWL FYFFPI XLEX [I¸VI GYVVIRXP] MR ¶ George Washington University WIRMSV %VM *IYIV ·ÿĆ FIPMIZIW XLEX
þǠơ ơˁǫɽǠ ȶȥ -Ŕȟɢʠɽ -࢚òʠǫʋơ ʋɭŔʽơȍơƎ ʋȶ ʋǠơ ĭȶɭȍƎ ơˁǫɽǠ -ȶȥnjɭơɽɽ ¥ơˁ ĵȶɭȇ ¶lj˪ƃơ ʋȶ Ǝǫɽƃʠɽɽ ʋǠơǫɭ ɢŔɭʋȥơɭɽǠǫɢࡲ Photo used with permission of Shahar Azran.
16 December 2021
