Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stabbings, Shootings, Assaults Weigh on US Jewish Youth
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 8, 2020

Share

NEW YORK — When a man spewed anti-Semitic slurs and spat on her face, Shoshana Blum remembered her ancestors who survived the Holocaust, and instead of looking down – she defiantly stared at him eye to eye.

“It’s important to stand strong in my Judaism. If this is what’s happening when we’re out being proud Jewish people, what’s it going to be like if we’re afraid and in hiding?” — Shoshana Blum, 20
The 20-year-old junior at City College of New York left the subway in tears. But months after the attack, she continues to wear proudly the same Star of David necklace she wore that day, and on Sunday, she joined thousands of people in a solidarity march against a rise in anti-Semitism and acts of hate.
“It’s important to stand strong in my Judaism,” she said. “If this is what’s happening when we’re out being proud Jewish people, what’s it going to be like if we’re afraid and in hiding?”
Many young Jewish people in the United States say their generation is searching for ways to cope with an alarming string of recent anti-Semitic attacks across the country.
The “No Hate, No Fear” march on Sunday came as a response to anti-Semitic violence, including the targeting of a kosher grocery in Jersey City, New Jersey, and a knife attack that injured five people at a Hanukkah celebration north of New York City.
“We thought that anti-Semitism was a thing of the past. We learned about it but never thought we would live in it,” said Rabbi Jon Leener, 31, who runs Base BKLYN, a home-based ministry that aims to reach out to millennials and Jews of all backgrounds. He attended Sunday’s solidarity march and published a photo with his three-year-old son on his shoulders. They held a banner that read: “I love being Jewish because I love Shabbat.”
In the past five years, Leener and his wife, Faith, have welcomed thousands of people into their home-based ministry rooted in openness. Minutes before a class or a Shabbat dinner, he always walked to the front door and unlocked it because the couple believes in a Judaism where no door is shut or locked.
Photo of Chana Blum, 14, reciting a blessing
In this Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, photo, Chana Blum, 14, recites a blessing after lighting candles for Shabbat dinner in her family’s home in New York. Two days later, Blum joined her older sister at the “No Hate, No Fear” solidarity march organized by New York’s Jewish community in response to the recent string in anti-Semitic attacks. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Anti-Semitic Attacks Rose Worldwide by 13% in 2018

“This is all changing now. After Pittsburgh, after Poway, after Halle (Germany), after Jersey City, after Monsey we no longer keep the door unlock(ed),” he recently said on Facebook.
Visitors now must buzz in and Leener installed a security camera for the front door.
“I’m angry that this is our new reality. I hate that anti-Semitism is changing how I practice and share my Judaism to the world,” he said.
Anti-Semitic attacks rose worldwide by 13% in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to a report by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary Jewry. The report recorded nearly 400 cases worldwide, with more than a quarter of the major violent cases taking place in the U.S.
The surge of violent attacks on the Jewish community, most recently in Monsey, New York, have caused consternation nationwide.
“After the stabbing in Monsey, I told my mom, ‘This is crazy. He was arrested less than a mile from here, while we were at Shul (synagogue) and celebrating Hanukkah,’ ” said Blum, who was raised in Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic movement.
The first time that Blum witnessed hate against Jews she was seven. The victim was her father, Rabbi Yonah Blum, who was the head of Columbia University’s Chabad House for 23 years. As they walked from synagogue near the campus, a man came up behind him yelling anti-Semitic slurs and slapped his black fedora and his skullcap off his head.

45% of Teenagers Feel That Anti-Semitism Is a Problem for Today’s Teens

“We’re very separated people when it comes to different topics … but something that has been coming up since the (Monsey) attack, is that we all stand together,” she said on a recent Friday as she prepared for the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

“I’ve never been scared of being Jewish, but with the rise in anti-Semitism, I was more aware of it. It’s sad, it’s scary for all Jews.” — Hezzy Segal, 16 
Since the Dec. 10 fatal shootings at a Jewish grocery store in Jersey City, there have been 33 anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., including 26 in New York and New Jersey, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s Tracker of Anti-Semitic Incidents.
During a recent trip to a conference of young Jewish leaders in New York City, Hezzy Segal, 16, sometimes tucked his yarmulke under his purple Minnesota Vikings snow hat.
“I’ve never been scared of being Jewish, but with the rise in anti-Semitism, I was more aware of it,” said the Minnetonka, Minnesota teen. “It’s sad, it’s scary for all Jews.”
Forty-five percent of teenagers feel that anti-Semitism is a problem for today’s teens, according to the largest study of Jewish teens conducted in North America. The Jewish Education Project’s GenZ Now Research Report included 18,000 respondents and was published in March 2019.
“I’ve already been on my guard a lot,” said Thando Mlauzi, 25, a UCLA junior, who is majoring in English.
“One of my hopes and dreams is that we live in a world, in a society, where it doesn’t matter that I’m black and Jewish,” said Mlauzi, who converted to Judaism in 2018.
On a recent Friday, Alexandra Cohen, 29, chopped tomatoes before guests arrived for a Shabbat dinner in her studio apartment decorated with menorahs and flags of Israel.
Photo of Gavriel Menachem Blum, 10, playing a video game before Shabbat dinner
In this Dec. 30, 2019, photo, Gavriel Menachem Blum, 10, plays a video game before Shabbat dinner at his family’s home in New York. Like many Jews who observe Sabbath, Blum refrains from playing video games and using other electronics after sundown. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

The Anti-Defamation League Has Worked on Initiatives

Cohen said that her connection to Judaism grew stronger after someone put an anti-Semitic message on the door of her dorm at Johns Hopkins University, and later when she traveled to Israel. She said she is combating the negative environment by exposing the positive side of Jewish life.
The Anti-Defamation League has worked on initiatives, including its “No Place for Hate” anti-bias, anti-bullying initiative, which is in place in schools. Another includes working with juvenile offenders who are involved in some of the incidents.
Reformed neo-Nazi Shannon Foley Martinez helps people quit hate organizations. She feels she must spread the message that people can change their lives. She hopes her story is a warning to parents.
“People have preconceived notions of who they think violent white supremacists are,” said Martinez, who at 15 became a skinhead who spouted white supremacist rhetoric, gave stiff-armed Nazi salutes and tagged walls with swastikas.
“I grew up in a family with two middle-class parents who have been married for 51 years, I was one of the smartest kids in my class, I was a championship athlete at one point of my life. I don’t fit what people’s ideas are of who is vulnerable to radicalize into these ideas,” she said.
“My story is important because of that. We have to look at ourselves and our children and think: ‘This could be my child. Am I actively and intentionally taking steps to not find resonance and find resistance to hate?’”
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

DON'T MISS

Higher Taxes on Millionaires? Trump Says He’s Open, but Many in His Party Are Not

DON'T MISS

Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

DON'T MISS

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

DON'T MISS

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

DON'T MISS

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

DON'T MISS

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

DON'T MISS

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

DON'T MISS

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

DON'T MISS

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

UP NEXT

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

UP NEXT

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

4 hours ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

4 hours ago

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

4 hours ago

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

5 hours ago

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

5 hours ago

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

5 hours ago

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

6 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

6 hours ago

What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?

7 hours ago

Visalia Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2019 Fatal Stabbing

7 hours ago

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

LOS ANGELES — California regulators have released a new proposal to allow the testing of self-driving heavy duty trucks on public roads. The...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

3 hours ago

Higher Taxes on Millionaires? Trump Says He’s Open, but Many in His Party Are Not

3 hours ago

Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

Selma Mayor Scott Robertson (left) has been charged with misdemeanor electioneering for allegedly campaigning near voters at a polling place during the November 2024 election. (Facebook)
4 hours ago

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

4 hours ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

4 hours ago

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

5 hours ago

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

A drone view shows containers at the terminals at the port in Kwai Chung in Hong Kong, China, April 3, 2025. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo)
5 hours ago

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend