What It’s Like to be Jewish During a Difficult Time

October 13, 2023
Juliet Reiff

Commack, New York, USA

Class of 2025

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I’m sure we’ve all seen the news about what is happening in Israel. It is honestly so beyond heartbreaking, and the news just keeps on getting worse. I’m afraid to wear my Magen David in public because it could increase my risk of getting hate-crimed. 

I’ve never been this scared, anxious, heartbroken, and miserable before. I’ve witnessed many “Free Palestine” comments from all over social media, and my heart breaks every time because people are just so incredibly one-sided. There is no way someone should be defending Hamas after all of the pain they have inflicted on the world. People are using Palestine to mask their blatant antisemitism, and I’ve called a ton of people out on it. I just get responses like, “Whatever, Israel never existed and never will,” or “Don’t care, free Palestine,” and it's so obvious that they are antisemitic. 

I also see that some of my favorite celebrities are posting on how they support Israel, like The Rock, Sarah Hyland, Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, and many more. However, I see people on TikTok saying to “not support them because they like Israel,” like what are you even saying? Are you saying that you condone the beheading of babies? Are you saying that you condone raping innocent women and parading their naked bodies on the streets? Are you saying that innocent Israeli civilians should be kidnapped, tortured, killed, and harassed?

I don’t know how many times I’ll need to say this, but NEVER AGAIN MEANS NEVER AGAIN! I just cannot believe all of this, and it feels surreal, not in a good way. However, I have spoken to different people from all over the International Order and they have given me great resources.

~Madison Glas from Nassau Suffolk Region (NSR) has created a GoFundMe to raise money for families suffering during this difficult time. All of the money raised will go to the IDF and hospitals in Israel as well. Here is the link to her fundraiser so you can donate.

~Liv Kronenfeld from New England Region (NER) and her friends are writing letters to U.S. officials about the current situation in Israel. 

~Gabi Golubitsky, Ohio Northern Region’s (ONR) Regional Mazkir, gave me an amazing article. In this article, the author explains what people in Northeast Ohio are doing for peace in Israel. Here is the link to the article. 

לנצח אעמוד לצד ישראל. עם ישראל חי.

I will stand by Israel. The people of Israel live. 

Juliet is an BBG from Genesis BBG in Nassau Suffolk Region who loves One Direction.

All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.

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