“2020 feels worse, as far as regards to the safety of Jewish people, than it did in 2010,” Head of Chabad House Rabbi Mendel said. “That, of course, is working backward.”
Following Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish students at UW-Madison’s Chabad House reflected Tuesday on both their positive and negative experiences of being Jewish.
The Chabad House provides a safe space for the Jewish community to come together and celebrate their faith. Rabbi Mendel organized yesterday’s event focusing on issues of anti-Semitism on campus — and throughout the country.
Anti-Semitism can be defined as hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group, according to the Mirriam Webster Dictionary.
UW-Madison has had previous instances of anti-Semitism on campus. While blatant accounts of anti-Semitism are rare on campus, it is social exclusion that comes from being underrepresented that bothered students most, according to Markus Brauer, a UW-Madison social psychology professor.
Over 80 percent of Jewish Americans believe anti-Semitism is a problem in the United States, according to The Chicago Tribune, while 84 percent say it has gotten worse in the last five years.
At Tuesday’s event, students spoke out about their personal experiences with anti-Semitism in the dorms, classrooms, clubs and from professors on campus. All students who participated wished to remain anonymous.
One student expressed that dorms were a particularly hard place for Jewish Americans, stating that residence halls were supposed to be a place for people of all different cultures coming to connect with one another — but that is not what they found.
“Unfortunately, this is real,” Mendel said. “But often, you find people who really want to learn, who ask questions, who really want to be involved.”
Yet, some students were able to discuss the positive aspects of being Jewish.
Students shared stories about people who were interested to know about Jewish culture, educating their peers, and engaging with respectful professors who were understanding of their holiday celebrations.
Mendel created an acronym for students, “ACT” — Acknowledge, Challenge, Teach. It is a suggestion for Jewish students to engage with their Jewish identity, speak up, challenge and teach classmates on the meaning of being Jewish.
“I think we have to be aware that people are still unaware of the oppression Jews have faced,” one student said. “The first steps in fighting anti-Semitism may be as simple as educating and listening.”
