10 | NOVEMBER 2 • 2023
N
o one asked you, you
dirty Jew.
”
“I bet you can hear a
penny fall from a mile away.
”
“Go back to the gas
chambers.
”
At first glance, these
sentences, with
varying degrees
of problematic
content, sound
like they come
from a 1930s
movie, Nazi
propaganda or
an interview with
post-2020 Kanye West.
But these are all sentences
and phrases I have heard
directed at me or my Jewish
friends in 2023, in a place that
is supposed to be an institution
of higher learning. When
you hear people offhandedly
mention that antisemitism
levels are rising in America,
that does not just apply to hate
crimes like those tracked by
the Anti-Defamation League. It
also means it is becoming more
socially acceptable for people,
especially teens, to revive and
repeat anti-Jewish stereotypes
that have been around since
near the beginning of our
existence as a people.
If you walked a day in the
shoes of a Jewish high school
student, regardless of which
high school, you would be
shocked by the number of racist
tropes or casual references and
off-color jokes to atrocities
that have befallen the Jewish
people you would hear. Of
course, in some areas, it is
worse than others; as a kid
in Metro Detroit, I shudder
to think of the conversations
in areas of Michigan where
our communities are tiny or
nonexistent.
Yet, even in an area where
Jews make up a substantial
portion of the population,
this behavior is increasingly
prevalent. So, what exactly is
happening in our high schools,
what do Jewish students do
to cope with it and how can
the community help us deal
with this social burden and
distraction from our education?
I go to a school where
students routinely have some
of the best test scores in the
state and often garner excellent
scores on history exams. We are
required to take World History
and American History courses
where WWII, 9-11, American
slavery, the Armenian genocide
and other acts of brutality are
well covered, and students
seem to have no problem
handling the moral weight and
solemn attitude associated with
discussing these topics in class.
Yet, it is shocking how my
peers who will gasp with
outrage if someone did make
jokes about these topics or did
not treat them appropriately
will not intervene if the same
thing were to happen with
quips about the Holocaust or
abusive Jewish stereotypes.
I’ve seen people jokingly
form a Nazi salute at a poster
of Hitler in a history class or
repost a “funny” meme about
Jews secretly having horns
and wanting to eat Christian
children. Now, there is getting
to be a climate where these
dangerous portrayals are
somehow not only deemed OK,
but also humorous.
Discussing this with my
Jewish friends from Monday
night school and around other
high schools in the area, we
were not appalled, but grimly
unsurprised to learn that we
were all going through similar
kinds of situations. Even close
friends who were not Jewish
might call out kids for making
uncouth jokes, only to make
a comment about Jews or our
Jewishness in private. I won’t
get into every example of
stories I’ve heard, but suffice
it to say that we’
d all seen or
heard something, directly or
indirectly, that ranged from
uncomfortable to horrific.
It was at least reassuring for
me to talk to my friends about
how we are all going through
the same thing, but it’s hard to
find solutions for this issue.
Besides saying “that’s not
funny,
” or “what the hell,
” it
is hard to do much without
putting a target on your back,
because even in the schools
with the highest Jewish
populations, we are firmly in
the minority. The way we are
able to power through this
casual adversity that people
don’t think causes actual harm
is by sticking together.
Over the past year or
so, I’ve developed a silent
understanding with other
Jewish kids my age who I
wouldn’t normally talk to: a
glance across the room, a pat on
the back or a nod passing each
other in the hallway. With a lot
of people angrier than usual
because of the current situation
in the Middle East, this only
becomes more important as
the feeling of isolation and
targeting has compounded
within the last couple of weeks.
Since many of our peers
began to mercilessly attack
Israel and Israelis after the
reignition of the conflict
and speak to us as if we are
representatives of the Israeli
government, remembering the
words “Hinei ma tov, umah na’im,
shevet achim gam yachad” (“How
good and how pleasant it is
that brothers dwell together.
”)
becomes more important than
ever.
Even if we are treated like
outsiders, whether we are
religious or not, we must stick
together with our tribe and
Jaxson
Kaplan-
Rudolph
student corner
Confronting Antisemitism
as a High School Student
PURELY COMMENTARY
continued on page 11