A few years ago—pre-pandemic—I attended a workshop on diversity in children’s literature. Before the workshop leader got started, she had us write down and then share the parts of our identities that made us “diverse,” I think to prove the point that we’re all more diverse than we realize. I hesitated before writing down Jewish. Did that count as diverse? I wasn’t sure. Judaism, or religious minorities generally, never seemed to be part of these discussions, and I hadn’t quite gotten to the point of writing Jewish characters in my fiction. But I shared it anyway.

I don’t remember much of the workshop, except that she said diversity was important, which seemed like a pretty basic thing to agree with. Afterward, I was handing in the post-workshop survey when the leader and I got to talking. She remembered I was Jewish. And she started complaining to me about the Hasidic Jews in Rockland County, NY. Oh, they’re so rude, oh they’re so pushy, oh they’re so etc.

I stood there in shock. What was I supposed to say? Was she telling me this because she expected me to agree with her, or to apologize to her on behalf of “my people”? And hadn’t she just run an entire workshop on the importance of diversity?

I got out of that conversation in a hurry. My only takeaway from that workshop is that I wasn’t supposed to be included in it.

Antisemitism can look a lot of ways, which is why it can be hard for people to recognize it when it’s staring them in the face. One way is to see a secular Jew, think “Hey, she’s one of the cool ones, I can say stuff to her,” and say mean things about more religious Jews. Yeah … please don’t do this. Hasidic Jews, or ultra-Orthodox Jews in general, lead very different lifestyles than I do, but they’re still my fellow Jews and I support them. Especially since they’re a much more visible target for harassment or abuse than someone like me.

Because antisemitism is hard to recognize, I think people don’t always realize how widespread it is. A few months ago, I was at an event chatting with someone who also happened to be Jewish. We started comparing notes on our childhoods, in completely different areas of New Jersey: Oh, you had pennies thrown at you? Me too. Yeah, the kids called me names too. The third person in our conversation, who wasn’t Jewish, listened with increasing astonishment. How did we have such similar experiences? She’d never heard of this sort of thing happening before. Why would children do this?

And because people don’t see this particular form of hatred, it festers and continues.

It’s a fraught time to have this conversation, given current events. But we always need to have this conversation. There will always be another reason, as Dara Horn says (read People Love Dead Jews if you haven’t already), that we need to justify our existence to people.

I started writing my middle grade manuscript—about golems, and magic, and a couple of neurodivergent kids dealing with antisemitism—around 2019. It’s been immensely frustrating watching the manuscript get more relevant every year. I would’ve preferred that it become outdated, and that my kids not have to deal with jokes about Hitler or overhear comments about how “Judaism isn’t a real religion!”

I’d rather not talk about these things. But someone has to talk about these things. Naming problems is the only way to solve them.

Thanks for listening.

***

There are various groups trying to get aid to people in Gaza and in Israel; I don’t know how successful they are right now, but it’s worth helping them. Stay well and stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical and mental health needs in Israel and in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to advocate for hostages still being held in Gaza