Student Blog: Art Against Anti-Semitism

As a young Jewish woman growing up in a town of people who mostly were not, I looked everywhere to find acceptance and acknowledgment. As one of two Jewish students in my high school graduating class, I was challenged every day to teach and inform those around me about who I was.

What is a Bat Mitzvah? So you don't celebrate Christmas? Do you read Hanukkah letters (meaning Hebrew)? These are all questions I have been asked by people in school, generally not out of mockery, but from genuine curiosity and lack of exposure to Jewish people. Even now as a college student, I face questions like these often, constantly having to explain who I am and the traditions and history of my religion.

Sometimes, however, the questions asked or the comments made by fellow students are not so lighthearted or sincere. Antisemitism isn't new. And in schools and on college campuses, it runs rampant. People are seemingly always trying to perpetuate false stereotypes about Jewish culture -- like when a student tossed coins on the floor expecting me to lunge after her loose change. Antisemitic hate crimes nationally have hit a record high in recent years. Even here at Rutgers, the AEPi fraternity house, made up of a majority Jewish brothers, was hit with its fourth anti-semitic incident in 18 months this past October.

The regularity and consistency of anti-semitism is exhausting and often disheartening. It can feel like there is no way to help or make real strides forward. Yet as a kid, I found the acceptance, inclusivity, and power I was looking for in the theater. Art has the ability to make legitimate change in teaching audiences about equality and ridding the world of hate, whether it be in regard to antisemitism or otherwise.

Listening to musicals like "Fiddler on the Roof," "Falsettos," and "Cabaret," and even admiring Jewish Broadway veterans like Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin were life-changing experiences for me as a kid. Knowing that there were people and music dedicated to not only illuminating the Jewish experience, but teaching others about the pride in Judaism was so incredible. Even more recently, seeing performers like Idina Menzel, Shoshana Bean, and Harvey Fierstein be so successful and still maintain their Jewish roots makes more of an impact on young Jewish people than they could ever realize.

Having shows on Broadway right now like "Leopoldstadt" and "Parade" are so important, considering the state of divide and hate that seems to have taken over our country. Telling Jewish stories is more significant now than it has ever been before, and people are quick to overlook just how informative pieces like this can be.

Having Jewish stories and Jewish artists shine in the theater and in other works of art is just one of many ways to combat antisemitism, as well as teach the world about what it means to be Jewish now.

If young me could see the amount of representation of Jewish people on Broadway today, she would be over the moon. This is just the beginning, and while antisemitism still, unfortunately, lives on in our society, I am proud to be a part of a generation of change.

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