On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates

Owens (Blank), founder of Zibby Books and cofounder of Artists Against Antisemitism, gathers more than 70 thought-provoking essays from Jewish writers, actors, artists, and religious leaders about the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Author Judy Batalion recalls her anxiety about giving a college lecture on the Holocaust soon after the massacre, fearing the surge in antisemitism would yield a hostile response. Elsewhere, novelist Jacqueline Friedland reflects on how her family came to the decision to celebrate her daughter’s bat mitzvah several weeks after the attack so as not to “let evildoers rob us of even more than they already had.” New York Post editor David Christopher Kaufman, a Black man accustomed to being the “darkest Jew in the room,” argues that the Jewish community should accept the permanent dissolution of alliances with progressive groups who were unsympathetic to Jewish interests in the wake of the attack, and instead prioritize uplifting Black, queer, and Latino Jews and diversifying Ashkenazi-dominated institutions. Despite the heavy subject matter, the volume ends on a hopeful note, with rabbi Sharon Brous recalling a family trip to Vietnam amid a climate of escalating antisemitism during which she formed an unexpected minyan with another Jewish family. It’s a revealing look at the wide range of responses to a sad chapter in Jewish history. (Nov.)