T’ruah first published this guide in 2022 following several years that saw an upsurge in violent antisemitic crimes in the United States. Since October 7, 2023, antisemitism has surged again, and many Jews are experiencing new fears about our safety. Too many of us have experienced antisemitic violence and rhetoric, and too many of our institutions have been targeted with shootings, bomb threats, graffiti, and more.
The past few years have reminded us how many misperceptions persist about Jews and Judaism and how much education is needed about the origins, history, and manifestations of antisemitism. This guide is one tool for beginning or continuing a journey to understand this long-standing prejudice.
The thorniest questions about antisemitism arise around the question of when criticism of Israel does and does not cross the line into antisemitism. Even within the Jewish community, there is profound disagreement on this question. This resource offers guidelines for parsing the difference between criticizing Israel as a country and propagating antisemitism. (For a deeper dive, read: “Criticism of Israel and Antisemitism: How to Tell Where One Ends and the Other Begins” by Rabbi Jill Jacobs)
We wrote this guide for both Jews and non-Jews who have questions about antisemitism. It is certainly not meant to be comprehensive, but we hope it provides some context, language, and tools to help navigate the difficult terrain around antisemitism and will help us all to fight antisemitism, along with fighting all other forms of racial, cultural, religious, and gender oppression.
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