Rebuilding Jewish Strength

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, many Jewish organizations have increased their efforts to respond to a new wave of antisemitism. But too few have paused to ask whether their old frameworks are up to the new challenges. 

For decades, much of the Jewish communal world has prized prominence — being close to power and having a “seat at the table.” Today, that strategy is failing, and we desperately need a new one. The events of the past year have shown that access alone cannot safeguard a community, especially when the very groups we once viewed as allies are themselves permeated by ideological currents hostile to Jewish interests and Israel’s legitimacy.

Dan Senor, in his recent “State of the Jews” talk, articulates this crisis clearly: “Jews have opted for prominence over strength. Prominence is being present in the room. Strength is having leverage in the room.” Senor warns that Jewish embeddedness in elite institutions has masked a deeper vulnerability. As he puts it, “Have we achieved prominence only to find ourselves stunningly weak?” His question captures a sobering reality: despite decades of communal investment in relationship-building, the post-Oct. 7 environment revealed a brittle infrastructure — one that has cracked under ideological pressure.

What we need is not more prominence but more strength.

Senor reminds us that “historically speaking, none of this has mattered in stemming the tide of antisemitism …  No, in fact, our perceived power is deployed against us.” If anything, the supposed influence of Jews is now weaponized in service of conspiratorial narratives that cast Jews as villains rather than vulnerable minorities. Our institutions must stop assuming that familiar reputational strategies will somehow blunt this weaponization.

To rebuild strength, the Jewish community must make an entire paradigm shift consisting of the following fundamental changes:

Address the Underlying Ideology

We cannot address antisemitic incidents in isolation in a continual game of Whac-a-Mole. We must counter the ideological foundations that produce this antisemitism—especially the oppressor/oppressed worldview that dominates the far left. This ideology has cast Jews as privileged villains in their own story, with Israel as the ultimate “oppressor.” Nowhere is this view more prevalent than in “liberatory” ideology, commonly manifested in Ethnic Studies in both college and K-12 schools. Students are being trained on extremist ideology and rhetoric, fueling antisemitism in the name of “social justice.” Liberated Ethnic Studies leaders such as Theresa Montaño proclaim that “Liberated ideology is true Ethnic Studies, which is anti-imperialist, which is anti-capitalist, which is antizionist.”

Antisemitism is so integral to this pedagogy that trying to remove it is akin to trying to remove division from arithmetic. And continuing to fight antisemitic incidents as standalone events is futile. To be effective, we must counter the extremist ideology itself, highlighting its dangers to everyone, not just to Jews. Such efforts require educating policymakers, parents and ordinary citizens about how these worldviews function and how they penetrate school systems, teacher-training pipelines and activist networks. Without broader public understanding, efforts to push back will always be dismissed as parochial “Jewish concerns” rather than necessary civic defense.

Choose Allies Strategically

Many Jewish groups have chosen allies based on partisan alignment and historical affinities. But if allies — whether progressive or conservative — excuse or ignore antisemitism, then we need to expand and reconfigure our coalitions, even if that means working with groups we disagree with on other issues. We must especially make common cause with those dedicated to preserving and advancing democratic, enlightenment values. Building such coalitions is not about abandoning long-standing commitments, but about recognizing that the threats we face now originate from ideological sources that transcend old political boundaries. Strength requires additional alliances based on a common commitment to American civic values, such as pluralism, freedom of inquiry, and democratic principles. 

Change the Messaging for Allies

Jewish advocacy has become increasingly deferential and self-centered at the same time. Rather than begging for support of our community, we should focus on how the ideologies that harm Jews actually endanger everyone. Erec Smith of Free Black Thought warns, “The folks behind [extremist ideologies] abhor the foundational values of equality, liberty and individualism. … Students are being taught that Black people have zero agency …” Our messaging should seek to persuade allies on what it will take to protect their own communities and the broader society. This broader framing also encourages non-Jewish partners to see themselves as stakeholders in this fight, not merely as bystanders offering charity or sympathy.

Know When Diplomacy Is Not Enough

The Jewish community has traditionally relied upon closed-door meetings and behind-the-scenes advocacy to influence decision makers. In too many cases, however, those promoting antisemitic and anti-Western ideologies are simply immune from these traditional methods. The Jewish community can no longer afford to merely engage with such officials or rely on deft diplomacy — in some cases it must challenge them publicly through systematic campaigns and media exposure. In other cases, it must organize to replace them. This is especially urgent with school board elections, where small numbers of votes can determine who sets the ideological tone for an entire school system. Encouraging strong candidates to run and turning out voters must be central to our strategy. Grassroots groups, which by their nature interact closely with the constituents, are well positioned to lead these efforts and can be instrumental partners to legacy organizations. Diplomacy will always matter, but diplomacy without leverage is merely pleading. Strength demands the ability to reward good leadership, expose harmful leadership, and mobilize communities around shared civic principles.

Embrace Strategic Pluralism

We must stop insisting that all Jewish groups fall in line with any one particular strategy. We can all be united in fighting antisemitism, but our strength lies in allowing varied approaches to major challenges. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote, “Unity is not the same as uniformity. The unity of the Jewish people has never been the result of unanimity.” We need a healthy ecosystem of groups deploying different strategies; new and grassroots groups should be seen as partners, not as threats. The focus should be on effectiveness, not control. A pluralistic ecosystem also inoculates our community against the stagnation that results from over-centralization, allowing innovative organizations to rise in response to new conditions.

Grow New Institutions and Initiatives

Some institutions are too structurally restrained and tied to legacy commitments to take on the radical ideology that fuels antisemitism. An organization, for example, that needs to procure security funding for Jewish organizations and synagogues may need to tread carefully so that it doesn’t alienate the political class in their areas and compromise other interests. In such situations, new organizations, unencumbered by other interests, must come to the fore and more established organizations must make room for them.

Meanwhile, the Jewish community is currently over-invested in traditional methods and under-invested in newer methods. We need to bring greater balance to the community’s advocacy portfolio by generating the resources for a new crop of organizations and approaches. Otherwise, the vast majority of the Jewish community’s resources will be devoted to maintaining our prominence rather than building our strength. New institutions can experiment with tactics — wider range of legal advocacy, creative media engagement, comprehensive parent organizing, intensive curriculum analysis — that older institutions are often unable or unwilling to pursue. A resilient community must cultivate this next generation of civic infrastructure.

Stand Up More, Back Down Less

The current environment is such that ignoring the bad actors only emboldens them further. We cannot afford to let go of the Palestinian flag in a classroom just because the principal falsely declares it’s the teacher’s free speech. (It isn’t; federal and state law and legal precedent make clear that teachers do not have unlimited free speech in the classroom.) Organizations must now arm themselves with knowledge such as these legal protections. It’s not only a matter of Jewish students feeling uncomfortable in the face of teachers preaching antizionism. It’s also that non-Jewish students in that class are being indoctrinated into antizionist ideology—and then acting on it. Strength requires moral confidence: a willingness to say “no,” to draw boundaries, and to insist that public institutions adhere to neutral civic standards rather than activist dogma.

Ultimately, we must ask ourselves: what has actually changed since October 7? If the only shift has been doing more of the same—more meetings, more statements, more convenings—then we have not learned the lessons of this moment. This moment requires that we rethink our assumptions, recalibrate our alliances, and commit ourselves to a long-term revitalization rooted in democratic ideals and Jewish resilience. We are facing a long-term campaign to delegitimize Jews, Zionism and the moral foundations of the West. It will not be repelled by proximity to power. It will require strength.

From Prominence to Strength: Paradigm Shift

David Bernstein is CEO of NAVI, which supports American civil values in K-12 education and opposes politicizing the classroom. Elina Kaplan is President of Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies (ACES), which aims to remove ideological agendas from K-12 curricula, enabling Ethnic Studies that inspire mutual respect, fight bigotry, and celebrate ethnic groups’ accomplishments.