Everything this week comes back to a single question: what actually keeps Jews safe? Not statements, not confrontation, not investigations announced in the name of Jewish safety. Working institutions and working relationships.
This week showed what happens when both break down. And it’s why our approach starts from a democratic foundation: fighting antisemitism means building the alliances and the functioning government that Jewish safety depends on. Nexus President Jonathan Jacoby offered a place to begin.
In a new piece in The Times of Israel, Nexus President Jonathan Jacoby writes that disagreement about Israel between the mayor and Jewish officials should not impede efforts to combat antisemitism.
Two men, one Asian and one Jewish and wearing a kippah, were stabbed in broad daylight near Central Park by an attacker.
The NYPD is investigating potential hate crimes. We were horrified by these attacks, grateful to the Shomrim volunteers and NYPD officers who responded, and wish both victims a full recovery.
FEMA approved just 1,600 of 6,000 applications for the 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security for synagogues, JCCs, and other communal spaces. The grants came nearly a year late, delayed in part by repeated DHS shutdowns over immigration enforcement disputes.
This is why we say protecting democracy and opposing authoritarianism are part of fighting antisemitism: legislation to increase security funding only works if the government can actually approve the grants.
Writer Susan Abulhawa posted that “zios” boasted of their power the way they “took credit for Germany’s defeat” in World War I. That’s the Nazi “Stab-in-the-Back” myth with an anti-Zionist paint job, in the specific framing popularized by Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg. It’s incumbent on all of us to call out antisemitic extremism when we see it, wherever it comes from.
Middlebury, VT: Middlebury College is investigating two incidents targeting its School of Hebrew summer program: an antisemitic phrase shouted at a student and an antisemitic symbol found near a residence hall. (Seven Days)
Altadena, CA: A hate crime investigation is underway after a mural at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, painted by congregation children after the synagogue was destroyed in the Eaton Fire and vandalized in January, was defaced with antisemitic symbols. (NBC Los Angeles)
Southfield and Berkley, MI: Police are investigating antisemitic flyers spread across neighborhoods in both cities, the second incident in Berkley in about 24 hours. (The Detroit News)
This is what we do: track real antisemitism, call out when it’s weaponized, and make clear the difference. If you’d like to support this work, you can donate here. We’d love to connect.
We’ll continue offering clear responses, frameworks, and resources as these stories develop.
