Jewish parents of American high school and college students have been in a state of disbelief and fear for nearly six months since Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds of people on October 7th.
If you have children in college today, you worry they will be attacked on their way to hear a Jewish speaker on campus. Or that a racist mob will force them to be locked in the university library for their safety. Or that they will be called baby killers on their way to Psych 101.
If you have children in high school, you worry that their history teacher will call Israel “Palestine” and show fake maps while distorting the history of the land. Or that the school principal will welcome a pro-Palestinian speaker at the school assembly, but not an IDF reservist. Or that your children will find a swastika carved into their desks.
Attacks on Jewish youth are happening to students at a younger age, and while some of this anti-Israel hostility occurred before the October 7th attacks, Israel’s defensive war in Gaza turned American schools and online platforms into ideological battlegrounds. As the war continues, it’s only going to get more dangerous and difficult for Jewish students.
While we can speak to administrators, sign petitions, and counterprotest, there is something more powerful that we must do to help our children deal with the reality right now: build brave, resilient, proud Jews who know who they are in a world that denies their connection to the Jewish homeland.
At Club Z, building resilient young adults is what we do.
Here are concrete actions that Jewish parents can take to build resilience in their children so they can advocate for themselves, Israel, and the Jewish people:
1. Knowledge is Power
No screaming or chanting. Jewish teens need a historically accurate, fact-based, and honest understanding of the context and history of the Jews, Israel, and the Middle East. We must then connect this history and make it relevant to the lives of teens in the US, thousands of miles away from the Levant. Teens need to understand who they are and where they come from to combat the lies and misinformation that lead to Jew-hatred. They need comprehensive knowledge rather than talking points. They need to learn how to think critically and practice this skill regularly to confidently counter the false accusations thrown at them.
2. One People, One Destiny
I’ve said this before: the struggle that our children face has little to do with Israel and everything to do with the fact that they are Jewish. Teens must know where they come from and embrace their heritage with pride and confidence. They need to understand that Judaism is inextricably connected to Zionism and the land of Israel. We are here. We are not going anywhere. We are one people with one heart and one destiny. For teens, this could mean attending a pro-Israel rally, speaking out in class, or merely changing their profile picture to an Israeli flag.
3. Jewish Pride is Jewish Activism
If knowledge is power, then activism is the superpower. Even before October 7th, we could not afford knowledge without practical application. We’ve been training teens to write op-eds, speak with clarity, and remain calm in hostile environments for years. Our children – your children and grandchildren - must have the acumen to be ready for a fight. I don’t mean a physical altercation – although self-defense is more relevant now than in the last 50 years. Rather, our kids need to be armed with the mindset to stand their ground – not only to Jew-hating professors, clueless administrators, or ignorant roommates. They also need to be able to speak up when peers, upperclassmen, and even Jewish professionals sweep real concerns under the rug and pretend that they can reason with people calling for our annihilation.
4. Strength in Numbers
Jewish teens won’t feel safe or stand up for themselves and Israel if they don’t have a community of peers supporting them. I see it daily when our teens post in our nationwide WhatsApp chat: “How can I convince my friends that Israel is not an Apartheid state?” “How do I respond to claims that Israel is committing war crimes?” Answers from other teens flood in, alongside messages of support. They trust one another, and they have each other’s backs.
5. Real-World Preparation and Experience
It’s important to give teens access to environments where they can practice resilience. While it doesn’t happen overnight, we need to set expectations for today’s youth. Too many have been told that they don’t need to do anything that makes them uncomfortable. We believe the exact opposite! Push kids to step outside their comfort zones because that’s when real change and growth happen.
Traditionally, we’ve taken Club Z teens to “Israel Apartheid” events at different universities. In addition to witnessing anti-Israel protests, teens attend lectures where they can ask questions. By asking intelligent, historically-based questions, our teens expose the lies and propaganda put forth by anti-Israel student groups. Standing up among a group of Jew-haters is scary, but with preparation, the teens rise to the challenge and break free of the “bubble wrap” in which so many of their peers are stuck.
Since October 7th, we have attended more than 20 city council meetings nationwide that are debating nonsensical ceasefire resolutions. Do we do this because we believe that a city council in Palo Alto or Durham has an impact on foreign policy? No! We do it to give our teens practice in speechwriting, distilling salient points in 90 seconds, and most importantly, delivering that speech when the opposition is shouting and booing to intimidate, frighten, and shut down their pro-Israel voices. These experiences give Jewish teens invaluable preparation for what they will encounter later in life.
As one of our parents told me, “It’s priceless for the teens to see the people from the other side up close and personal. No amount of video clips prepares them for that. For hearing the nonsense they say, and seeing the hostility they have.”
We understand that not every teenager is comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, but there are many ways to make their voices heard. Teens can write op-eds, send letters to their school administrators, post on social media, or simply talk to their friends about Israel and Judaism! That is often the most powerful impact they have.
American Jewish parents need to wake up to the harsh reality that things are going to get worse for Jewish teens before they get better. However, if we build resilience in our teens, they will have the tools to withstand and overcome this unprecedented hate and ignorance. As thousands of years of Jewish history have shown, we will prevail. We have no other option.
Masha Merkulova is the Executive Director of Club Z, an unapologetically proud Jewish Zionist space for teens to connect to each other, Jewish history, and Zionism. While spending nearly two decades in healthcare, Masha became an Israel activist in the San Francisco Bay Area, spearheading efforts to address antisemitism in high schools, Bay Area campuses, and the community at large. She has completed the Generation Now Fellowship through The Jewish Education Project, and the Israel Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Seminar for Young Jewish Leaders and served on a variety of committees related to education and advocacy work.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Valeria Chazin.