Community of Giving Tackles Rise in Antisemitism
Jewish Family & Career Services hosted the impactful gathering on Dec. 3.
More than 500 people tuned in on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, for Jewish Family & Career Services’ annual Community of Giving: A Virtual Gathering. The event highlighted the difficulties the Jewish community has faced over the past year since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel – and spotlighted some of the extraordinary work the organization has done to combat the destructive impact of antisemitism.
“The assault on Oct. 7 happened in Israel, yet it scars us with searing pain here in Atlanta as we pay witness to the continuing atrocities, the lack of global outrage, hostages that remain in captivity, and the rising worldwide antisemitism,” said Terri Bonoff, CEO of JF&CS. “It’s hard to express the depth of my own grief and anger surrounding all of this.”
Anat Sultan-Dadon, Consul General of Israel to the Southeast U.S., joined voices with Bonoff and Jon Amsler, JF&CS Board Chair, and event co-chairs, Anat and Brian Granath and Sara and Ross Kogon, in expressing the importance of the work JF&CS is doing to soothe the wounds and ease the fears from the backlash of Jew bigotry in the community.
“Jewish Family & Career Services is a shining example of an organization that has stepped up to address the growing needs in the community in this new and challenging reality, providing much needed assistance, strength and hope for so many,” said Sultan-Dadon.
During the powerful one-hour presentation, viewers witnessed emotional stories from clients, volunteers, and staff. All shared their heartbreaking experiences of how the surge of antisemitism this past year has dramatically affected them emotionally, psychologically, and physically – and how JF&CS has helped.
Attendees heard from a therapist who works directly with Jewish college students through the partnership between JF&CS and Hillels of Georgia called Be Well with Hillel, along with two courageous local Jewish college students; a member of the JF&CS Holocaust support team who cares for the community’s Holocaust survivors, along with a Holocaust survivor; and David Lubin, the bereaved father of Rose Lubin z”l – a Dunwoody resident who lost her life in a terrorist attack while bravely serving Israel as a member of the Israeli Defense Force.
Jews today live in a new reality where they do not always know where to find a safe space. Sharing the importance of having a Jewish human service agency to go to for support can help others find what they need. JF&CS has provided a safe space for so many over the past 14 months and will continue to be there for the community.
The event’s featured speaker was Jonah Platt, actor, artist, and advocate, in conversation with esteemed TV personality, speaker and author, Nadia Bilchik. Platt and Bilchik discussed the advocacy work Platt is doing through his podcast – “Being Jewish” – wherein he has conversations with others to explore and normalize what it means to be Jewish in today›s world. He has brought the modern conversation on Jewish identity, culture, and current events to a wider audience, influencing the broader culture for good. He’s also at the forefront of changing the vernacular of “antisemitism” to what it truly is.
“I had an inkling that the word ‘antisemitism’ … was too opaque for people,” explained Platt. “When you’re engaging in anti-Jewish bigotry or anti-Jewish racism or anti-Jew hate, you need to know that that’s what you’re doing. And having some sort of polite political historical term to sugarcoat that for you and make it feel less impactful is the opposite of what we need right now.”
This event was bolstered by two co-chair couples who are heavily involved in JF&CS’ efforts.
“Now more than ever, the Jewish community is experiencing so much discrimination and hate,” said event co-chair Sara Kogan. “It’s important to share stories and methods to combat this prejudice. Jonah’s work in this area was highlighted throughout the Community of Giving program and resonated with all who attended.”
In addition to being a part of the virtual event, Platt joined JF&CS in-person on Giving Tuesday for media and community visits, as well as a VIP event for event sponsors.
He started his day as a guest of Rick Folbaum on “Atlanta News First” in an early morning live segment to talk about his podcast and his participation with Community of Giving. During the VIP event, Platt had a one-on-one conversation with David Lubin.
They noted how both of their lives changed after Oct. 7 and advocacy and awareness became a part of their everyday lives. They each expressed the importance of Jewish pride and encouraged attendees to be outwardly, proudly Jewish.
“The future that I hope to see,” Lubin expressed during the presentation, “is where I can go to Israel and not be scared to get on an airplane or be able to go to my daughter’s grave and not have to worry about terrorist attacks. I look forward to that day when as Jews we’re not stressed about this, when we have more security … of being able to be who we are … And if we’re unified, we’re stronger,” Lubin concluded. “Stay unified, stay proud of who you are, stay proud to be a Jew!”
To summarize the stance that he recommends Jews should take, Platt quoted the musical, “Wicked,” which was his breakout Broadway role.
“We (the Jewish people) don’t need to be afraid of the bigots with no information who are shouting untrue things,” he explained. “There’s a line from ‘Wicked’ when Elphaba realizes the Wizard is a sham, and she says to him, ‘you have no real power.’ That’s what I feel like Jews need to wake up to, to realize these people (who are criticizing Jewish people and Israel) have no real power. Just because they’re abrasive doesn’t mean that they deserve to be heard more than we do, or that we should be afraid of them when they have such a lack of information and hateful ideas.”
“From start to finish, I truly felt that the event was a perfect reminder of the strength of our community,” said Sara Kogon. “The quality of the people involved in this event surpassed our greatest expectations – from college students speaking on their experiences with discrimination and antisemitism, to Jonah Platt sharing a strong message of combatting anti-Jew hate, everyone watching left empowered to make change in the world around them.”
If you missed this impactful Community of Giving presentation, you can still watch it with your $36 donation to JF&CS. Use the URL that follows to purchase your ticket and receive a personal link to the recording: https://t.ly/E168H.
Jewish Family & Careers Services Marketing contributed to this report.
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