Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, the founding executive director of Chabad at ASU, engages with a student at a recent “Let There Be Light” event in front of ASU’s Student Pavilion. (Photo by Daniella Trujillo/Cronkite News)
TEMPE – As incidents of antisemitism continue to surge across the United States, new data from the Anti-Defamation league shows staggering numbers with college campuses emerging as a focal point.
Jewish students report feeling increasingly unsafe and facing harassment, vandalism and hateful rhetoric in both physical and online spaces. While some students at Arizona State University believe that the administration has done a good job with ensuring safety on campus, concerns remain.
“I feel safe on campus, but it doesn’t mean I don’t always worry about my Jewish star being out, wearing my Magen David,” said Lexie Midtun, an ASU freshman studying computer science and cybersecurity. “I always worry that there’s a chance that something could be done to me.”
Monday is the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
New data released Sunday by the Anti-Defamation League revealed that in the year-long period following the October 7 attack, more than 10,000 incidents of antisemitism in the United States were reported, the highest number in a year by the ADL since it started tracking in 1979.
Earlier this year, the ADL published its 10-year report on antisemitism. In 2013, 751 incidents of antisemitism were reported. In 2022, there were 3,697 reported.
Most antisemitic incidents are first reported to and then investigated by the ADL’s regional offices, which reach out to victims and provide support. The data is then sent to the ADL’s Center on Extremism for analysis. Incidents usually include vandalism, harassment or assaults driven by anti-Jewish hate.
During the spring, a new trend took to some college campuses: daily pro-Palestine protests growing into encampments. Two of the biggest encampments on campuses – at UCLA and Columbia University – escalated and became violent. The roots of antisemitism are layered, according to the ADL. For one, protesters struggle to differentiate between the country and government of Israel and the Jews living in Israel and in the U.S. Instead, they are grouped together in hateful rhetoric.
In September, the ADL reported that a group attacked a University of Michigan student after asking if he was Jewish. This along with two other incidents in the same week left many in the community feeling singled out and scared. Incidents like this highlight the randomness of antisemitism.
ASU has approximately 3,500 Jewish undergraduate students, representing 5% of the undergraduate student body, and 340 Jewish graduate students, according to the ADL. Past antisemitic incidents include a graffiti case in 2023 when swastikas covered a photo exhibit highlighting images from the war in Ukraine.
Students dance at the “Let There be Light” event, which celebrated Jewish community, culture and pride on on Arizona State’s campus. (Photo by Daniella Trujillo/Cronkite News)
Jewish organizations at ASU, such as Hillel and Chabad, say they make sure that, first and foremost, students on campus feel safe and supported at all times.
“I have to say the ASU administration is very supportive of Jewish life at ASU,” said Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, the founding executive director of Chabad at ASU. “I work closely with Dr. (Michael) Crow and the vice president of the dean of students and the police department. We are regularly in touch to ensure that every student is safe and feels safe.”
Hillel and Chabad work hard to show Judaism’s tenet of joy. Recently, Chabad hosted the “Let There Be Light” event in front of ASU’s Student Pavilion. The event celebrated Jewish pride with hands-on activities in a public, central location.
“This is an event for the Jewish students to feel Jew-nity and Jew-nited and Jewish joy and for the entire ASU community to get to know the joy of the Jewish community, to welcome this Jewish community and to learn more about us,” Tiechtel said.
The student president of Chabad, Ariel Feffer, shares the sentiment. “If you want to learn about Judaism, whether you’re Jewish or not Jewish, it’s so important to learn about other cultures and to learn about your own culture. … For those who aren’t Jewish, it’s important to be an ally. You can see the light and help bring light to the world in the face of so much darkness.”
With the anniversary of the Oct, 7 attack, Chabad, in conjunction with other organizations on campus, has ensured a heightened security and police presence. A room is reserved with added security for speakers and events.
More than 100 people – of different nationalities – remain hostages of Hamas in Gaza.
Although many members of the community say it’s important to keep the atrocities and the hostages front of mind, they won’t let the anniversary of the attacks be solely a day of sadness.
“What happened a year ago wanted to wipe all of our spirits,” Feffer said. “It was a destruction. It was the worst murder on Jews since the Holocaust. The point of Oct. 7’s anniversary is not to highlight all the atrocities that happen, but almost to bring light to such a dark situation.”
