Is antisemitism normal in the U.S. now?

Jewish Media Review - Sept & Oct 2025

Praise God, all the living Israeli hostages are home and the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is tentatively holding as of publication. This requires continued prayer as Israel awaits the bodies of the dead hostages, and the people of Gaza return to their destroyed cities and towns.

This media review is a bit longer as we didn’t send out a review in September due to the New Wineskins Global Missions Conference. Also, some of the stories will reference some older news events and past holidays. I share them because the stories still have value. 

These headlines are presented as a snapshot of what our Jewish neighbors are thinking and feeling and to provide data as you pray about these issues. CMJ USA does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in these articles.

U.S. Antisemitism

☹️Antisemitism now a ‘normal’ part of life in the US, new survey finds (Times of Israel)

Joint study by ADL and Jewish Federations shows many Jewish Americans have clinical anxiety over rising antisemitism, and one-third are preparing for worst-case scenarios

😢1 in 3 US Jews have taken action amid antisemitism many now see as ‘normal,’ analysis finds (JTA)

A new study by the ADL and Jewish Federations found that 14% of Jews have mapped out plans to flee the country.

😩My Jewish studies students aren’t talking about Israel or antisemitism. They told me why (JTA)

Tulane prof finds students are soul-weary. ‘When I’m in Jewish spaces, I prefer to focus on the positive things’

😢Why a historian thinks Jews are living through a ‘high tide’ of American antisemitism (JTA)

Pamela Nadell writes a history of Jew hatred, from colonial times to the aftermath of Oct. 7. 

📢Seven years later, ‘stronger than hate’ must be more than words (Jewish Chronicle)

It must be a call to speak up, even when it might be unpopular, even when it is uncomfortable

🎞️New Pittsburgh synagogue shooting film chronicles bravery of first responders (Jewish Chronicle)

Viewers learn details about the tactical decisions made by the first responders, and about their roads to physical and psychological healing.

🎞️October 7: Bearing Witness to the Massacre

Trailer to a film by the makers of Hope in the Holy Land

💔Jew vs. Jew rhetoric breaks hearts in a bitter internal debate about the Gaza war (JTA)

One side urges compassion for Gazans; the other says the security of Israelis trumps mercy. 

🎤Israeli former hostage Emily Damari speaks to 'Son of Hamas' Mosab Hassan Yousef about her captivity, meeting Hamas leader 'Izz a-Din al-Haddad (All Israel)

Politics

I have tried hard to steer away from political news, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk stirred a lot of anger, fear, and confusion. Some of us learned who Charlie Kirk was only after his death. Some grieve the loss of a political champion. Others lament that violence stuck out against a political foe.

I share these stories to give a peek into how our Jewish neighbors perceive their peeks into the Christian world, whether where some Christians carry themselves political or even how evangelical Christians mourn. CMJ USA does not endorse or necessarily agree with any of the opinions stated below.

⚰️How Not to Respond to the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service (Jewish Journal)

Most Jews don’t understand what is taking shape in Christian America. They fear it, conflate its diverse voices and want to denounce it with great moral force, as if that will somehow make it all go away.

• For more on the antisemitic dogwhistle some believe Tucker Carlson blew, see
  
  
• Tucker Carlson tells story about murder of Jesus at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, igniting criticism (JTA)
  For many listening, including right-wing Jews, the link between story and the unfounded conspiracy theory that Israel killed Kirk was clear.
  
  
• Christian concerns about Tucker Carlson’s antisemitic tropes (All Israel)

Media and Art and Science

🥸Mel Brooks: ‘Hitler was bad to every Jew in the world, but he was good to me’ (The Telegraph)

Ed. Note: There is power in comedy to heal as much as to speak truth.

My father says he regrets introducing my sister and me to Mel Brooks when we were pre-teens. I am grateful. Mel Brooks films may have been my first encounter with a Jewish perspective on world events.

The Producers, a movie about a play celebrating Hitler and Nazism, is a shocking achievement. A Jew dared to write a film mocking Nazism and Hitler 21 years after end of World War II. The world was still processing the full extent of the Holocaust, yet Mel Brooks came in with his brash humor. One may almost feel guilty laughing at the showstopper “Springtime for Hitler.”

In 2010, I met a young German Christian who had gone to Israel for an internship. She was maybe 21, yet she carried such guilt for the sins of her forefathers. We counseled her that it was good to acknowledge the sins of Germany but that she shouldn’t let it weigh her down as she had not committed those crimes. Yet I watched as she studiously took copious notes at Yad vShem, the Holocaust museum in Israel.

A few days later, seeing she was heavy after our museum visit, I asked her if she had ever seen The Producers or heard of Mel Brooks. She had not. Thank God for YouTube. I quickly pulled up a clip. She was taken aback at first, maybe even offended. I explained that this farce was written by an American Jew. His response to the Holocaust was to make Hitler small by laughing at him. She relaxed and let herself laugh. I believe Mel Brooks helped her balance her perspective.

📚Her Jewish grandfather’s shame inspired a prize-winning novel (JTA)

Sasha Vasilyuk's debut novel, “Your Presence Is Mandatory,” tells a story inspired by her father’s father, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army who was captured by the Nazis during World War II. Under the Soviets, being taken prisoner was treated not as a tragedy but as a betrayal. Because POWs bore the stigma of treason, her grandfather never spoke to the family about spending much of the war as a forced laborer.  He also hid his Jewishness from his often antisemitic comrades and, for obvious reasons, from his German captors.

🕍Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright built only one synagogue. It’s now a growing congregation (Forward)

Designed to echo Sinai, Frank Lloyd Wright’s only synagogue now houses a flourishing community — defying demographic trends and architectural odds.

😲How a scene from Exodus was almost the Seal of the United States (Jewish Journal)

This long-forgotten footnote to American history is worth considering both for its historical import and its relevancy to the current moment.

🧠Science confirms it: Sabbath is good for your brain (All Israel)

📺Following meteoric success — and some criticism — ‘Nobody Wants This’ evolves in Season 2

The romantic comedy follows the relationship between a hip but devout Reform rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody), and Joanne (Kristin Bell), an agnostic woman who hosts a podcast about dating and sex.

Excerpt: “When it first came out and I watched the first episode, I was so uncomfortable,” said Rabbi Elan Babchuck, the executive vice president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. “There’s a lot that I would want to change about it.” Eventually though, Babchuck went back and watched the entire season. Although his critiques remained, he ultimately had a change of heart. “I celebrate the show. I think representation matters across the board, even when it’s in flawed form,” he said.

📱How the phrase ‘It was promised to them 3,000 years ago’ became a ubiquitous meme (Forward)

The comment appears on every kind of Jewish content, but what does it mean?