Tell us about your museum work countering antisemitism. 

The museum’s permanent collection was shaped in the 90s, when antisemitism in America wasn’t at the forefront of our conversation. Yet the environment began to change, even before October 7, and we started rethinking how to teach about and interpret the museum’s collection to more explicitly emphasize antisemitism.  

These discussions started around 2017, after the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia followed by the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. While we had many artifacts that told the story of historic antisemitism in America, none of the objects in collection told the stories of current day antisemitism.   

In 2022 the museum acquired the cup and chair from the Colleyville, Texas synagogue hostage crisis. With that acquisition, we could both tell the history of antisemitism in America and its contemporary manifestations.  

Fast forward to October 7, when the need for education and programming about antisemitism and the Jewish people became urgent.  

We also redesigned our in-person school programs to include an introduction to the history of the Jewish people, emphasizing the indigeneity of Jews to Israel and that Jewish people live and have lived across the globe including in places such as Africa, Asia and The Middle East.  the world feels a connection to one another, to our history, Israel and our faith. The Weizman emerged as a leader in confronting antisemitism in K-12 schools and created a website with free curricular lesson plans and materials called Stories That Shaped a Nation: Jewish Lives in America.  

You mention the diversity of the American Jewish community as a way to counter antisemitism.  

There is a misperception that Jews are wealthy, white people who have not experienced oppression. We wanted to highlight the diversity of the Jewish people, the history of persecution, and the theme of resilience and allyship. We need to challenge these narratives and educate both Jews and non-Jews about who we are and our values. 

What brought you to Baltimore to head this new Center? 

I love the idea of building something proactive, not just reactive. We have the chance to harness the power of The Associated network and build a coalition to not just focus on addressing antisemitic incidents, but also educating and deepening understanding of the Jewish experience. In both the Jewish and non-Jewish community. We also want to create opportunities for Jews to feel proud of their Jewish heritage and culture. 

What are the Center’s goals? 

The Associated’s Center for Countering Antisemitism and Hate proactively combats anti-Jewish hate to protect and strengthen our community.  

The Center leads strategic action, elevates, scales and expands the capacity of our agencies, establishes impact metrics to evaluate progress and devlops new strategies and initiatives in four areas of focus: education, safety and security, coalition and bridge building and empowering our Jewish community. 

So, what are your plans?  

We are focused on four pillars. This includes: 

Have you or your family ever experienced antisemitism? 

Shortly after October 7, when we were living in Philadelphia, we hung an Israeli flag on our second story window. It kept getting torn down, and we kept putting the flag back up. We also hung hostage posters from the window boxes of our home, which also got taken down, graffitied, and erased. 

My son, meanwhile, experienced antisemitism when he was leaving our home one Saturday morning for synagogue. He was wearing a kippah and walked out of our home with the big Israeli flag and hostage posters. There was a group of teenagers across the street, and when they saw him, they shouted “Heil Hitler “and gave the Nazi salute.  

Azzi, my son continued on his way but put his kippah in his pocket and when he is out in public, he no longer wears a kippah and for some time he did not want to synagogue alone. However, I want to emphasize that while this incident was uncomfortable and scary for him, he is blessed to have a strong Jewish identity and a supportive Jewish community supporting him.  

The Jewish institutions that have helped us raise our children have helped them to build the resilience and pride they need to navigate these hard times.