More Than a Political Label: A Jewish Student on Identity in America
For Jewish Americans, identity can encompass religion, culture, ancestry, family, tradition, and community — often all at once. Although Jewish people may practise their faith and understand their heritage in different ways, three-quarters of Jewish Americans say that being Jewish is important in their lives (Pew Research Center, 2021). That identity, however, is increasingly being expressed within a climate of fear and misunderstanding.
Following the escalation of the Israel–Gaza conflict in October 2023, conversations surrounding Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and Jewish identity became increasingly visible and contentious throughout the United States. Criticism of the Israeli government is not inherently antisemitic, and Jewish Americans hold a wide range of political beliefs. Yet broader political tensions have sometimes been directed towards Jewish individuals and communities regardless of their personal views.
In 2025, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 6,274 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assault across the United States—the third-highest annual total since the organisation began tracking such incidents in 1979 (ADL, 2026). A national Pew Research Center survey similarly found that 72 per cent of Jewish Americans believed there was a great deal of discrimination against Jews in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2024).
Statistics can demonstrate the scale of antisemitism, but they cannot fully capture what it means for a young person to conceal a necklace, reconsider discussing their identity, or worry that others will assign political beliefs to them before listening.
To understand what Jewish identity can feel like for a young person in the United States today, I spoke with an anonymous Jewish student. Their name and photo are not included in this piece, at their request, out of respect for their privacy.
For the student, Judaism cannot be described through one category alone. It is their culture, religion, and ethnicity, connecting them to their family and to a broader community through shared beliefs, traditions, and practices.
At the same time, they do not view Jewish identity as something fixed entirely by birth or defined by others. It is something they continually interpret and make their own.
“I don’t let it define me as a person. Rather, I let it shape me whilst I shape it as well.”
— Anonymous Jewish Student, United States
Much of that identity has been shaped through education. The student attends a Jewish school where religion and culture form part of everyday life. Students study religious texts and customs, celebrate Jewish holidays together, and follow a school calendar that recognises both religious and secular observances.
Before attending their current school, the student went to a public elementary school. Although they generally loved the experience, they realised that they wanted a stronger Jewish education. They transferred to their present school shortly before their bat mitzvah, a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, and felt an immediate connection to their identity.
Their family has shaped that connection just as deeply.
The student’s father tutored them in preparation for their bat mitzvah, while many of their most vivid memories involve celebrating holidays with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Weekly observances such as Shabbat — the Jewish Sabbath — and Havdalah, the ceremony marking its conclusion, carry traditions passed down through their father’s side of the family.
These practices are not simply repeated rituals. They connect the student to previous generations whilst allowing them to develop a personal understanding of Judaism.
However, expressing that identity outside their family, school, and Jewish community has become more complicated.
As public debate surrounding Israel has intensified, the student has felt increasingly hesitant to represent their Judaism openly. They explained that Judaism, the State of Israel, Zionism, and support for the actions of a particular Israeli government are distinct ideas. Nevertheless, people often group them together and assume that a Jewish person’s identity reveals their political beliefs.
The student now avoids wearing visible religious jewellery in public unless it can be concealed beneath their clothing. They fear being confronted or harassed over political views that others may assume they hold.
They also have friends whose relatives live in Israel and worry about those families’ safety. Yet even expressing concern for them can feel politically charged. The student fears that discussing their Jewish identity or concern for people they know may cause others to place them on one side of a conflict without understanding their actual beliefs.
Their intention is not to use this story to share a political position. Instead, they want others to understand that their politics are not automatically defined by their Judaism.
Navigating that distinction requires caution. The student uses discretion when deciding where and how to express their identity. They educate themselves about political issues and attempt to participate in productive conversations that allow them to learn from different perspectives.
At the same time, they refuse to allow political noise or hatred to separate them from their traditions.
The student continues to gather with members of the Jewish community, celebrate holidays, observe religious practices, and participate in a culture that has survived across generations. That continuity holds particular meaning because they are descended from several Holocaust survivors.
For them, continuing to practise Judaism is therefore more than maintaining a routine. It is an act of remembrance and responsibility — a commitment to preserve an identity that previous generations fought to keep alive.
The student’s experience does not represent every Jewish American. Jewish communities contain a wide range of religious practices, cultural backgrounds, relationships with Israel, and political perspectives. Their story instead illustrates why no individual should be treated as a symbol of a government, ideology, or international conflict simply because of their identity.
Beyond headlines and political labels, Judaism is lived through family gatherings, classroom discussions, songs, food, prayer, memory, and weekly traditions. It exists in the relationship between inherited history and personal choice.
This student’s story reminds us that identity can shape a person without limiting them. It can connect someone to generations before them whilst continuing to change through their own experiences.
No young person should feel required to conceal who they are because others may mistake identity for ideology. Listening begins by allowing people to define themselves — not by deciding what they believe before they have spoken.
To learn more about antisemitism and support efforts to challenge hatred and discrimination, visit the Anti-Defamation League, a non-profit organisation that documents antisemitic incidents, develops educational resources, researches extremism, and works with schools and communities to oppose antisemitism and other forms of hate — or explore the Resource Hub under One of Many’s Take Action tab for more ways to learn, reflect, and get involved.
