Scroll through the comments on any Jewish-adjacent social media post, and you’re more than likely to see antisemitic tropes, anti-Jewish “jokes” and other harmful rhetoric.
What should one do about it? How can people productively engage with antisemitic statements on social media?
These are questions that lay leaders of Agudas Achim Congregation hope to uncover through a panel series they launched this month for high school students and adults.
“We’ve learned that no one is immune to antisemitism we are all experiencing in different spaces and places,” Rabbi Steven Rein of Agudas Achim said. “It’s an issue that has become increasingly top of mind.”
“We are seeing a rise in antisemitism in many different spaces, and I think it’s important that, not only do we have a space to talk about that, but to equip people with the tools [and] language on how to best counter antisemitism,” Rein said.
Tamar Bar Dov, Agudas Achim’s shlicha, or emissary from Israel, launched this series on combating antisemitism after hearing “all the stories” from Jewish community members over the past year.
“In each story, I asked what actions were taken, and most people said they didn’t do much because they weren’t sure what to do beyond complaining higher up,” Bar Dov said in a statement to Washington Jewish Week. “Even then, they often hit a wall of misunderstanding and attempt[s] to brush the issue aside.”
As Bar Dov spoke with Jewish teens in the community, she noticed that sharing experiences helped them open up, ask questions and strengthen their proverbial “toolkit” for dealing with antisemitic incidents. She added that a turning point for her was the May shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C.
“Last May, many people remarked, ‘The writing was on the wall,’” Bar Dov said. “I thought, if the warning signs have been there for so long, why aren’t we doing something?”
That’s when the shlicha decided to help her community take a stand against antisemitism.
In November, the Alexandria synagogue screened the film “October 8,” a documentary that focuses on the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, for 70 community members. The 2025 film delves into the “emergence of antisemitism on college campuses, in social media and on the streets” over the past two years.
“We chose this film to start the series because it focuses on antisemitism here in the U.S., with little mention of Israel,” Bar Dov said. “It talks about the immediate impact felt here after the war in Israel began, showing how that event triggered the wave of antisemitism we’re seeing.”
She added that, although antisemitic rhetoric and incidents have “exploded” since Oct. 7, 2023, it’s a hatred that’s been around for centuries.
“After the film, there was a heavy silence,” Bar Dov recalled. “I think it’s a tough film to watch, not because of graphic content, but because the messages hit hard and resonate deeply.”
Attendees discussed the film’s themes and connected those themes to their personal experiences. “We can’t stay silent about this anymore,” Bar Dov said. “I believe the film is a solid starting point for these conversations, as it makes it clearer how we got into this situation, making it easier to talk about what we can do after we understand the problem.”
On Dec. 7, participants engaged in conversation with leaders and experts to discuss antisemitic narratives on social media and the broader impact. Josh Kraushaar, the editor-in-chief of Jewish Insider, moderated the conversation.
Panelists included Rabbi Eric Fusfield, B’nai B’rith International’s director of legislative affairs; David Bernstein, a professor and executive director of George Mason University’s Liberty & Law Center; Josh Stevens, the deputy regional director for the D.C. Anti-Defamation League; and Yael Bar Tur, the digital communications consultant for the New York City Police Department.
Bar Dov and Andrew Kurtzman, the chair of the synagogue’s young professionals group, arranged the discussion with the aim of providing the Jewish community with a clearer view of the digital forces shaping modern antisemitism.
“I hope these meetings will spark some conversations and bring about honest, even tough, discussions,” Bar Dov said. “I believe that when someone shares their way of coping and another person learns from that, we build a strong toolkit for handling the issue — that’s the main goal.”
The group’s next meeting will feature a session with leaders from the ADL, and the one after that is with the Embassy of Israel, according to Bar Dov.
She noted that this series “isn’t another lecture; it’s the attempt to be proactive” about antisemitism. “When people know who to reach out to and what to do, change can happen.”
“[The series] will enable folks to more clearly identify when social media is biased in ways that are really rising to the level of antisemitism,” Rein said of the panel. “I am looking forward to members of the community of all ages engaging in serious conversation about something that is affecting all of us and getting the tools and strategies of how to combat antisemitism.”
