Arielle Suissa has been called anti-Jewish slurs and told to “go back to the concentration camps” by her peers at Herbert Hoover Middle School. A group of classmates played games of “Nazis and Jews,” a spinoff of “Cops and Robbers.”
When the harassment at school became physical, the Potomac teen feared for her safety: “I was extremely scared.”
“They kind of knew I was Jewish and held it against me,” added Suissa, a member of the Baltimore chapter of CTeen.
Suissa, now a freshman at Winston Churchill High School, spoke onstage about her experiences with antisemitism to thousands of Jewish teens, who gathered in New York City from 54 countries for the CTeen International Shabbaton.
The annual summit, this year held from Feb. 27 to March 2, was a way for Jewish teens to connect, learn from one another and practice their leadership skills. This year’s theme, “Shine On,” encouraged teens to embrace their Jewish identities.
Rabbi Eli Solomon, CTeen of Baltimore’s co-leader, chaperoned the teen members of the chapter during their trip to New York City. He said Suissa was willing to share her story publicly when the opportunity arose — originally to talk about her Jewish identity and current experience being Jewish in a public school.
Co-leader Chana Solomon and other chaperones encouraged Suissa to talk about her middle school experiences with antisemitism, as doing so could help other Jewish students attending public schools. So she did.
“She really took the bull by the horn,” Rabbi Solomon told Washington Jewish Week. “Most of the teens are probably older than her, and yet taking that leadership stance and role and just running with it and loving it was really amazing to see.”
Suissa hasn’t always proudly embraced her Jewish identity. As a seventh and eighth grader at Hoover, the teen stopped wearing her Star of David necklace after being harassed. When her peers asked her what religion she was, Suissa would say she wasn’t affiliated with one.
“It was definitely not a good time in my life because these people just made me so ashamed of who I was, and it felt like I was losing myself,” Suissa said. “With these kids, I felt like I couldn’t talk about [my Jewish identity].”
When she reported the harassment to her guidance counselor, who reported the incidents to the school principal, Suissa said nothing happened. Suissa spoke with the former “friend” who had attempted to throw a water bottle at her head, who said she had faced no consequences beyond speaking with the principal.
“The first thing that stood out was the shock factor,” Rabbi Solomon said. “I definitely didn’t know some of the examples that she gave, that that was going on under our noses within the state of Maryland.
“What she shared, how she decided to go about standing up and raising her Judaism and Jewish identity as opposed to running away from it or trying to hide it, was very, very powerful.”
Fellow Jewish teens were the impetus for Suissa to speak up. Her friends who attended other public schools across Montgomery County recounted their own stories of facing antisemitism.
“It really touched my heart to know that I’m not the only one that goes through this,” Suissa said. “There’s other Jewish teens who are [facing antisemitism], … scared to open up, so I wanted to take it upon myself and tell kids if these people around you are not accepting your Jewish identity and not making you feel comfortable, then those are not the right people to surround yourself with.”
Instead, she wants to encourage openness and a strong Jewish identity, which prompted her to take the stage at the CTeen Shabbaton.
“I did not know what to do at all when I was facing antisemitism,” Suissa said. “So I really want kids to take my story and not lose their Jewish identity.”
“When a teen like Arielle shares their personal story with thousands of peers, the impact is exponential,” Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, the chairman of CTeen International at Chabad World Headquarters, told Baltimore Jewish Home. “Hearing from someone their own age, who understands their world, carries a power no adult could match. That energy doesn’t stop in New York — it travels home with every teen, reaching friends, classmates, and entire communities.”
Suissa said teen attendees approached her after she spoke, telling her, ‘Hey, we’ve experienced the same thing.’
“It inspired me and made me feel so, so good because kids can relate to this and take my advice and change their Jewish perspective,” Suissa said. “It’s very special to me that I got to hopefully change somebody’s life.”
“A lot of teens were empowered to go back to their own communities, where they once again become the overwhelming minorities at their schools and their communities, and instead of walking around in fear, worry or shame, walking around in pride and ready to face whatever comes their way with a renewed energy and passion,” Rabbi Solomon said.
Suissa hopes to provide the support for other teens that she never received herself.
“I tried to reach out and get help, but [no one did] anything,” Suissa said. “So hopefully I have the impact, that I can do something.”
