The Anti-Defamation League is often cited as the primary source that studies and responds to the rise of antisemitism in America. Its annual incident report is a straightforward and rigorous accounting of whether anti-Jewish activity has risen or fallen across the nation and in various states.

Through its Glass Leadership Institute, ADL Philadelphia gives young Jewish leaders inside access to this work. The seven-month annual program features trips to the ADL’s New York City headquarters, its Center on Extremism and its Never is Now summit.

Six young professionals, all of whom live in the Philadelphia area, participated in this year’s program. They are millennials and Gen Zers at a time of rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment.

Three of those young professionals talked to Philadelphia Jewish Exponent about the unique challenge of fighting antisemitism in their time.

The Group

Jack Franklin, Andrew Kofsky and Emily Harris all finished the program.

Franklin, 30, lives in Logan Square, works in commercial real estate and decided to get more involved in Jewish life after Oct. 7, 2023. His efforts led him to connect with Abbey Krain, the deputy regional director at ADL Philadelphia. Krain helped Franklin join the Glass Leadership Institute.

“There were protests in Philadelphia through various organizations that seemed aggressive. It made you feel unsafe in your own city. I wanted to go out not just to fight them, but to spread a different message,” he said.

Kofsky, 25, grew up in Lower Merion and is likely to attend law school in Philadelphia starting this fall. He was concerned about rising antisemitism, so he emailed ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who connected him with Gail Cohen, the organization’s vice president of leadership.

Cohen pointed Kofsky in the direction of this program.

“I think the main thing was seeing online, particularly on Twitter, X, how the conversation had shifted beyond what you typically see from criticisms of Israel and the government to much more blatant antisemitism,” he said. “It’s one thing to criticize the government. It’s another thing to bring conflict in the Middle East and try to hold Jewish people accountable for that.”

Harris, 34, grew up in Massachusetts, moved to Philadelphia to work at Villanova University and has been a member of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel for the last six years. She said that, through her synagogue, she’s been “navigating different aspects of building Jewish community in Philly.”

A friend from Harris’ book club had done the GLI a few years earlier. She recommended it to Harris.

“I’ve grown up in Jewish spaces my whole life. The conversations happening now are the things I used to fear when I was younger,” she said.

What are some of the unique challenges of fighting antisemitism in your generation?

Franklin: The social media impact, how lopsided it seems to be. How do you combat that messaging?

Harris: I think something I felt really prominently during this experience was just how different 10 years have been, my experience from college versus some of the younger people in this cohort who were in college immediately after 10/7.

I wasn’t uncomfortable sharing my Jewish identity when I was in college. I don’t think that’s really the case anymore. You have to be thoughtful about how you share it and how you want to share it.

Kofsky: You have a lot of otherwise knowledgeable people seemingly not understanding the history at play. I think it’s easy for people to look at Jews, particularly the successful ones, and conclude this is representative of all Jews.

What are some strategies you learned through this program for fighting antisemitism?

Franklin: I think of the Changing Hearts and Minds seminar we did through the GLI program, learning various strategies, not just arguing with someone out of pure passion. I think the smarter way to do it is to take a step back and use some of the tools we learned in the seminar.

Personal connection to Israel. Showing someone how it means something to you.

Kofsky: I think one of the tools ADL has equipped us with is being able to clearly identify what is antisemitism and what isn’t.

Criticism of a government or criticism of a government’s policies is not antisemitism. At the same time, there are so many things that can bleed into antisemitism that otherwise well-intentioned people may not even realize. It’s important for us to be patient with that.

I think the main thing is to lead by example. Control what you can control. One person is not going to magically solve the world’s oldest form of hatred overnight. Staying engaged and informed, whether through the ADL or otherwise.

I think the biggest thing is building coalitions. There are only 15 million Jews out of 8 billion people in the world.

We need allies.

Harris: I’ve been involved in building Jewish communities in various ways. I was involved in Spruce Street Minyan for a bit. I have gotten involved in BZ-BI on their Tikkun Olam Committee, and most recently in their young professionals group.

That’s important to me to continue to find opportunities to build Jewish community.

I don’t expect everybody in those spaces to have the same opinions about Israel or antisemitism that I do. But I hope that they are places where we can have nuanced conversations. I think the hardest thing when someone is confronted with antisemitism or hate is feeling alone.

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com