Watch My New Video Explainer Series About Antisemitism

Why is anti-Jewish prejudice so hard to fight? And how can we change that?

Before the pandemic, I used to crisscross the country and speak to people interested in understanding and combating anti-Jewish prejudice. But it always felt like fighting a losing battle. I could only be in so many places at once, and couldn’t possibly address all the communities that sought guidance on this subject. So starting nine months ago, I embarked on an ambitious project to change that.

Working with the talented production team at Unpacked, a clearinghouse for online Jewish video content, I began scripting and designing a web series about antisemitism. Today, I’m proud to share the result with you.

The series consists of six videos, each providing straightforward answers to difficult questions about antisemitism that many people have, but are afraid to ask. It’s both a crash course for a general audience, and a serious attempt to reground our broken antisemitism conversation in principle rather than partisanship. I hope it will serve as a resource for both Jews and non-Jews seeking to untangle and rebut this vexing bigotry.

Now for the good stuff. As of this email, the first of these videos is now live. A new one will be released every Wednesday morning through September, but if you’re a paying subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll get advance access to the entire series tomorrow. Be sure to sign up and upgrade your subscription here:

Here’s the first video and the full line-up of coming attractions:

1. Why is antisemitism still such a problem today? Didn’t it go away after the Holocaust?

2. Whose fault is antisemitism? (August 11 | Author’s Intro)

3. Is criticizing Israel antisemitic? (August 18 | Author’s Intro)

4. Do Jewish people cause antisemitism? (August 25 | Author’s Intro)

5. Can Jews be antisemitic? (September 1 | Author’s Intro)

6. Why should I care about antisemitism? (September 9)

Obviously, these are big questions, and they won’t be resolved in a YouTube clip. But my goal with these videos is not to end the conversation, but rather to provoke more productive conversations. If this series inspires folks to dig deeper into the subject of antisemitism, have better arguments about it, and come up with better approaches than I did, then it will have been a great success.

And this is only the beginning. Crunching such complicated concepts into short videos necessarily entails simplification. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t say everything I wanted or address every potential question or criticism. So look out for feature articles expanding on the themes of the series, annotated scripts with additional arguments and source materials, and much more in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, if you like the first video, please share it! With your help, we’ll be able to reach many of the people who most need to see this.

Again, if you’d like early access to the entire series, be sure to sign up or upgrade to a paying subscription. It’s support like this that helps me continue to produce projects like these.