In a speech delivered at the opening panel of the American Jewish Committee’s Centennial Celebration in 2006, famed Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua said:

“If in 100 years Israel will exist and I will come to the Diaspora [and] there will not be [any] Jews, I would say it’s normal. I will not cry for it. I will say it’s normal. Why? Because it’s very natural that every one of you will be American, and extend his identification with the country in which he’s living, with all the composites of life in which he’s living… [Being] Israeli is my skin, it’s not my jacket.”

Yehoshua’s pointed critique plays on this question of identity: Is “Diaspora Jew” a flexible identity shifting from moment to moment and location to location, or is it a static reality coloring the very essence of how we engage with the world?

Post-Oct. 7 and amidst the continued war in Gaza, our Jewish world has become more fraught. Whether someone is finishing eighth grade or a Ph.D. program, the question of Jewish identity has become increasingly urgent for students headed back to school. Antisemitism is on the rise. Friendships and alliances have shifted as disagreements have expanded beyond political discourse and become intertwined with hate speech. In this reality, many young Jews are experiencing their identity in a new light.

Prior to Oct. 7, Jewish identity often existed as a secondary identity — present, but ultimately hidden behind other more pronounced identities. Since Oct. 7, however, Jewish identity has emerged into the spotlight of greater prominence, existing not behind but rather among the core identities through which one experiences the world. This shift has been rapid, leaving many students unmoored as they grapple with their new conception of self.

This academic year, Jewish educators must continue to make the bold statement that Jewish identity is not something to be concealed outside of sacred spaces and holy times. Whenever we engage students, no matter their age or academic stage or the setting, we need to support the idea that Jewish identity is a core attribute — one that is worthy of pride and public display without fear.

Of course, this mentality can be quite difficult for Jewish teens, college students and young adults to embrace. In today’s reality, revealing one’s Jewish identity is sadly often met with risks to social or even physical safety. Nonetheless, we must insist on and support the belief that Jewish identity is a core identity and need not be secreted away.

In “Cool Runnings,” a 1993 movie based on a true story, a team of Jamaican bobsledders manage to qualify for the Olympics. On their journey to make Olympic history, they struggle with how their national and cultural identity interfaces with the world. At one point, a character proclaims: “All I’m saying, mon, is if we walk Jamaican, talk Jamaican and is Jamaican, then we sure as hell better bobsled Jamaican.” 

So too for Jews. 

In this moment, Jewish educators must prioritize supporting a Jewish identity that is to be lived daily, experienced broadly and celebrated always. We must convey to our students that Jewish identity is not a garment to be donned or removed at will; rather it is the essence of who we are and the reality through which we interact with the world.

Jewish identity is formed and tested while sitting in the classroom, playing soccer, painting a picture or chatting with a friend. With Jewish identity as a skin instead of a jacket, to use A.B. Yehoshua’s analogy, young people find themselves testing, assessing and utilizing Jewish wisdom as a practical life tool. “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn,” John Dewey wrote in Democracy and Education, “and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking… learning naturally results.” 

Living Jewishly is not limited to discussions of Torah text — it is more robust than that, the manner in which we interact with our larger world. A college student living with their Jewish identity as their skin might more intentionally invest their time in service of their local community. An elementary student living with Judaism as their skin might more compassionately seek to include a peer during recess. A young professional living with Jewish identity as their skin might more rapidly take on the role of community-builder, seeking to craft moments of connection for their peers. Just as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17), so too does the experience of lived Jewish identity sharpen Jewish commitment and personal growth.

As we enter the new academic year, noting the continued and potentially expanding conflict in the Middle East and the imminent tensions of the U.S. presidential election, we must be even more stalwart in our support of students and young adults, bolstering their ability to “bobsled Jewish” throughout the variety of moments that make up their lives. Constant, steadfast and immutable, Jewish identity is fundamental to who we are.

Ari Perten is vice president of the Jewish learning department at Moishe House.