General
How Oct. 7 Changed American Jews
In a year of trauma, many Jews have found support in the deep wells of history, community and faith.
The turning point came during spring finals, when Abigail Fixel got back to her dorm room at Barnard College and found a small Palestinian flag slapped onto her door frame, where her mezuza should have been.
Then she found her mezuza, a symbol of Jewish faith, drowned in her sink.
For months since Oct. 7, Ms. Fixel had been trying to reconcile her liberal and Jewish identities. She didn’t grow up that observant, and a part of her almost wanted to join friends in the pro-Palestinian encampments. But she said that she could not bear the growing antisemitism she saw around her.
Staring at the wet mezuza, she decided to turn toward the one community she knew was truly hers: a Jewish one.
She canceled her summer plans to mobilize Democratic voters and packed her bags for Pennsylvania to be a camp counselor with BBYO, a leadership network for Jewish teenagers. There, she found friends, fascinating speakers and fun at the lake — all rooted in Jewish identity and community.
“I have never felt so connected,” Ms. Fixel said. “To be in a space for once where I could let my guard down and ask whatever questions I want because I was in a Jewish space, it was so inherently freeing.”
