Profiles in Jewish Strength
When antisemitism rises, the most Jewish response is also the most powerful one — celebrate who we are, what we have built, and who we have been. Loudly. Proudly. Without apology.
This is a section about people. Extraordinary people: Jewish men and women who looked at the world as it was and decided, with clarity and courage, to make it something better. They did not wait to be asked. They did not shrink from the fight. They built, they led, they spoke up, they showed up, and in doing so they made this community stronger, more visible, and more resilient than they found it.
We are profiling them now because the moment calls for it. Antisemitism is not new. It is ancient, adaptable, and stubborn, reappearing in every generation wearing a different face. In the 1930s it wore an armband. In the 1970s it wore a keffiyeh at the Olympic Village. Today it wears a keyboard, a megaphone on a college campus, and a spray can on a synagogue wall. And in every generation, Jewish men and women have answered it not with silence, but with strength. That is what this campaign is built around. Not victimhood. Not fear. Strength: the particular, undefeatable strength of a people who have survived everything the world has thrown at them and come back, every time, with something to show for it.
We called it Chazak because that word has carried us through every chapter of that story. At the completion of each of the Five Books of Moses, Jewish communities around the world rise together and call out: *Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek* — be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened. It is not said at the beginning of something. It is said at the moment of completion, when a great work has been finished and the community gathers to begin again. Strength, in Jewish tradition, is not a solitary quality. It is something we give to one another. These profiles are offered in that spirit.
The individuals in these pages come from every chapter of American Jewish life. Some fought antisemitism head-on, in courtrooms and congressional chambers and public squares. Others simply refused to hide: living openly, proudly, and loudly. Some built institutions that shelter and strengthen the community. Some wrote, performed, created, and led in ways that made Jewish identity visible to millions who might never have encountered it otherwise. Some advanced Jewish causes through philanthropy and civic life.
The individuals in these pages come from every chapter of American Jewish life. Some fought antisemitism head-on, in courtrooms and congressional chambers and public squares. Others simply refused to hide: living openly, proudly, and loudly. Some built institutions that shelter and strengthen the community. Some wrote, performed, created, and led in ways that made Jewish identity visible to millions who might never have encountered it otherwise. Some advanced Jewish causes through philanthropy and civic life.
Read every one of them. Share them. Send them to someone who needs to be reminded of what this community has built. And carry that strength forward, chazak, into whatever comes next.
ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN
Chazak: Profiles in Jewish Strength is a JLiving editorial campaign celebrating Jewish leaders who have fought antisemitism and made a difference. This special section will continue across our next two print issues, featuring new profiles in each.
Beginning in July, the campaign expands online with a weekly profile post on our Facebook and Instagram pages, bringing a new honoree into your feed every week. Our email subscriber community will receive a weekly email feature spotlighting one honoree per week.
Because being strong in who we are is how we answer hate, and because these stories deserve to be told to as many people as possible.
Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek — be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened.