The Jewish status quo is dead. Here’s what comes next.
From elite schools to cultural dominance, we need a bold blueprint to make antisemitism irrelevant and Jewish power permanent.
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This is a guest essay by Adam Hummel, a lawyer in Toronto.
The organized Jewish world status quo is not cutting it.
The world around us has changed dramatically, and more often than not it seems like we are trying to fit our old ways into the new world, rather than trying to change the world around us by creating fundamentally new ways.
Below you will find the “10 Commandments” for our post-October 7th Jewish world — and they are not for those who want to be liked. They are for those who want to win.
Because, while much of the world debates our right to exist, or supports the creation of a Palestinian state dedicated to our destruction, we should be building a community so strong, so secure, and so culturally embedded that antisemitism becomes not just unfashionable, but irrelevant.
As journalist Bari Weiss and others have said, we are not just on this world to fight antisemitism; we are on this world to live as Jews.
This is the revenge of dignity. A counterattack of Jewish strength. And the strategy for how we stop being the canary in the coal mine, and start being the architect of the mine itself. Remember: The canary dies, and that’s not us anymore.
1) Build elite Jewish education for everyone.
We have heard from the public school boards. If they hate our kids in public schools, fine, let’s build schools they beg to get into.
Jewish schools should not just be safe havens; they should be the best schools in the country. Rigorous, values-driven, unapologetically Zionist, and hell, even open to non-Jews who want excellence.
They do it in the UK! Nowadays, after the COVID pandemic and the post-October 7th spike in antisemitism, there is a surge of demand for Jewish day schools. Let’s use the opportunity we have with that demand and make our schools the best they can possibly be.
Stop thinking small. Think of a Branksome Hall with a big beautiful mezuzah on the front door. Think Upper Canada College, but with Tanach and Krav Maga. Let the world pay us to educate them.
And for university? Start funding endowed chairs in Zionism. Create campus institutes with teeth.
Do not donate another dollar to a university that lets professors call for intifada. Period. Does a university board call for an academic boycott of Israel? BDS? Does it call Israeli action genocidal? Is the student union unabashedly antisemitic? Pull all Jewish funding immediately. They don’t deserve us, and we don’t need them. This can start now.
2) Control the narrative. Own the culture.
We are getting clobbered in the culture war because we simply do not show up. Or when we do, it is in the form of a mealy-mouthed, anxious apology for existing.
Stop it.
Fund Jewish creators. Build edgy YouTube channels, TikTok accounts, Substacks, podcasts, and film studios. Flood the internet. Make content that is bold, brilliant, and bite-sized. Teach the world that Jews are not just victims or villains; we are creators, critics, comedians, thinkers, and warriors. I refuse to believe that we do not have adequate resources to do this. Yes, we probably have too many egos vying to be the one to take charge of this, but we must adapt to the times.
Imagine a Jewish “Barstool Sports” meets “Vice” meets “Daily Show” with Zionist chutzpah. Why doesn’t that exist? Fund it.
3) Weaponise wealth. Invest with purpose.
I don’t care if the world thinks Jews have all the money. We have at least some money. The question is what we are doing with it.
Let’s stop giving donations out of guilt and/or nostalgia. Start giving like investors. Here’s a thought: Do not give one more cent to a non-Jewish charity until they prove to us that they deserve our money. There are plenty of charities that support and benefit our community, and they need all the support we can muster.
Create donor-advised funds with a mission: Support unapologetic Jewish continuity. That means start-ups, speakers, scholarships, and civic infrastructure. If a synagogue in Canada in 2025 can’t protect its own members with a basic security system, what are we doing?
If an institution tolerates antisemitism and/or “anti-Zionism” (same difference), it gets cut off. Loudly. If a school board tolerates hatred, we take them to court. Publicly. And if a community leader is silent, we run someone in their place who isn’t.
Philanthropy should not be a legacy photo-op; it should be a weapon.
4) Dominate politics.
Our community loves writing letters. My God, we are so far past that at this stage. It is not enough to write letters to members of parliament. It is insufficient to seek meetings with them to talk about decisions that have already been made. We need to be the members of parliament.
Let’s run for school boards, city councils, provincial legislatures, national government. Get Jews into positions where we do not have to ask for protection because we write the policies ourselves.
And where we do not run, we support. Of course relationships are important, and we cannot cut off every tie we have with government, but we have something to contribute. Build political action committees. Endorse boldly. Do not support a candidate just because they show up to a menorah lighting. Don’t allow them to get off with doing the bare minimum. Ask what they vote for, what they fund, and who they condemn.
And if the answer is silence when Jews are targeted, give them political hell.
Also, demand only the highest of standards of Jewish political organizations. They cannot be off for one single day. Write to them. Make your voice heard to them, since they often represent our community and have access to individuals who many of us cannot reach.
5) Teach self-defence.
Every Jewish child should know how to defend themselves. Physically. Intellectually. Digitally.
That means teaching Krav Maga, yes. But also debate. Public speaking. Historical knowledge. How to counter lies about Israel in 30 seconds or less.
We must train a generation of Jews who can out-argue, out-think, and outlast the propagandists. Who are not afraid to wear a kippah or a Star of David necklace. Unafraid to have a mezuzah on their doorpost. And who do not need anyone’s permission to speak proudly. They must know, without thinking, why they are proud to be Jewish, proud to support Israel, and proud to walk hand-in-hand with their fellow Jews.
This is not about being aggressive; it is about refusing to be afraid.
6) Expose hypocrisy. Shame cowardice.
Make sure organizations that tracks antisemitism are well-funded. We need to track not just the swastikas, but the ideological antisemitism. The double standards. The HR departments that train staff on every form of discrimination except Jew-hatred. The school boards that promote “decolonisation” while denying Israel’s existence.
Document it. Publicise it. Name names. Shine light. Shame.
Make it costly to be antisemitic again. MAGA: Make Antisemitism Grotesque Again. Embarrassing. Career-damaging. The same way other forms of bigotry are. If someone posts genocidal slogans online, their employer should know. If someone vandalises a shul, their university should be informed. That is not revenge, but accountability.
7) Build strategic alliances with real friends.
Jewish communities across the world cannot do this alone. Thankfully, we don’t need to. Other groups are being smeared and attacked by the same ideological wrecking ball.
We have exceptional friends in the Indian and Iranian communities. In the Evangelical Christian communities. In communities of ex-Muslims silenced for criticizing extremism, and in Armenians abandoned by the same institutions that abandon Jews. Gosh, we should be friends with any sane individual or organization who hasn’t allowed Hamas to transform them into a jihad-adjacent liberal.
Work with them. Build a coalition of people who actually believe in democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, not just when it is convenient.
8) Create private spaces of power.
Not every fight is public. Not every battle needs to be on the news. We don’t need to turn to X to air our successes or our defeats.
Host private salons. Gather Jewish leaders, thinkers, and donors in living rooms, synagogues, and small retreats. Plan long-term strategy. Share resources. Teach history. Forge trust.
We are not going to win this fight by posting more infographics. We don’t need more influencers, and we can see right through those people who are in this for all the wrong reasons. We are going to win by building institutions that last longer than a news cycle.
Since October 7th, our community has been overrun with grassroots organizations doing good work. But there is a tendency to be territorial. To refuse to work with each other when there is a perceived slight, or when it does not appear that we are 100-percent in lock-step. It is time to start thinking big picture, and about trying to come together, to coalesce into a movement for our community’s future. Egos aside.
9) Protests not rallies.
If we are going to get hundreds or even thousands of Jews out on either a hot August afternoon or a frigid February morning, it should not be a pleasant “We can do this!” moment sprinkled with Israeli music. Enough with the “Tel Aviv” and “Tamid Ohev Oti” (two popular Israeli pop songs).
In the 1940s, our Jewish community rallied to songs like “On the Barricades” to get things done. It had lyrics like, “Today my little Sarah, we’ll part as I go to war to establish the state on both sides of the Jordan. Harden your heart and tighten your belt. Embrace me and join me in the ranks. Raise up the barricades! We bring freedom with blood and fire!”
Our messaging must be fierce, since we cannot simply be light juxtaposed with their darkness. We too must be fierce, and even feared, since no one will fight our battles for us.
We don’t need a rally, but a protest. We need to protest against what the status quo has become, we must demand that our community is taken seriously, and we must be heard.
10) Embrace Jewish power without apology.
This is not only about being louder; it is about being stronger. Stronger in education. Stronger in politics. Stronger in faith. Stronger in art. Stronger in fundraising. Stronger in giving. Stronger in courage. Stronger in resolve.
The ultimate revenge against antisemitism is not just protest; it is permanence. It is building a Jewish future that is so vibrant and so influential, no one will dare call us guests in our own homes again.
This is not theory. This is war. And the best weapon we have is not rage, but excellence.
Love this !!! Yes!!! I’m a great English and social studies teacher escaping a notorious public school district. It would be my dream to teach at a Jewish school. I’m happy to dress as Orthodox (I practically do anyway) and my Zionist cred is real. I’ve been writing in support of Israel and the Jewish people since just after October 7. I’m exploring conversion but no matter what I’m an ally.
Please Jewish friends do this. I’ll support you however I can.