INTRODUCTION
Despite sensing a rise in antisemitism in general, Jews around the world were still blindsided by the reaction on college campuses and in streets of major cities to the October 7th Massacre of 2023. College students are confronted daily with discrimination and false information, bombarded with demonizing rhetoric and skewed facts often reframed within identity politics wherein the Jewish people are labeled as oppressors. Conspiracy theories fomented within Middle East Studies departments underwritten by foreign governments only make matters worse.
This assault is all the more effective given that too many diaspora Jews know very little about being Jewish, their history spanning millennia, or even where their cultural values come from.
Young Jews, now more than ever, need basic literacy in geopolitics, Middle Eastern history, and media bias to even begin to argue let alone combat the lies they may encounter on and off the campus.
The latest phenomenon of antisemitism on American college campuses has been brewing steadily over decades even though it seemed to burst immediately after October 7th. Many people who attended college in the 1970s and 1980s find it hard to believe, as they may not have experienced one such incident in their entire lives. But starting in the 1990s, college students started to hear a distant anti-Zionist drumbeat grow ever louder, infiltrating subjects even outside history and politics. Often led by a faculty armed with revised text books, key elements of the Jewish Identity—Israel and Zionism—are pitted against the supposed values of polite, progressive society. Jewish Culture has been recast as racist, and Jewish self-determination as colonialist. The last few years have shown us how vulnerable young people are to these lies.
This book provides a brief overview of Jewish culture and the subjects pertaining to the Middle East so commonly brought up on the quad today. It is by no means a complete history of the Jews or the Middle East, but offers a reference manual and guide to help Jewish college students reality-check and stand their ground when facing thorny subjects. In addition to arming students with the information they need to counter antisemitic lies, 10 Things Every Jew Should Know also seeks to encourage students to reassert their Jewish values, ideas, and ideals that have constituted Jewish life and culture for millennia.
BOOK SALES SHEET
SALES HANDLE
A pithy illustrated primer on Jewish and Israeli history, and geopolitics in an easy-to-reference trope-busting book for any Jew, especially current and future college students.
DESCRIPTION
10 Things Every Jew Needs to Know Before They Go to College is a journey through Jewish identity, Israel, history and geopolitics. It is the ultimate guidebook for young Jewish would be and current college students to aid them in deciphering and fighting against misinformation on the quad and in their communities.
AUDIENCE
-Young Adults
– Jewish community and allies
– Students of history and politics
KEY SELLING POINTS
-Offers a simple scannable illustrated guide to all the countries and players that affect the middle east.
-Provides in depth reviews of commonly distorted subjects such as Israel, the Middle East, The UN, the Media, and more.
-Light hearted illustrations alleviate the weight and density of the subject matter
– Inspires a more meaningful commitment to Jewish Identity values, ideas, and ideals that have constituted Jewish life and culture through millenia.
EXCERPT: CHAPTER 1
Chapter 1: WHO ARE YOU
What does it mean to be a Jew?
The word Jew sounds similar in almost every language: “Judio” in Spanish, “Juden” and “Juif” in German and French (respectively), “Yahood” in Arabic, and “Yo” in Chinese.
The word Jew comes from Judah, later Judea, the name of the ancient kingdom that predates the modern State of Israel by 3000 years. In this land, beginning at around 1200 B.C.E., the native people developed a unique way of life with their own calendar, holidays, religion and language, and a shared sense of history and destiny. Contrary to myths, Jews today come in every color imaginable and nearly every existing ethnicity. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, which goes by many other names, became the introductory text for both Christianity and Islam, and serves as the reason for Jews to be commonly known as the “People of the Book.”
To be Jewish is to descend from an ancient and storied civilization. It is to be part of a people, a tribe, a culture, a nation, an ethnicity, and a religion, all at once. The Jews are one of the oldest peoples in the world, surviving their oppressors: the Greeks, the Romans, the Germans, the Soviets, and those among the Muslim armies and terrorist organizations that routinely attack Israel. The Jews have been both admired and reviled in the societies in which they have resided, often to their peril. But they have still managed to thrive and uphold their most venerated values.
Whether a Jewish person lives in Israel, America, Australia, or France; whether a Jewish person only eats kosher and prays every morning or simply knows that their family history connects them to the tribe, a Jew is no less Jewish based on their observance, and one does not cease being Jewish simply because they don’t practice the religious aspects of the faith. The canvas of Jewish life stretches far beyond its religious expressions, offering a multitude of ways to identify and engage with Jewish life. In short: A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.
Jews are just 0.2% of the world’s population
BASIC STATISTICS
Jews make up just 0.2% of the world’s population. Yes, you heard that right. If the world consisted of one thousand people, only two would be Jewish! The proportion of American Jews is larger but still a mere 2% of the population. Despite this, respondents in American surveys believed that America was 30% Jewish (!) — fifteen times the actual number. Similar surveys revealed that people in countries from all over the world believe that the world is at least 10% Jewish. Why do people harbor this misconception? Because Jewish peoples’ work ethic and culture often lead to their disproportionately high representation in science, the arts, commerce, academia, law, and media. Currently, the two largest Jewish communities are in the State of Israel, with a population of about 7 million Jews, and the United States, with a population of about 6 million Jews. There are also sizable Jewish populations in France (~450,000), Canada (~350,000), the UK (~300,000), Argentina (~180,000) and Russia (~150,000).
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