Dr. Laura Shaw Frank

It was so uplifting to be back at my alma mater @columbia with @AJCCEO Ted Deutch and be inspired by such incredible student leaders. The kids are most decidedly alright.

Love this so much! Bringing our students into archives is such a wonderful way to nurture curiosity, engagement in our history, and passion. @yivoinstitute is amazing!

Mayor Mamdani’s repeated use of the “genocide” accusation against Israel is not just wrong - it’s dangerous. It distorts reality and fuels antisemitism at a moment when Jews are already under threat.

Leaders who claim to stand for human rights should not use rhetoric that puts Jewish communities at risk. timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry…

Yup, this this this.

It's been a long, long winter - actually and metaphorically. Time for spring.

I’m so fucking sick of snark from people on here because I talk about Jew hatred a lot. First, those who have followed me for a while know this has been a focus of mine for more than 10 years — it’s not something I suddenly picked up post–October 7. My focus is largely on extremism, particularly in America, not on Israel, although I fully understand there’s crossover. Second, people who say my focus on this is cringe, annoying, or stupid either don’t understand how serious this problem is — or they’re Jew haters themselves. This is an urgent matter. I wouldn’t spend this much time on it if it weren’t. And despite what some people online seem to believe, it certainly isn’t lucrative or helpful to my career. We know from decades of research that once someone adopts a fully developed antisemitic worldview, it becomes very, very difficult to deradicalize them — though not impossible. I don’t want to lose more people to the abyss of Jew hatred. As far as I’m concerned, this is existential. When hatred of Jews becomes part of someone’s identity and worldview, it shapes how they understand everything: politics, morality, and even their sense of belonging. Antisemitism operates differently from many other forms of hatred because it is conspiratorial in nature rather than simply prejudicial. Conspiracy beliefs are self-sealing: evidence against them is interpreted as proof of the conspiracy itself. People who adopt strong antisemitic views often move into social ecosystems that reinforce those beliefs: online communities, ideological networks, and political movements. Antisemites also see their hatred as morally justified. In their minds, they are defending civilization, fighting corruption, exposing hidden evil, and, as many of you learned recently, exposing child-killing pedophiles. Once hatred becomes framed as a moral duty, deradicalization becomes far more difficult. Antisemitism also “explains” everything to the Jew hater. Because Jews are falsely framed as the hidden cause behind many unrelated problems, Jews become the grand explanatory theory for the world’s failures and for the failures and challenges people have personally. People who criticize me or mock me ultimately don’t bother me. But it is deeply annoying and concerning — particularly because they cannot even claim that I spend my time advocating for Israel or defending the decisions of the Israeli government. So their issue is with Jews. Ultimately, if you have a problem with me talking about this, you can kiss my Iranian ass.

So proud of our amazing LFT students!

The loooong line of kids waiting to talk to Ted @AJCCEO after his talk tells you everything you need to know about LFT and our students. So proud of the amazing professionals in @AJCGlobal Center for Education Advocacy who created such an impactful summit for our teens.

Guys - the future is VERY bright. I spent the last 3 days with our passionate, smart, and proudly Jewish @AJCGlobal LFT students in Washington, DC. What a gift to be able to empower them with mentorship, skills, and knowledge - and what a gift to be uplifted by them!

Dusted off my law degree...

It's finally October 8th

Work for people you believe in. Like these two brilliant men who exemplify menschiness and passionate devotion to the Jewish people.

Waking to the news of an arson attack on a Mississippi synagogue feels all too familiar. This description is chilling. We stand with the Jackson community ✡️💪🏼 Grateful that law enforcement has apprehended a suspect. Glad the Mayor has spoken out. Now will you touch base with your Jewish friends, neighbors and co-workers? Let them know that you understand this attack in Jackson is an attack on them as well. Tell them you stand with the Jewish community. It will mean more than you know. “The library and administrative offices of Jackson’s only synagogue were reduced to charred ruins. Two Torahs were destroyed and five were damaged in the flames that erupted during Shabbat, the weekly Jewish day of rest, according to temple leaders. One Torah that survived the Holocaust was in a glass case and was undamaged in the fire.” mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/fir…

@saikatc AIPAC and DMFI (literally chaired by a former Democratic American Congresswoman) are entirely American orgs- you suggest they aren’t specifically to foment hatred of Jews. This is insanely racist demonization and othering of the ethnic minority American Jewish community.

I keep hearing the Israeli children's Hanukkah song in my head: "Everyone is a little light, but together we are a big strong light. Go away darkness! Run away in the face of the light!" Our light will keep shining, and the darkness will have to go. 🕎✡️💜

He had to shelter in place in Sydney during the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday. What he saw yesterday, as the Bondi Beach community came together to mourn the victims, moved him to tears. Moshe Lencer, AJC’s Director of Campus Affairs, says that Jews and people of all faiths showed up in overwhelming numbers with flowers, candles, and songs. In moments like these, showing up matters. Standing together matters. And reminding one another that hate will not be the final word.

The best outcome of this panel was the opening of a critical conversation between Jewish studies faculty and, for lack of a better term, what I will call the Jewish organizational world (mindful that AJS is also an organization). More to come!

The Jewish joy this granddaughter of four Polish Jews needed tonight - my @AJCGlobal & Orthodox feminist worlds magically colliding over a Chanukiah lit in the Polish embassy. Our light is strong. @Daphne_Price @JOFAorg

@McCormickProf Thank you

Fr. Zachary Swantek, Princeton University's Catholic chaplain, has written the following on behalf of the University's Catholic community to the University's Jewish community and its chaplains, Rabbi Eitan Webb of Chabad and Rabbi Gil Steinlauf of the Center for Jewish Life: Dear Jewish Friends: On behalf of the Catholic community at Princeton, I write to express to you, our beloved brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith, our deepest condolences as you mourn those who were heinously murdered during a Hanukkah observance at Bondi Beach in Australia. Please know that we stand in solidarity with you against antisemitic hatred and violence by anyone, anywhere, at any time.  We, your Catholic friends, this year celebrate the 60th anniversary of the great document Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council. Bearing in mind the history of antisemitic persecution, including by Christians, and indeed, sometimes even by those speaking and acting in the name of the Church, the fathers of the Council stated that: “The Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, and displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” That categorical and unequivocal teaching is much in our minds and hearts today as we extend to you our sympathy, our support, and our prayers. It is also much in our hearts and minds that what happened at Bondi Beach is not an isolated incident. It follows the horrific murders, rapes, and kidnappings of October 7, 2023 in Israel, when vicious terrorists attacked innocent men, women, and children for no reason other than that they were, or were presumed to be, Jewish. And it comes at a time of rising antisemitism throughout the world, including here in the United States. It is entirely understandable that many in the Jewish community at this frightening moment are wondering who their friends are. You may be asking: Who will stand with us? Who will refuse to be complicit in antisemitism or to go silent in the face of it? We members of the Catholic community of Princeton stand with you. We pledge to resist antisemitism and speak out forcefully against it. Please know that I spoke about this at the Sunday Masses on campus this weekend, and that our community prayed for the victims, for their families, and for the Jewish community here in Princeton and throughout the world. In prayer, Father Zack Fr. Zachary Swantek Doctor of Sacred Theology Chaplain  Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life at Princeton University

It’s a humble chanukiah tonight (I’m traveling) but “each of us is a little light, and together we are a big strong light.” The Jewish People’s light will NEVER go out! חג אורים שמח #lightforaustralia @AJCGlobal