‘Jewish students are not hiding – we’re proudly showing up to have fun’

We discussed our thoughts, concerns, frustrations and hopes for the coming academic year. And in that conversation, one theme united us; yes, combatting antisemitism is essential, but our vision for campus life must be bigger than that.

We wanted large events. Spaces where Jewish students could meet new friends, celebrate their Judaism and heal from the trauma of the last few years

We wanted large events. Joyful events. Spaces where Jewish students could meet new friends, celebrate their Judaism, laugh, dance and begin to heal from the trauma of the last few years.

We all realised that somewhere along the way, many of us had forgotten we were still just students – young adults meant to be having some of the best years of our lives.

As a StandWithUs Emerson fellow and a Union of Jewish Students (UJS) leadership fellow, I am lucky to have access to organisations that care deeply about Jewish life on campus.

To name a few more: University Jewish Chaplaincy, Campaign Against Antisemitism, Chabad, JLE and Aish. They provide resources, advice, speakers, venues, funding and – most importantly – the reassurance that we are not fighting this alone.

Without them, much of what we do simply would not be possible.

One thing I always remind people is that resilience is not always loud. Sometimes it is quiet – and powerful.

On the first anniversary of October 7, I was a fresher. We had been warned not to be visibly Jewish on campus that day.

Despite the concern, I wore my Magen David as I always did. On the train, a boy noticed it, looked a bit startled and glanced away. A moment later, I looked up to see him pulling out his own Magen David from under his shirt and smiling at me. I never saw that boy again, but I know that a small act of pride from me sparked a little more pride in him.

That is how Jewish resilience works – one small flame lighting another. That is the energy that we wanted to bring onto campus.

We often read about how there is no hope and that we are doomed in this country. Maybe we are. Maybe we will all end up neighbours in Ra’anana within the next decade. But right now, this is our country too. These are our universities too. And we are not giving them up.

StandWithUs is not giving up, UJS is not giving up and Jewish students are most certainly not giving up. The moment we give up is the moment they win.

It may be bad out there on campus, but it is also good. In fact, it is “great” – to quote Louis Danker, UJS President.

So far, at the time of writing this article, the London Jewish Societies have held events with record numbers of students in attendance: more than 120 at Friday Night Dinner, 200 at the Freshers’ Pub Crawl, 220 at TLV Takes London (London’s JSoc club night).

There have also been unprecedented numbers at each university’s weekly lunch and learns, challah bakes and pub nights – and this is all in the first six weeks of the academic year. Nationally, more than 8,000 Jewish students have engaged with UJS in 2024/25 – the highest ever.

From more than 1,200 students at Booze4Jews in Leeds to the creation of seven new JSocs this term, the growth has been remarkable. Jewish students aren’t hiding. We are showing up – proudly.

Combatting antisemitism will always be at the forefront of our missions, but we often forget that strengthening each other and building community is part of the fight too.We get so tied up on campus in fighting those who hate us that we forget to look back and focus on who we are fighting for – each other.

To whoever is reading this: we are reclaiming the joy that we lost from campus because, as Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said, “love is the only force capable of defeating hate”.