An upsurge in antisemitism comes as little surprise to Chicago- and Los Angeles-based lawyer-turned-writer Teme Ring, who has been observing it first-hand for quite a few years.
Perhaps the most egregious incident, she said, happened at a Chicago theater in 2022; a well-known comedian spewed hate-filled jokes about Jews controlling the media. "I was like a deer caught in headlights," she said, recounting the event. The worst part of the experience, she added, "was that everyone around me was laughing."
A year later, after the Hamas attacks of October 7, Ring said that she could no longer remain paralyzed. Neither, she said, could many of her Jewish friends in the arts. An urgent Instagram chat among a half dozen Jewish writers immediately following the massacre, led to the establishment of the nonprofit The Artists Against Antisemitism.
The group's aim is to counter the rise in antisemitism through action, education, community support, and celebration of Jewish art. It quickly mushroomed to 33 founders, with literary luminaries Jean Hanff Korelitz, Lynda Cohen Loigman, Co-President Jill Santopolo, and Zibby Owens among them.
"I told them I'd do anything" to support the organization's effort, said Ring. She participated in one of its first efforts--an online auction, held just two months after its founding, that featured more than 400 items donated by celebrities including Mayim Bialik, Idina Menzel, Mark Feuerstein, Chelsea Clinton, and Henry Winkler. The $120,000 that The Artists Against Antisemitism raised went to Project Shema, a training and support organization that addresses antisemitism head-on through workshops and other educational tools.
This year, Ring is excited to participate in the group's May 2025 virtual Community Arts Project in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month and Jewish Heritage Month in Canada. Drawings, paintings, photography, and mixed media grace the pages of an online gallery (theartistsagainstantisemitism.com), along with poetry, short fiction, and personal essays. Visit the
gallery
.
"We believe that art is the gateway to understanding," said the organization's Co-President Alison Hammer, an ad agency creative director whose novels include
You and Me and Us
and
Little Pieces of Me
. Rather than simply calling out individual and institutional antisemitism, explained the Chicago-based Hammer, The Artists Against Antisemitism looks to building bridges with allies and upstanders through conversations, education, and open and ongoing conversations.
Collaborating with the Jewish Book Council, for instance, created an online bookstore resource guide to make bookshops safer spaces for Jewish authors and customers. This partnership has been particularly important for the Jewish community in Chicago, where at least two independent bookstores on the North Side have taken actions that many construe to be antisemitic. In one well-publicized case, copies of
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Recently, there have been blacklists of authors labeled "Zionist"; their signings have been cancelled and their books have been removed from store shelves; in addition, they have been trashed in their reviews with their work receiving mass amounts of negative reviews online by those who have not read their books, but wish to undermine them for being Jewish.
These are among the many reasons that Chicago bestselling author Lisa Barr has been involved with The Artists Against Antisemitism since its inception. Barr is a self-described "perfect" target for antisemitism in a post-October 7 world. "I'm a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, a pro-Israel activist, and a writer of World War II thrillers with Holocaust themes," she said.
The Artists Against Antisemitism, Barr said, has been a lifesaver for her and for other Jewish authors who have been subjected to vile and spurious attacks from antisemites in both cyberspace and real time. She said she vigorously endorses the multipronged approach the group takes, not only responding to hate and ignorance through positive and informed messaging, but also by nourishing creativity in a world that often seems dark and despairing.
Naomi Firestone-Teeter, the CEO of the Jewish Book Council, says her team has been bolstered through their collaboration with The Artists Against Antisemitism. "It's been gratifying to Jewish Book Council to work alongside partners who come from the frontlines of the creative community," she said. "They bring new networks, energy, and ways of thinking into space that are of the utmost importance and complement [our] own efforts."
"We need Jewish joy to spread around … while supporting Jewish artists who are dealing with some very difficult things," Barr said.
To learn more about the organization, visit
theartistsagainstantisemitism.com
.
