Parents of college-aged students are no longer in a position to avoid speaking about antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility by chalking it up as an uncomfortable inconvenience or rare occurrence.
Nearly a year ago, in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel, we watched in dismay as Jewish students at Cooper Union College in New York City were forced to take shelter from an antisemitic mob in a campus library. This alarming incident underscored the perilous predicament Jewish students increasingly found themselves in all over college campuses in the United States.
As Jewish students start a new semester, the community is rallying with its characteristic entrepreneurial spirit to ensure that this school year will not be marred by unchecked antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility. Jewish organizations are mobilizing resources to ensure that our students’ voices are heard—through education, litigation and advocacy.
However, one crucial element has long been overlooked: The integration of self-defense training as a vital tool for building confidence among Jewish students. This gap has left a disconnect between the real experiences of these students and the support offered to protect and empower them. Too little attention has been given to fostering the physical resilience Jewish students need to defend themselves on their way to class or the confidence to assert their voices in a hostile classroom environment.
The spring semester marked a significant turning point with our launch of a new initiative, “Krav and Kesher,” designed to empower Jewish students by offering complimentary Krav Maga training.
The program not only equips them with the skills to defend themselves but also fosters a deeper connection to their Jewish identity through meaningful peer discussions. Despite our varied backgrounds—one of us an entrepreneur in educational technology, and the other who was deeply embedded in campus life for AEPi, our nation’s largest Jewish fraternity—we both recognized a fundamental truth: Jewish students must be able to defend themselves to confidently and proudly embrace their identity on campus.
The initial results are extremely promising. Quietly rolled out at six college campuses and training 85 students over multiple weeks, the results speak for themselves. A staggering 100% of surveyed participants felt more physically safe after completing the training. Additionally, 100% felt more confident in publicly identifying as Jewish.
The concept of integrating Krav Maga into “mainstream” Jewish campus life should not be considered fringe practice, but rather accepted and embraced by anyone who cares about the well-being and fostering of confidence of Jewish students in an academic setting.
The history of “Krav Maga” dates back to the late 1930s when European Jewry had no choice but to be as equipped as possible to defend itself from riots and other precarious situations rooted in vehement antisemitic animus. Today, American Jews, particularly on campus, albeit under a very different context versus 1930s Europe, are faced with the stark reality of needing the ability to prevent physical harm, as well as being openly proud and confident about their Jewish identity. At the same time, confidence-building and resilience require situational awareness and de-escalation skills of which we have tangible examples of success among trained volunteers.
Jewish parents of college-aged students are no longer in a position to avoid speaking about antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility by chalking it up as an uncomfortable inconvenience or rare occurrence. Across the country since the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas against Israel, Jewish students have been harassed, intimidated, bullied, physically harmed and threatened. As recently as Aug. 31, as students were returning to the University of Pittsburgh campus, an individual attacked a group of Jewish students with a bottle; they were subsequently treated for injuries. In Krav Maga training, we teach how to defend against a number of different scenarios in which a perpetrator is seeking to inflict harm. Basic training may have prevented injuries (and maybe something worse) in this troubling scenario.
We have what can be considered a significant amount of recent data that points to the level of vulnerability among Jewish youth today. In a recent survey of students and recent graduates conducted by Alums for Campus Fairness, 44% reported “never or rarely feeling safe identifying as a Jew,” with more than half—55%—stating that they were physically threatened. The most sobering and troubling data point from this poll includes 78% of students and graduates responding that they avoided certain places and events. According to a joint study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International, 73% of Jewish college students experienced or witnessed antisemitism last year, and 54% reported feeling unsafe.
We wish that our focus could be channeled elsewhere and that we didn’t have to live in a world where self-defense training is necessary, but the reality faced by Jewish students compelled us to act. We quickly learned that there was one organization that fully aligned with our vision of proud and confident Jews on campus, and which has, in fact, been working for more than a decade to create that mindset in the community at large.
This is why we agreed to merge our Krav and Kesher program with the Community Security Service (CSS). A national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CSS has trained thousands of community members in professional-grade security techniques to help protect their own synagogues and community events. The data, along with anecdotes we hear first hand across the country, is why CSS decided to expand its mandate from synagogues and events to the college campus with a key component of its expansion being self-defense training.
The time is now for leadership in the organized Jewish world to fully embrace the reality that Jewish students need the ability to prevent harm to themselves and their fellow classmates. This emphatic call can seem scary and daunting. However, our experience shows that training and participating in martial arts can serve as an antidote—a way to build resilience and confidence, and ultimately, an even stronger bond and community.
Dan Sommer is an entrepreneur who served as president and founder of Krav and Kesher, now fully integrated with the Community Security Service (CSS).
Jon Bridge is the senior director of campus initiatives at the Community Security Service (CSS), after helping launch Krav and Kesher and serving as chief programming officer at Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi).
