College campuses have unfortunately become breeding grounds for antisemitism. With Jew hatred continuing to increase at an alarming rate, our college-age kids need to combat antisemitism on a much higher scale.

Growing up in Beit Shean, Israel, Cleveland’s sister city, Tomer Blise has always felt a strong connection to the Jewish Cleveland community. Tomer’s journey to Cleveland began in fourth grade when her love of books helped her develop confidence and leadership skills. She helped start a volunteer program with a few classmates at the Beit Shean Library helping the library director organize books and create programs for other teens. Each year the group would grow with more and more students and by the time she was in high school, she was one of the leaders of the group. As a high school sophomore, she was invited by the Jewish Federation to Cleveland as part of a delegation from the library which helped teach the method of involving and activating teens through libraries.

The Horvitz YouthAbility Program of Jewish Family Service Association (JFSA), a Federation beneficiary agency, places interns at various businesses and organizations in our community. This internship program is made possible by an endowment gift by the Bobby Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, in partnership with Anti-Defamation League (ADL), AJC Cleveland, Facing History and Ourselves, Mandel JCC, Kol Israel Foundation, Maltz Museum, and The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio will host SHINE A LIGHT on Antisemitism, a special menorah lighting for people of all faiths to renew a collective commitment to fighting the rapidly escalating modern-day antisemitism and Jew hatred.