It is that season again, we Jews have already celebrated one new year; the year 5785 began three months ago. On the other hand, we have just celebrated another—the beginning of 2025, marking 2025 years since the birth of Jesus, the Christian Messiah. While this is not our new year, exactly, many of us in the diaspora—just under half of the global Jewish population—will celebrate alongside our non-Jewish neighbours. As is customary in the non-Jewish world, people pledge to change for the better via New Year’s resolutions. In the spirit of this tradition, I have one for us Jews: Be proudly Jewish.
Sadly, and I hope I am wrong, 2025 may prove as challenging for Jews globally as the previous two years have been. Jew-hate—antisemitism—seems to have escaped any semblance of containment. It feels like almost every day brings another awful story. Jewish professionals are denied opportunities. Jewish students are harassed on campuses. Synagogues are set alight. Jews were hunted in a pogrom in Amsterdam. The list goes on, and the hatred does not seem to be abating. In fact, in some ways, it appears to be gathering pace. Even if Israel’s current struggles were to suddenly evaporate, there is no guarantee that the surge of Jew-hate in the diaspora will diminish as a consequence. And so the question remains, as it always does: how do we respond?
Naturally, we fight back. We work to educate and empower our allies to combat Jew-hate because—let’s be clear—antisemitism is not a Jewish problem to solve. Only non-Jews can effectively combat it. While it is essential to cultivate our allies in the wider world, we must also focus our attention inward. Jew-hate, like all forms of prejudice, has a tangible impact on self-esteem and self-perception. As a community, we must channel as much energy into cultivating Jewish pride as we do into fighting Jew-hate. Jewish Pride can serve as a bulwark against hate, but it is much more than that. We modern Jews are the inheritors of an ancient and vibrant civilisation. We are here today, living as Jews, because we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who committed themselves to keeping Jewishness alive. We owe it to them—and to the amazing culture we belong to—to be literate in our Jewishness and proud of it.
Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, said, “Jews should learn Judaism’s essential character so that they might know what to do with it in times of stress.” But Kaplan was only half right. Jews must continuously understand Judaism’s essential characters, not just in times of stress. However, it is precisely during times of crisis that we are offered a unique opportunity to cultivate a sense of Jewish Pride and strength.
I have been building and championing a modern Jewish Pride movement since the release of my first book, Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People (2021). Jewish Pride is a movement that educates, inspires, and empowers Jews to see their Jewishness as a source of pride—and never a reason for shame. It is rooted in understanding Jewishness through a Jewish lens and rejecting non-Jewish definitions of Jewish identity. It is an affront to our ancient culture that non-Jews, simply because they are the majority, consider themselves entitled to tell us what it means to be Jewish. We must understand that we belong to a 3,000-year-old civilisation that has survived into the modern world, while our ancient contemporaries have faded into history. We must define our own identities while rejecting non-Jewish definitions of what it means to be Jewish.
This understanding is crucial in any moment in Jewish history, but particularly now. Since October 7, we have been in crisis. Israel, our indigenous land, is reeling from the genocide committed against it by Hamas and Palestinian civilians and as a result has fighting war on multiple fronts for over a year. The international community—and so-called human rights organisations—are working non-stop to ostracise Israel from the community of nations. In the diaspora, anti-Jewish forces are working to remove Jews from society. Everywhere, Jews are being forced to choose between their Jewishness and our membership of the broader communities we inhabit.
While some claim, “We are not against Jews, only Zionists,” we know they are lying—perhaps to themselves, but certainly to us. This forced choice is nothing new. Since the Romans expelled our ancestors from Jerusalem, over 2,000 years ago, Jews in the diaspora have often been pressured to choose between living authentically as Jews or assimilating to please the non-Jewish world. Historically, in Europe, Jews were routinely forced to convert to Christianity. Even during and after the Enlightenment, Jews were often required to shed their Jewish nationhood and adopt an inauthentic, purely religious identity. Now, even with the miraculous rebirth of the Jewish state 76 years ago, Jews are again being forced to choose between their relationship with their indigenous land and acceptance in the non-Jewish world.
We must say no. We will not choose.
Jewish Pride goes beyond simply feeling good about being Jewish. While essential, pride must be rooted in an understanding of Jewish identity and experience—most importantly, through a Jewish lens. For millennia, Jews—as a minority—have been defined by the majority. Tragically, many Jews have internalised these non-Jewish perspectives, shaping how they define their own identities. This has created categories of “Good Jew” and “Bad Jew,” which, as I argue in my second book, Reclaiming Our Story: The Pursuit of Jewish Pride (2022), is a direct result of internalised anti-Jewishness. To pursue Jewish Pride, we must engage—individually and collectively—in an honest dialogue about our Jewishness, without from shame or judgment. This can be challenging work, but it leads us on a path where we can emerge liberated from the constraints of working to make ourselves palatable to the non-Jewish world.
In rejecting non-Jewish definitions of Jewish identity, we must also engage in dialogue about our identity. Specifically, Jews in the UK and worldwide must understand that Jews are indigenous to the Land of Israel. We must educate our youth to deepen their understanding of this connection and ensure every Jewish organisation adopts this as an official position. As I demonstrate in my upcoming book, The Jews: An Indigenous People, to be released in February, adopting the concept of Jewish indigeneity as part of Jewish identity reveals layers of meaning which already exist. The Jewish connection to the Land of Israel is profound and deeply emotional, regardless of where individual Jews are born. I am both British and, as a Jew, indigenous to the Land of Israel. These identities are not in conflict. To live authentically, I must embrace this duality.
We must use the language of Jewish pride and harness its power. This idea was transformative for LGBTQ+ and other marginalised communities and can transform ours—if we let it. All Jews have the right to feel pride in their Jewishness, to understand what it means to be Jewish, and to communicate this to the world. This is the only way we can face the challenges ahead. Any Jew familiar with our history, even recent history, will recognise the truth of the words in the Haggadah: Vehi Sheamda: “For not only one enemy has risen against us to destroy us, but in every generation, they rise up to destroy us.” This remains true as we enter 2025.
Regardless of what lies ahead, Jews must stand tall and proud. Our history is a testament to Jewish resilience and renewal. Through countless generations, in the face of persecution and loss, we have survived—not as a shadow of what we once were, but as a thriving, vibrant and constantly evolving people.
In 2025, let us reject the shame of Jew-hate. Let us celebrate our heritage, our culture, and our people with unapologetic pride. Let us teach our children who they are and where they come from, so they can walk confidently into the future, heads held high. Let us remind the world—and ourselves—that Jewishness is not just a part of who we are; it is a gift we cherish, a legacy we protect, and a mission we embrace.
Pride must be our future. Knowledge is our weapon against ignorance (our own and otherwise). And unity is our strength. We are Am Echad, Lev Echad, One People, One Heart. Together, we will define our own identities—not by the challenges we face, but by the courage with which we meet them. The road ahead may be difficult, but we will walk it with the same enduring spirit that has sustained us for millennia.
We will not be silenced. We will not be erased. We will be proudly Jewish. Always.
Am Yisrael Chai and Happy New Year!
