Why Alyssa Rosenheck needed to take stand against antisemitism with her deeply personal new book

Alyssa Rosenheck has always been a fighter.In seventh grade, a classmate at her Tulsa, Okla.middle school, lost her wallet and, in front of the entire biology class, exclaimed “the Jew took it”.She was pointing at Rosenheck.“I get up and I knock her down,” the photographer and activist told the Post.

“And I immediately got sent to the principal’s office.“My dad — who’s this big New York Jew — storms in, looks at me, looks at the principal, and says, ‘Lissy, let’s go’.“He said, ‘My daughter has the right to deck whomever offends her people and her family’, and so I learned to defend.”Although, she is quick to point out, this was her one and only physical fight.Rosenheck, 44, has spent the years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack which killed more than 1,200 Israelis defending her people — and fighting against Anti-Zionism, arguing it’s become a byword for antisemitism.“I don’t like bullies,” she said.“And I like justice.

I like being able to exist in the world and not have repercussions solely for my immutable characteristics.”She has written a book; part exploration of her own roots and personal faith and part treaty on why antisemitism has exploded in the US, called “White.Blonde.

Jew.” released this week.She put pen to paper after being targeted with antisemitic threats and traveling to the area of Israel next to the Gaza strip to interview Israeli combat heroes, hostages, and families, including the siblings of Eden Yerushalmi, a 24-year-old Pilates instructor kidnapped and slain by Hamas.“I look back and I think there are pros and cons to growing up in areas where there’s not large Jewish communities,” said Rosenheck.“You feel a little bit ‘othered’ immediately, but you also, which I think is a gift, learn how to use your voice.”Rosenheck, who has grown a large social media presence, had to use her voice again when her book launch at an independent bookstore in her hometown of Nashville, ...