Charlotte Korchak from StandWithUs discussed Jewish history in light of the Israel-Hamas war during a Jewish Club event in Chalmers East on Nov. 1. StandWithUs, an international organization, aims to combat antisemitism through education. Korchak returned this November after holding two discussions in October of 2023. She had visited the school on Oct. 6, one day before Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel, and on Oct. 27, where she discussed the attacks.
Korchak began the event by discussing Jewish history and its inherent connection to Israel. She then examined the societal perception of Jewish people within the context of the Oct. 7 attacks, as well as their larger history.
Jewish Club Leader Edward Ward ’25 said the club invited Korchak because of the current war in Israel and the recent rise in antisemitism as a result of the conflict.
“It felt very important to have [Korchak] come to speak about antisemitism and anti-Zionism at such a critical time,” Ward said. “It’s a critical time because of the constant threat of escalation in the Middle East and the incredibly tense domestic situation that has arisen because of the conflict there.”
Jewish Club member Marty Minikes ’26 said the event was impactful because he learned about confronting antisemitism, a growing threat.
“There is a lot of hate and misconceptions around Jews and Israel right now, so it was important to have a speaker at the school to help us understand what we can do to combat antisemitism and help clarify misconceptions about Israel and Jews as a whole,” Minikes said.
Korchak said the Jewish people originated in Israel and, though they were expelled from their homeland and the regions they attempted to inhabit afterward, they relocated each time, instead of rebelling against their persecutors.
“The Jews are a people who come from the land of Israel,” Korchak said. ”That is their one and only home. They were thrown out and persecuted everywhere they ended up, which eventually took them home because they wanted to free themselves from that persecution. And they didn’t do it by attacking other people. They didn’t do it by rising up against their oppressor. They did it by going somewhere else and building something spectacular.”
Marlowe Kohn ’27, who attended the event, said Korchak’s explanation of the Jewish people’s millennia -long campaign of non-violence was a powerful message to those who fault Jewish people for the current war.
“I think a lot of times today, people are talking about how violent the Jewish community is and how the Israelis are colonizers,” Kohn said. “I think it’s important to see that, one, we’re not and, second of all, if you look at our history, we’re known not to be a violent people. We’re peaceful, and, as Charlotte said, we’re survivors.”
Korchak said society attempts to separate the world into the oppressors and the oppressed, though Jewish people do not relate to either group.
“We don’t call ourselves victims,” Korchak said. “In fact, we reject the notion outright. We live in a world today where victimhood is a currency. Everyone’s competing to be the biggest victim in the world because there’s an ideology in the world today that divides up the world into two categories of people, oppressor and oppressed. Both of these options suck, especially if you’re a Jew because a Jew never wants to say, ‘Oh, I’m oppressed.’ Well, we’re also not an oppressor.”
Aviv Pilipski ’25, who attended the event and Korchak’s visits last year, said he sees the notion of Jewish perseverance when he speaks with his cousins, members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“Not only do us Jews, from a religious and biblical perspective, focus more on our collective survival and perseverance than our tumultuous and often excruciating history, but Jews also tend to adopt the same frame of thinking culturally,” Pilipski said. “Whenever I hear about a new development relating to the ongoing war in Israel, and I call my cousins, who are all currently serving in the IDF, they almost never focus on what is happening to them and almost always focus on the manner in which they will persist through difficulties and almost unimaginably tragic circumstances.”
Korchak said the security of Israel is vital because of past persecution and antisemitism in other countries.
”A Jewish state in the world creates Jewish safety in the world, and it instills in every Jew the feeling that there is somebody out there who, no matter what, will stand up for us and will protect us, which is something we didn’t have throughout history,” Korchak said. “It’s a tragic reason to need a country, but it is our reality, and the world has demonstrated in the last year that it continues to be our reality.”