Since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, there has been a 360% increase in antisemitic incidents in America, including at various schools in Montgomery County, where antisemitic graffiti and messages have appeared. To spread awareness and combat this rise in hate, CESJDS hosted the Teens Against Antisemitism Fellowship Summit on May 4, 2025.
The summit culminated a two-month fellowship for high school students from public and private schools in Montgomery County who met weekly at the JDS Upper School campus. The goal was to educate students about antisemitism and how to combat it, giving them the opportunity to hear from various speakers.
Head of School Mitchell Malkus and JDS parent Rebecca Kotok (‘95), a school counselor at Fallsmead Elementary School and co-founder of the Montgomery County Jewish Educators Alliance, drew up the fellowship idea. JDS received funding to start the fellowship from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Natan Fund. With a background in Jewish non-profit work, Abby Newburger (‘12) was hired as the program director and planned the conference.
“Everyone has the capacity to do something, and the ripple effects of our actions do make a difference,” Newburger said. “So I believe that every single one of these teens that participates in an opportunity like this or something else akin to this has the ability to drop a pebble in a pond and create a ripple effect.”
At the beginning of the summit, the 12 student fellows each gave presentations about their individual projects that they made throughout and following the fellowship program to combat antisemitism in school and on social media. Each fellow was assigned an adult mentor to help guide their projects. Each of their ideas was unique to them, ranging from trivia to Instagram campaigns and more.
Fellow and freshman Eden Kotok’s project focused on teaching teens the principles of the Israeli self-defense system, Krav Maga, and applying them to difficult conversations about antisemitism. Kotok said that unlike other forms of martial arts, Krav Maga focuses on conflict prevention rather than violence. As part of her project, Kotok’s BBYO chapter, Beshert, will go to a Krav Maga studio together.
“They’ll be learning from the professionals,” Kotok said. “Then we’ll have a discussion connecting what they learned about Krav Maga to combating antisemitism to break the stigma that it always has to be an argument or a fight and make it more of a conversation where you’re educating someone.”
Margarita Lyadova, host of the podcast “People Jew Wanna Know,” emceed the summit. On her podcast, she interviews Jewish guests ranging from rabbis and rappers to hostage negotiators and matchmakers. Lyadova frequently hosts events for Jewish adults in her native New York, but this was her first time taking part in an event for teenagers.
“I think it is very important to do work with students ranging from K[indergarten]-12, and it’s really important to engage younger Jewish generations in becoming passionate about supporting the Jewish community,” Lyadova said.
After all 12 presentations concluded, keynote speaker Sam Fried, an American who served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), gave a talk moderated by Lyadova about Israel and the state of antisemitism in America. Since returning from the IDF, Fried has become an activist who talks to people at universities and elsewhere about Zionism, Israel and antisemitism.
Having given speeches at churches, he heavily emphasized the importance of outreach to non-Jewish allies, as Jews are a minority. He also said that to have productive conversations on difficult topics, it is imperative to ask questions to understand where other people are coming from.
Afterward, Lyadova and Fried fielded questions from the audience, including parents and fellows. In their concluding words, both said it is of the utmost importance for everyone to do their part to fight antisemitism.
“All of us are born with our own unique gifts. Not everybody is meant to be a public speaker or an Instagram influencer, but each one of us has our own talents that we know what they are and we can channel to help build our community,” Lyadova said.
