Antisemitism Spike in US Leads to Mental Health Challenges for Jews

Although Jewish-Americans make up less than three percent of the U.S. population, the FBI reports they are the targets of 60 percent of all hate crimes. Since the October 7th massacre, antisemitic incidents have seen an alarming spike in the U.S., leaving many Jewish-Americans with psychological scars. For some, it’s the first time, but for others, these recent events have opened old wounds.

As German Jews, Eva Perlman‘s family narrowly escaped Nazi soldiers during World War Two. Now she lives in Los Angeles where she speaks at Holocaust Museum LA. 

“We are not that many survivors left,” Perlman told CBN News. “I’m the last generation of actual eyewitnesses.”

Perlman said she never thought she’d see the rise in antisemitism that Jews endure today in the U.S.

“It’s really frightening,” she said. 

She said far too many Jewish-Americans are hesitant to acknowledge they are Jewish. 

“We can not have a Star of David on our necklace. It’s dangerous. If a man wears a kippah on the street, a skullcap, he may be attacked,” she said. 

She worries synagogues may be targeted. 

“I feel that anything can happen at any time,” she said. 

Even gathering with other Jews in unmarked buildings feels scary. 

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