Why I’m betting on Jewish grad students

It is clear that the perceived American exceptionalism is over.

Over the past year, I’ve sat in countless meetings — briefings, webinars, panels, roundtables, conferences — all focused on how to respond to the rise in antisemitism. But I kept coming back to a deeper question: Are we investing in the kind of Jewish identity that can carry us forward? One that inspires pride, meaning, and connection — not just in moments of crisis, but in everyday life?

According to the Jewish Federations of North America’s 2025 Survey of Jewish Life since October 7, we’re seeing what researchers have called a “surge” in engagement. About 31% of Jews nationally report seeking out or deepening their engagement in Jewish life, particularly in response to the pain and polarization of this moment. And a majority of those who’ve leaned in describe their experience using overwhelmingly positive terms — “belonging,” “inspiring,” “finding home.”

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

I believe the most powerful response to antisemitism is a proud, joyful and resilient Jewish identity. More specifically, an American Jewish identity built on more than just Zionism or defined by the antisemitism we face. That’s why I chose to take this job.

This fall, I joined the Jewish Grad Organization as the new regional director for the Mid-Atlantic to focus on one thing: investing in Jewish identity, leadership and community at the graduate school level.

Because here’s the truth: Our traditional Jewish pipeline — the one that runs from Hebrew school or day school, sometimes through Jewish summer camp, and then through Hillel or Chabad on campus — often drops off the moment young Jews graduate from college. That next chapter, the one where they suddenly have to build community for themselves, is where too many young Jews get lost. No more built-in Hillel or Chabad at their school. No more peers showing up for Friday night dinners just because it’s happening in the dorm lounge. And all this is unfolding just as young Jews are entering some of the most intellectually and professionally intense years of their lives.

Graduate students are the future doctors, lawyers, policymakers, scientists and scholars. They are the brightest minds of our future — and also some of the loneliest Jews in our community. They’re wrestling with their identity in increasingly hostile environments, where antisemitism is often masked as academic debate and anti-Zionism has become a litmus test for belonging.

I’ve already seen what investment in grad students looks like in action.

In Pittsburgh, we’re investing in graduate student leaders — providing everything from funding and logistical support to leadership development and mentorship — who are building meaningful, peer-led Jewish communities at Pitt, Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon University. Watching these students integrate Jewish identity and community into the lives and careers they’re building is both inspiring and deeply hopeful for the future of Jewish life.

The future of Jewish life is not being decided decades from now. It’s being decided now — in graduate classrooms, in research labs, in student lounges and in quiet moments of identity-formation. I took this job because I want to be there in those moments. Our community needs to be there. I want these young Jews to know they are not alone, and I want to help empower them to find their full Jewish selves and bring it into the world they’re shaping.

Investing in Jewish grad students isn’t just a nice thing to do — it’s a strategic imperative. Because the best way to fight antisemitism isn’t only to call it out; it’s to make sure that being Jewish feels like something worth standing up for.

And that starts with belonging.

I believe deeply in the power of community, in the resilience of identity and in the future of our people. And I’m proud to say that my response to hate will be love — love of tradition, love of peoplehood, love of the generations still to come.

If we want a future where Jews flourish — intellectually, spiritually, communally — we need to build it now. PJC

Meir S. Zimmerman serves as the Mid-Atlantic regional director for the Jewish Grad Organization, where he works to strengthen Jewish identity, leadership and community among graduate students across the region.