Why is this article important?
This article is important because it helps to put a face to the changing of Jewish life in America. The discussion of hiding or embracing Jewish identity is a challenge that plays a role in Jewish American life. This has an ugly history as well, with many jews changing their name to avoid anti-Semitism. So this sadlt reflects an ugly past that has found a new home this . Hence, the article is important because it helps to give a picture to the statistics of jews hiding their identity, the debates, and the incidents that drive it. It help gives a view into how Jewish teens (like me) growing up in this time are navigating it. I highly recommend reading the rest of their series https://www.jta.org/series/teen-fellowship
Posted by ewatta200
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On her Uber app, Sivan’s name is Alexandra. Noa tells people her name is Nina. Michal goes by Micky in car services and when ordering coffee.
These days, some New Yorkers with Jewish-sounding names are providing fake names when they interact with strangers. They say the motivation is to feel safer around town, given the spike [in antisemitism in New York City](https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/us-antisemitic-incidents-skyrocketed-360-aftermath-attack-israel-according) and elsewhere after Oct. 7. Most wish they didn’t have to hide an important part of themselves, but they do so to protect themselves physically and emotionally.
Sivan, 19, who attended private high school in Manhattan, decided to start using a non-Hebrew name right after Oct 7. She made the decision after hearing a story from her friend, Ellie, who said she was asked by an Uber driver if she was Jewish. When Ellie, to be safe, reflexively lied and said, the driver allegedly responded: “Good, because if you were I would have killed you.”
“I was scared,” said Sivan, who started using her middle name when calling a car service. “It was the first time in my life I was really scared to be Jewish. I had always learned about the Holocaust, but I never thought it would be me.”
“It makes me sad that we live in a world where you can’t use your name because you’re scared of being killed,” Sivan added. (While real first names are used in this article, the interviewees requested that any personal identifying information, including their last names, not be published, highlighting just how unsafe some Jewish teens in New York City feel.)
This year alone, the [Anti-Defamation League reported](https://www.adl.org/resources/article/brazen-intensified-antisemitic-incidents-nyc-continue-2025) over 1,000 antisemitic incidents in New York City – the highest count of antisemitic incidents in any U.S. city since the organization began recording these instances in 1979. Specifically, the report showed a spike in antisemitism and harsh anti-Israel rhetoric targeting those who are visibly Jewish.
Antisemitism is hardly a problem exclusive to New York City. More than [half of Jewish Americans report experiencing some form of antisemitism last year (2024-2025)](https://www.adl.org/resources/report/portrait-antisemitic-experiences-us-2024-2025). The [ADL reports](https://jewishinsider.com/2025/04/adl-audit-antisemitic-incidents-u-s-israel-anti-zionism/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOt4NtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEekEK11TuNUBHH9teoe0JxWFjBm-D-j7XyN8KAkq7L2vPvugfkMXYorcWgDWs_aem_1fSLe-phwBjLAxZfjlj-Cw) that antisemitic incidents in the USA hit a new high in 2024 — more than 25 antisemitic incidents a day.
Recently, the Slovakian-Canadian model Miriam Mottova was [kicked out of an Uber](https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-879558) in Toronto after the driver assumed Mottova was Jewish based on a phone call she was having in the car. According to Mottova, the driver said she “does not drive Jewish people.” Since going public with her story, Mottova claims that [“scores of people” have reached out to her with similar stories about Uber](https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-879558).
Thank you for sharing this. It’s sad that NYC has become such a shithole
Who is downvoting this?
I will say that anecdotally this shit speaks to me. The debates about wearing jewish signifiers as a middle finger of defiance to anti-Semitism (its why I wear a kippah), while others want to keep it hidden (my parents are much much less gung ho about this)
its a hard time, and a lot of young people are having to make choices. in a grim sort of way we have become closer to our ancestors- we have to make the same choices our great grandparents did to keep our names or change them to avoid issues. Though its our first names this time.
> Rebecca, 20, who was living on the Upper East Side when Oct. 7 broke out, said that since then she sometimes takes the opposite approach: She deliberately uses her Hebrew name in public. “If I go into a Starbucks and hear something antisemitic, I would say my name is Rivka,” said Rebecca.
👑
The fact that Jews must walk around in our society today, and must gird themselves against such widespread stupidity, enrages me.