Top Jewish influencers say opting out is not an option when antisemitism is prevalent

Jonah Platt wants potential guests on his podcast to know that “private” solidarity is no solidarity at all.

Platt, a social media influencer and the host of “Being Jewish with Jonah Platt,” said in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he is frustrated with the steady stream of personal messages and other signs of support from celebrities and thought leaders, both Jews and allies, who appreciate his program showcasing Jewish identity and pride - but then decline to come on it.

When declining, they tell him they are too scared for their safety or careers. They’re “afraid it will attract anti-Israel masses to their social media, afraid it will affect them commercially or afraid they’ll get death threats,” he explained. 

The would-be guests often say they’ll support the Jewish community privately but not publicly. But to Platt that’s an empty offer. “Having private solidarity doesn’t move the needle when public spaces are being entirely surrendered to fear,” he said.

An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey released in July found that 4 in 10 Jews are less likely to wear anything identifying themselves as Jewish than they were before the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in just one sign of concerns about being Jewish publicly. In the three years since, a handful of Jewish influencers have tried to give Jews the support to come out and be proud.

”I think the more Jews speak about their own story, and the more we share it, the more we own it, the stronger we will be as a people and the more people will react positively,” said another influencer, Israeli activist Hen Mazzig, who interviews celebrities and pushes for Jews to express public pride in their heritage.

'Humanizing the Jewish experience' through social media

Despite the difficulties Platt and Mazzig encounter when encouraging people to speak out, they have still made a mark. On Instagram alone Hen Mazzig has 459,000 followers and Jonah Platt has 229,000. Mazzig’s show interviewing Jewish people about their identity, art and culture,  “And They’re Jewish,” was just picked up by ChaiFlix, the Jewish and Israeli Netflix. 

Platt’s podcast, meanwhile, is often the No. 1 ranked Jewish podcast on Apple podcasts. Views on YouTube for multiple episodes are above 50,0000, with nearly 1,000 comments on single episodes. And he has succeeded in attracting at least some high-profile guests - including Cindy Crawford, Jason Alexander and Mayim Bialik.

Platt developed his podcast in October 2024 as a safe space for Jewish and allied celebrities and thought leaders to share their stories around Jewish identity to help combat rising antisemitism and Jewish hate.

“It humanizes the Jewish experience for the audience, “ he said, especially when listeners can think, “Wow, this person whose movies I love is going through such a horrible time and is experiencing all this stuff, too. I had no idea.”

Platt said appearing on his podcast pays dividends. With only a tiny number of exceptions, according to Platt, everyone who’s been on his show has told him, “This has been so amazing. Everybody wherever I go is telling me how much they love this conversation.”

Platt said his guests find that the typical listener feedback is positive. Some of the responses they’ve received include: “It makes me feel seen. It makes me feel less alone. It makes me so proud to support you, and now I’m gonna buy tickets to every movie you’re ever in and have your back all the way!”

Positive impacts for guests on Platt's social media

A number of Platt’s interviews confirmed that they saw spikes in positive attention after appearing on his show.

“Not only is Jonah a fantastic host with whom I felt so safe, but after my episode aired, I have had so many people commenting online or coming up to me and thanking me for making them feel less alone,” Seth Rudetsky, SiriusXM’s Big Fat Broadway host and Jewish Broadway Alliance founder, wrote to JTA in an email.

Sarah Hurwitz, a former White House speechwriter, said that after her appearance on Platt’s podcast in February 2025, she saw sales of a book she published in 2019, “Here all Along,” go up.

“The fact that my sales were double, then triple what they were the week before the episode aired really does seem meaningful,” she said.

Platt said he’s heard of minimal negative pushback. “I can really only think of one instance where I heard back from a guest who said there’s some specific clips based on things they said that are getting them some hate online that they’re unhappy about it, but certainly didn’t regret appearing on the show,” said Platt. “They’re just like, I can’t keep promoting these clips anymore.”

That experience stands in stark contrast to what many other Jewish performers have found in other contexts, however. In recent weeks, Pink lost 100,000 followers overnight for airing her objections to Macklemore’s anti-Israel advocacy when he was opening for Ed Sheeran. (Stadium owners told Sheeran that Macklemore would not be welcome, and he dropped the rapper from his tour.) Jerry Seinfeld is still headlining the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest in Portugal, but he’s facing boycott calls and several comedians have dropped out because of opposition to Seinfeld’s pro-Israel views.

But staying silent won’t change that reaction, according to Mazzig, co-founder of the Tel Aviv Institute think tank focusing on antisemitism.

“When Oct. 7 happened, a lot of people were hoping [increased Jewish hate] would be over in a few months,” Mazzig said. Three years later, it is evident that antisemitism is not diminishing, he said.

Mazzig, who is gay, likened the prescription for Jewish pride to the journey gays have undergone.

“It’s what Harvey Milk said about the gay community,” said Mazzig, referring to the trailblazing Jewish San Francisco city supervisor who was assassinated in 1978. Milk believed it’s important for gay individuals to come out to their friends, neighbors, and community, so they aren’t defined by what misconceptions others perceive about them. “And I think for us as Jews, we have to do the same thing,” said Mazzig.

Inspiring Jewish college students in the US

Hearing from proud Jews is especially important for college students, according to Andrew Pessin, a philosophy professor at Connecticut College and the founding director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism. As far as he can tell, his is the only classroom on campus where students can learn about Zionism in a positive way and have multi-sided discussions. 

Pessin said that his Jewish students tell him his class is a safe haven. He said he’s heard things like, “Thank G-d for your class, because I am surrounded by hate on this campus,” and that there, “I realize I’m not alone, and this is actually a safe space for me.”

Avital Goldberg-Curran transferred from Connecticut College after experiences at New York University that left her feeling threatened. She was pleased to see Pessin’s name as a faculty member. “My rabbi would talk about him as a hero. A proud Jew,” she said.

“At NYU, there were days that I felt unsafe going to class because there were mass protesters in the lobby screaming death to Israel and Jewish people,” says Goldberg-Curran, an American history graduate of Connecticut College. “There were multiple times that I took a lap around the block and waited for the protests to be broken up by the police before I went inside because I didn’t know if there were weapons.”

Goldberg-Curran follows Platt and Mazzig and said their podcasts and writings remind her of the importance of being a proud Jew in difficult times.

“They very much inspired me while I was at NYU to lean more into Judaism and being observant,” she said. “I very much sought out observing Shabbos and visiting the Chabad house and surrounding myself with Jewish people.”

She added, “I think it’s been a very important takeaway that in times of struggle, we should be finding each other and leaning into them.”

Pessin believes being vocal on Jewish hate is important for his own self-worth. “If I don’t speak up, I’ll have changed myself,” he said. “If I see something, I have to speak up and say otherwise. If I don’t, it harms me on the inside.”

That feeling of being at peace with and connected to your inner self is part of what Platt guests get from being on his show.

“They feel good for having told their story authentically and being truthful to who they are, and in some cases, spoken about things in a setting where they feel comfortable to speak about things they don’t talk about elsewhere,” said Platt. “So for a lot of people, it’s been cathartic or healing to be on the show.”