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‘I was scared to be Jewish’: Some NYC teens mask their names amid rising antisemitism

JL;DR SUMMARY In response to rising antisemitism in New York City and beyond, many Jewish teens are adopting less identifiably Jewish names to protect themselves from potential harm. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityNew York CityAdlCultural IdentitySafetyJewish TeensEllis IslandUberName Changes

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"On her Uber app, Sivans 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."
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"Recently, the Slovakian-Canadian model Miriam Mottova was kicked out of an Uber in Toronto after the driver assumed Mottova was Jewish based on a phone call she was having in the car."
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
"Last year, Lindsay Friedmann, the New Orleans-based director of the ADLs South Central Region, received reports of Uber drivers canceling rides after learning their passengers were Jewish or refusing to drive to Jewish locations, according to The Media Line."
Louisiana, United States
"Last year, Lindsay Friedmann, the New Orleans-based director of the ADLs South Central Region, received reports of Uber drivers canceling rides after learning their passengers were Jewish or refusing to drive to Jewish locations, according to The Media Line."
United States
"Antisemitism is hardly a problem exclusive to New York City."
Slovakia
"Recently, the Slovakian-Canadian model Miriam Mottova was kicked out of an Uber in Toronto after the driver assumed Mottova was Jewish based on a phone call she was having in the car."

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Cairo Item ID 71288
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2025-12-25 18:00:39 UTC
Curated 2025-12-25 19:00:24 UTC