Jews around the world are making vacation plans differently.

This summer, Jews around the world are making vacation plans differently.

In some ways, we plan like everyone else.

How many outfits do I need?

What will the weather be?

What attractions or cities do I want to visit?

In other ways, we've always been a bit unique.

We need to figure out how we can have access to kosher food.

Sometimes we need to pack basic supplies like peanut butter and tuna fish in case there's no food available.

We wonder if there is a minyan nearby, a shul, an old Jewish quarter to visit.

But this summer I can really feel how heavy the change is.

Yes, we worry about all of the above.

But we also ask questions like this:

Can my son and husband wear a kippah in the airport or on the street?

Will someone attack me if they overhear me speaking in Hebrew on the phone or to my family?

Should I hide the fact that I am Israeli from the hotel or cab driver?

Is there security outside the local synagauge?

Should I tuck my Jewish star necklace under my shirt or wear a baseball cap instead of a tichel?

Are there going to be pro-Palestinian protests where I'm going?

Where people refuse me service if they know I am a Jew?

Will the local kosher restaurant or supermarket be attacked (shot up, burned down, protested) while I'm there?

Has there been hunting for Israelis in that particular locale? (Yes, this is very, very real and happens more than you think.)

What is the level of risk I'm willing to expose myself and family to?

I resent that before I show my children the world, I now have to calculate which parts of the world are safe for them to be visibly themselves.

I'm furious that this also means that if I want to take them outside of Israel, we may have to hide our identities in order to be safe.

That flies in the face of all the Jewish pride I was ever raised with.

I hate that this is the world they are growing up in.

But this is what it means to be an identifiable Jew in 2026