When I moved to Atlanta nearly a decade ago, other Jewish moms insisted I join the Facebook group Jewish Moms of Atlanta. It wasn’t just a place to trade pediatrician recommendations or ask about summer camps; it was a digital extension of our Jewish communal life. JMOA was where I found everything from ideas for local date nights to support in navigating parenting my four young Jewish kids. It felt like a home.
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Last week, I was kicked out of that group, with no warning and no option to appeal. All because — it seems — I work for J Street, a pro-Israel, pro-peace organization that supports diplomacy, democracy and a future where both Israelis and Palestinians can live in freedom and security.
I learned I had been booted from the group after a friend sent me a screenshot of a post from one of its moderators. “Anyone affiliated with organizations that undermine Israel’s security and the Jewish people (JVP, J Street, etc.) should exit the group immediately,” she wrote, adding “I cannot tolerate supporters/sympathizers of terrorism or those seeking to co-opt our community here anymore.”
I did not post regularly in this group, and typically stayed away from posting anything political. I had not even seen the post before I was removed. This wasn’t a case of two Jewish moms seeing the world differently; it was a public excommunication, delivered in the language of fear, suspicion and moral certainty. And I’m terrified by the message this action sends about the state of Jewish communal life. What does it mean that someone like me — a Jewish educator, a mom raising four Jewish children, the partner of a Conservative rabbi, a lifelong Zionist who has spent years teaching, traveling, and organizing for a better future for Israel — is no longer “Jewish enough” for a group of local moms?
Click here to read Emily Kaiman’s piece on Forward.com.
