Sitting in the audience of Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company’s Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, I found myself holding back tears for much of the evening.

Tears of gratitude—hearing the language of my ancestors being spoken on a major Toronto stage. Tears of pride—watching homegrown talent hold its own alongside Broadway veteran Steven Skybell. Tears of sadness—mourning the generations of Jews who lived lives much like those depicted in Anatevka, only to be murdered during the pogroms or in the Holocaust. And tears of frustration—recognizing that the antisemitism that haunted Jewish life back then has not disappeared today. It has merely changed its shape.

The arts community often prides itself on being more enlightened than the broader public. It speaks passionately about inclusion, belonging, and amplifying marginalized voices. Yet when I recently submitted an editorial to a Toronto arts publication about modern antisemitism, the dangers of universalizing Jewish experiences, and the way Fiddler speaks directly to these issues, I received feedback that the piece was “too specific,” “problematic,” and ultimately “unpublishable.”

Among the suggested edits were requests to remove most references to antisemitism and instead discuss racism more broadly, while including examples of other forms of hatred and discrimination-based violence so the article would be more palatable to a mainstream audience. I declined. Not because other forms of hatred are unimportant, but because asking Jews to dilute conversations about antisemitism is itself part of the problem—a problem which these suggested edits unintentionally proved.........

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