I had just finished facilitating a workshop for a Fortune 500 company in New York City and was saying goodbye to the participants. Two women from the group stayed after to chat with me, until one of them looked at her watch and said, “We need to go right now, or we will miss our train.” As a former Long Island Railroad commuter myself, I said, “I totally get it—go!” and sent them off with a wave. As they walked towards the door, one woman turned to her colleague and gestured to her Jewish star necklace: “Don’t forget to tuck that in before you get on the subway.”
She had a valid reason to be concerned. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports an average of nearly 34 antisemitic incidents occurring per day since the Oct 7th attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent retaliation. According to the American Jewish Committee (AJC), nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the U.S. than they did a year ago. Sixty-eight percent of people in the U.S. have seen or heard antisemitic rhetoric on social media, and 44 percent shared that they had seen news stories that were negative towards Jewish people. The research also highlights what my colleagues experienced—a quarter of survey respondents reported that they’ve avoided publicly wearing, carrying, or displaying items that might identify them as Jewish out of fear of antisemitism.
With so much of the Jewish workforce feeling at risk, organizations need to find ways to help Jewish employees feel safe, included, protected, respected, and heard. A Jewish Employee Resource Group (ERG) can do just that.
ERGs are employee-led groups that provide personal and professional support, an opportunity for traditionally marginalized groups—like women, people of color, or LGBTQIA employees—to feel connected through a common cause and offer a shared space to surface issues that might feel too risky for an individual to tackle on their own. ERGs can directly and positively impact the business strategy, serve as an essential part of the employee experience, and be a mechanism to attract and retain top talent in what is still a highly competitive market. ERGs are, perhaps most importantly, a safe environment........