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Back to School, Back to Reality—and a New Set of Fears

Back to School, Back to Reality—and a New Set of Fears

Last updated on: August 29, 2026 at 10:59 pm by Dana Shemesh

Back to School, Back to Reality—and a New Set of Fears 2026-08-29T22:59:21-04:00 Dana Shemesh

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A New School Year Begins…

Back to school invites the reminder that in just two years, my older son will be leaving for college. It also brings the dread of watching my boys grow up so quickly and become increasingly self-reliant, slowly making my presence feel less necessary. | Image via Synaptic Image / Patheos.

Back to Reality

A new school year begins.

It’s an adjustment—for me, for the kids, and for our family.

After the lazy, mindless lull of the end of summer, when my boys spent their days playing online, hanging out with friends and having no real idea what the next day—or even the next few hours—might bring, we’ve suddenly been jolted back into reality.

Early mornings. Homework. Sports. Activities. Demanding schedules and workloads for a seventh grader and an eleventh grader.

And, like most moms, I have all the usual feelings.

Watching Them Grow Up

There’s the dread of watching my boys grow up so quickly and become increasingly self-reliant, slowly making my presence feel less necessary.

There’s the reminder that in just two years, my older son will be leaving for college.

There’s the daily pressure of watching the clock and making sure my younger son gets to school on time.

And there’s something else, too: now that they’re back on a schedule, I can finally turn my attention to all those projects I’ve been putting off. Somehow, even though my kids need me less, I still found it difficult to start—or finish—anything during those long, unstructured summer days.

So yes, there are the normal back-to-school thoughts.

And then there are the ones that aren’t so normal.

The Questions That Run Through My Head

While separating whites from colors or folding laundry, my mind can wander somewhere much darker.

Will there be a third world war triggered by the conflict between Israel and Iran?

Will we be able to go to Israel in November as planned for our son’s Bar Mitzvah?

And if we do go, will we somehow find ourselves caught in another war?

Looking at the events of the past several years and the state of Jewish life around the world, I sometimes find myself thinking: Anything can happen.

I’ve even found myself searching for answers in places I never imagined I would—among mystics, religious thinkers – Jewish Rabbis and even Christian evangelicals trying to make sense of what is happening in the world. All of them say that this *new world order* that we are witnessing- the decline of morality, virtues, twisting of right and wrong, the rage-baiting against Israel – it’s all part of some divine plan already prophesied in biblical texts.

When Antisemitism Becomes Ordinary

This is what frightens me most: behavior that once would have seemed shocking is becoming increasingly normalized.

We happen to live in a wonderful community, with tremendous support from our elected officials and the community at large. Incidents like these are relatively rare here, and when they happen, they are not tolerated.

But my children will travel.

They will explore the world.

Eventually, they may choose to live somewhere else.

And I wonder: Will they recognize antisemitism when it comes disguised as something else?

Will they know when a political argument crosses the line into hatred of Jews?

Will they know how to respond?

And will they know how to protect themselves?

Preparing Them for a Different Reality

The truth is, I never imagined I would have to ask these questions as a parent.

But today, Jewish families think twice about what they wear, where they travel, what they say, whom they say it to—and sometimes even whether it is safe to visibly identify as Jewish.

That should not be normal.

And yet, in some places, it is becoming just that.

My children are growing up in a world where social media can flatten complicated history into a few seconds of video, where misinformation spreads faster than facts, and where Israel can be portrayed as the singular source of everything wrong in the Middle East.

They are also growing up in a world where antisemitic ideas can be repackaged as political activism and where young people can absorb them without even recognizing the hatred underneath.

So how do I prepare them?

How do I teach them to be proud of who they are without making them afraid of who they are?

Even on Vacation

Recently, my kids’ cousins in Israel traveled with their family to Montenegro.

Eastern Europe has become a popular destination for Israelis, many of whom enjoy exploring places that feel different from the typical tourist circuit.

But even there, the question came up: Would they be safe as Jews?

A friend who had recently returned from Montenegro told us that she and her friends were accused by a shopkeeper of being “baby killers.”

Imagine being on vacation with your friends, walking into a store in a European country, and suddenly being confronted with hatred because you are Israeli or Jewish.

It’s hard to comprehend.

And yet, increasingly, it isn’t difficult to imagine.

The Back-to-School Question

So as my kids head back to school, I find myself thinking about more than schedules, homework and getting everyone out the door on time.

I’m thinking about the world they are growing up in.

I’m thinking about the fact that my older son will be heading off to college before I know it, and my younger son won’t be far behind.

I’m thinking about how quickly the years are passing—and how much I still want to teach them before they go out into the world on their own.

Of course, I want them to be independent.

I want them to explore.

I want them to travel, make friends, experience different cultures and see the world.

But I also want them to know who they are.

I want them to recognize hatred when they encounter it.

I want them to know their family’s history and build a legacy of their own.

And I want them to walk through the world proudly Jewish—not fearfully Jewish.

Because that, perhaps more than homework, schedules or college applications, is the lesson I’m most determined to teach them this school year.

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