A Jewish Student's Survival Guide

A powerful guide for Jewish students facing intimidation on campus, based on the young refuseniks who took on one of the most oppressive regimes in history—and won.

Young American Jews face daunting challenges on campuses today. They are pressured to conform to an antisemitic reality, pass ideological litmus tests, and disavow crucial parts of their identity—their Zionism, their bond with Israel, and their link to the Jewish people’s larger story.

Half a century ago, young Jews in the Soviet Union faced a strikingly similar campaign of antizionist pressure and erasure. Known as refuseniks, they stood up to a regime intent on eliminating Jews culturally and spiritually as a people. They refused to comply. Their defiance changed history.

In Be a Refusenik, acclaimed scholar Izabella Tabarovsky brings the two stories together—those of the Soviet refuseniks and those of Jewish students and activists on modern-day campuses. The systems are radically different, but the patterns are hauntingly familiar.

This groundbreaking book draws on the lessons of the refusenik struggle to equip a new generation of American Jews with practical strategies to lead our people into a vibrant future.