'Our world has stopped': Phoenix-area Jewish community grapples with antisemitism, identity

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Elianna Ickovic found herself tensing up every time a car would slow down during half-mile walks from her Phoenix home to synagogue and back.

Keeping her head covered as an observant Orthodox Jew, her faith is easy to spot in public.

Ickovic, 41, said she was on high alert: "Just in case there was going to be some kind of slur or antisemitism going around."

Ickovic is not alone in her fears. The American Jewish Committee found in a survey conducted this past fall that 93% of American Jews think antisemitism is a problem in the U.S., while 63% feel less secure about their status than the year before.

The Anti-Defamation League tracked 163 antisemitic incidents in Arizona in 2023, a sharp spike from 53 such instances in the state only the year before.

There were 8,873 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2023, according to the ADL. A 140% surge from the year before, the number of incidents of antisemitism in 2023 was the highest the ADL has recorded since it started gathering data in 1979.

Ickovic is one of many other Valley residents concerned their Jewishness has made them a mark amid increasingly hostile circumstances.

'Bombarded with lies'

The whiteboard calendar at Rabbi Aviva Funke’s Scottsdale home listing her children’s activities was last updated around the time of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

"I never erased October off of my home calendar because our world has stopped," Funke said.

In addition to the approximately 1,200 killed in Israel by Hamas in their initial attack, as of April 18, there have been 604 casualties within the Israel Defense Forces, according to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reminders of the attacks are constant for the 30-something-year-old Funke, including from content creators on TikTok without any connection to the conflict and whom she said are pushing misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war.

"On a regular basis I’m bombarded with lies and manipulation" from "people who don't really know what they're talking about," Funke said.

Nonetheless, Funke sympathizes with Palestinians she said are suffering because of Hamas’ actions.

According to the United Nations, as of April 26, there have been 34,356 Palestinians killed. The U.N. cites information from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, whose numbers include combatants.

Passover, which ends at sundown Tuesday and celebrates the liberation of Hebrews from Egypt, has left Funke reflecting on whether Jews enjoy full freedom today. She compares the militant group taking hostages to the Pharaoh holding the Hebrews as slaves. Hamas still has 133, mostly Israeli, hostages taken on Oct. 7.

"As much as I don't have a master who's making me do their labor, I don't know that my people feel free in the sense of being safe," Funke said.

'Identity crisis'

Every year for Passover, Karolyn Benger places two blue blankets with fish drawings glued on them over her Phoenix home’s balcony railing. They represent the parting of the Red Sea during the Hebrews’ exodus. But this year, there was no such décor. She and her family wanted to hang the Israeli flag in that same space shortly after the Oct. 7 attack.

"We're very close to some major streets and we’re visible from those streets, and we decided it would be safer to not do that," Benger said.

A self-described Democratic Party-voting liberal in her 40s, Benger expressed dismay at the lack of support she said she has seen from groups that advocate for Black, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. This has been especially jarring in light of reports about sexual assaults on female victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, she shared.

"The groups that I always stood up for and stood with — I don't feel like they're standing with me, so this has led to somewhat of an identity crisis," Benger said.

Equally troubling for Benger are politicians, celebrities and others of influence calling for a permanent cease-fire without mentioning the hostages. She thinks a lot of cease-fire advocates are not well-versed on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

"This situation is too nuanced, and it requires an understanding of history and geography that people aren't interested in investing the time to know," Benger said.

Meanwhile, Alan Zeichick has long avoided signaling his Jewishness unless he has an explicit reason to do so like being in a pro-Israel march. As such, the 60-something Zeichick has long withheld from wearing a yarmulke in public and instead wears a tweed hat.

"I've always been nervous," Zeichick said about bringing attention to his faith.

At a Hanukkah party he and his wife attended in December at a park in their Phoenix neighborhood, he noticed two armed security guards. He said this scene contrasts with Christmas parties and other holiday events.

"If it's a Jewish gathering, you do need to (have armed security) these days. That's just the reality. It makes us sad, but we don't stay away," Zeichick said.

'Positive impact'

Ickovic’s children attend an Orthodox Jewish school in Phoenix that has added an armed security guard. Security has also been added at the synagogue where her family worships.

She has aunts, uncles, cousins and friends living in Israel, and some of her relatives are fighting in the conflict. Her high school teacher’s son was killed in combat, she said.

With changes in the world since Oct. 7 looming heavily on her, she copes by praying and trying to put her religious faith into practice.

"I believe in prayers, and I believe in doing good deeds and I believe they can have a positive impact on the world," Ickovic said.

After agonizing over potential attacks, Ickovic is relieved to only have had positive public encounters since Oct. 7. A woman approached her while she took her 1-year-old daughter for a walk in a stroller in her neighborhood.

The woman said, "Your daughter is so beautiful," Ickovic recalled, and then added, "I want you to know we are thinking of you, and we are praying for you."

Ickovic has received many other similar words of support in her day-to-day life that have inspired a change in mindset.

"I feel a lot more confident to walk around without fear," she said.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @jrgzztx.

Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix-area Jews grapple with antisemitism surge following Oct. 7