For American women working with non-Jews

amother

Pewter

Thu, Oct 12 2023, 9:07 pm

Nobody at my work said anything but I didn't expect them to. I work in a preschool classroom, and we generally don't have our own conversations in front of the kids. I'm a SEIT so I'm not with them during down time. There's no way we're talking about it in front of preschoolers.
Dh also works in a not Jewish place. One person expressed sympathy and concern. Others complained about the graphic videos being shown.

mommy3b2c

Thu, Oct 12 2023, 9:09 pm

One of my workers just texted me this:

“I just got mistaken for a Palestinian. Some guy said " palestine will prevail, right brother?!" I said" im not Palestinian, nor do I find any of this okay." And then he tried to teach him some history but the man just walked away as ignorant and hateful as ever “

amother

Steel

Thu, Oct 12 2023, 10:57 pm

I work in a Jewish setting and a highly Israeli one at that. Everybody is crushed and devastated and angry and everything. Obviously.
But I haven’t said a word of support to anyone. I’ve mostly kept quiet this last week. Why? Because I’m dealing with my own grief over what happened and fear over the hundreds of family, friends, and acquaintances who’s lives are in danger because of their location or their army service or just being in a war zone. I can’t bear my own sadness. But my Israeli coworkers seem like they’re closer to the situation because Israel is/was their home, whereas I’ve spent only a year there years ago. Or because one of my coworkers is from the south and all her family is there and near places where the massacres happened. And I just can’t say anything because it’s too much and because I feel like I can’t possibly relate and fit in, even if there’s a reasonable chance they would appreciate words of support.

So your silent coworkers might not all be ignoring the situation or maliciously avoiding it.

amother

Blush

Thu, Oct 12 2023, 11:46 pm

I work for the federal government remotely and everyone is nice and really not personal and NEVER bring up politics except for a few team leads who make sure to get to know people.

One sent me an email before yt was over, cced to all the frum people she knows in our group, checking if we and our families are ok.
One I met with this week. He asked me how I'm doing in his slow midwestern way if talking and I said ok slowly because I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring up the topic so I really felt like saying that I've been crying a lot the last few days. Then he brought it up, was pretty sympathetic. He isn't really religious but was raised by super religious xtian parents who apparently had a lifelong dream to visit Jerusalem and had been there just a few days when war broke out! He said they took a bus to Jordan and caught a flight from there.
I'm kind of nervous about the third guy. I don't have my monthly meeting with him for a bit because we met before Sukkos. He's always been so nice and interested and when I explained being offline for shabbos and yt he thought it was cool. But I saw on LinkedIn he is an AOC fan so who knows?

I know it's best if politics are kept out if the office but I wish the director would make a sympathetic statement or something. I don't think people understand how emotionally difficult this time is for us.

amother

Scarlet

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 7:12 am

I teach at a Jewish school, and I’m our first day back after Sukkos break there were a few non-Jewish teachers wearing blue to show solidarity. Everyone sincerely respected the solemn vibe in the teachers room and while interacting with others…

Chickensoupprof

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 8:09 am

Well I'm not in America 🇳🇱 But I've started to orientate myself on a new job in education in a school for vocational studies students are teenagers. And Tuesday someone asked me how I was doing and if I had family in Israel and if they were ok. Today it wasn't the case I only had one class with someone I did not see before.

Well it is a day before vacation and lots of students did not come. Like 4 came in the end but 2 Syrian girls were present at 08:30 in class (and it rained really hard this morning and they came from far). And first I was getting paranoid because of all the WhatsApp groups and everything.
And I was afraid I would see on their phones things like 'kill Jews' or whatever, and I had to cook with them so what with a knife... And then I had to stop myself. Sorry, I can't work if I believe I will be slaughtered. And who knows with a lace sheitel or a fall I'm Jewish? My name is Esther and 435345 non Jews in the Netherlands are named Esther, my last name is not Goldstein or Cohen but a rare Dutch name even my DH name doesn't sound Jewish and I rarely use it.

So I had to stop myself for being paranoid because how could I work otherwise? So with these Syrian girls I had the biggest fun, they wanted to know about my baby, they wanted to know where I was from etc. And on their phones and laptops, nothing about Hamas or Palestine just make-up and clothes

amother

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 10:30 am

Popping back on to share an inspiring moment - I work with a totally irreligious Israeli (married to a non-Jew), and I reached out to her to say I was thinking of her and her family in Israel, and offered to daven for any family members serving. She immediately responded with a list of her cousins' tehillim names - I don't know if she's davening in the traditional sense of the word, but she has these names on her mind. I teared up when I saw her message.