This summer, over 80,000 daily commuters crossing the Third Avenue Bridge toward the FDR Drive in New York City will pass a unique billboard: Two children in yarmulkas and tzitzit, laughing as they play. Above them, the words “Born to Be a Yid” are written in big bold letters. A link to Chabad.org/JewishAndProud directs passersby to learn more.
It’s one of several billboards that have gone up this summer as part of a campaign to respond to antisemitism with what some might think is an unusual message: Joy.
Another billboard overlooks Staten Island Borough Hall and the St. George Ferry Terminal, where an average 70,000 commuters pass daily. It shows a Jewish couple under the chuppah, the groom mid-step on the glass. A digital billboard in Times Square will join them in coming weeks.
Rabbi Motti Seligson of the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center and Chabad.org directed the campaign.
“The public knows all too well about the challenges we face,” Seligson said. “We wanted to go in a different direction, one that is confidence-inducing and joyful.”
Amid rising antisemitism in New York City and around the world, much of the Jewish communal response has focused either on increased security or on calling out and going after the problem. Those measures are important, but are defensive in nature, and have done little to ease the deepening sense of anxiety many Jews feel.
The “Born to Be a Yid” campaign’s approach is rooted in the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The most effective answer to Jew-hatred, is to invest in Jewish identity itself. While fear or anger are often the first reaction to instances of hate, the Rebbe encouraged Jews to channel these dark moments into opportunities to engage more meaningfully with their Jewish identity.
There is an important place for other approaches and tactics as well. To ignore pressing problems by turning inward is not the answer either. But ultimately, the Rebbe explained, building strong and joyful Jews is the way to tackle the fundamental issue at hand. In the late chief rabbi of the United Kingdom Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ formulation: “Non-Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism.”
This view has gained support in recent years, including from people and institutions who’ve spent years advocating a combative response to antisemitism.
“No one needs another reminder of how scared they should be,” Seligson added. “What we need is something that puts a smile on someone’s face and has them walking a little taller.”
Billboards are already reserved in Florida, Seligson said, and organizers are looking for partners to expand the campaign to other cities.
The choice of the Yiddish word “Yid” in the title was deliberate.
“We are speaking privately to fellow Jews, and we’re happy for others to listen in,” Seligson said. “And when they do, they see Jews who are proud of themselves. That earns respect.”
Copywriter Avi Webb led the creative direction, working with designer Chana Snyder on the visuals. While the principal donor of the $200,000 worth of billboard space asked to remain anonymous, Yossi Popack and Chabad of the UAE were instrumental in developing the campaign.
Advertising Judaism: A Tradition Dating to the Rebbe
The idea of celebrating Jewish identity through advertising and the media is not new.
In the 1980s and early 1990s Rabbi Joshua Metzger, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Midtown Manhattan, regularly directed famous advertising campaigns tied to the Jewish holidays on billboards, at bus stops and in newspapers, with the Rebbe regularly reviewing the creative.
“The Rebbe was very involved in giving feedback and critique,” Metzger said. “The Rebbe wasn’t beholden to any one way or platform of reaching Jewish people and encouraging them to take on another mitzvah. Any way that worked, the Rebbe encouraged.”
The Rebbe had a keen eye for detail and frequently had notes for Metzger’s ads.
One campaign, timed to Passover, featured a seder plate with a cup of wine under the line “Don’t Pass Over Passover.”
“When we gave it to the Rebbe’s secretariat for the Rebbe’s review, the ad came back with a note from the Rebbe saying that only one of the Four Cups was depicted. Of course, we redid the shoot, this time with all Four Cups.”
Going past the Rebbe for “Sunday Dollars,” Metzger and the sponsors presented the finished poster to the Rebbe, but the Rebbe handed it back and suggested it go up in yet another subway station, to reach even more people.
The following campaign, for Shavuot, showed a Torah scroll beneath a crown, with the headline “Claim Your Inheritance.” Organizers once again presented the final advertisement to the Rebbe, who gave them his blessing for its success. On his next visit to the Ohel, the Rebbe was seen carrying the large poster and placing it on the seat of his car.
“There’s no doubt that the Rebbe blesses this campaign and its message, and its effort to share a positive portal of Judaism with society at large will surely have a big impact,” Metzger said.
“We didn’t invent this idea. The Rebbe taught it decades ago,” Seligson added. “What’s notable is how many others are arriving at it now, including some who spent years fighting antisemitism head-on. Don’t organize Jewish life around the haters. Build something so joyful, so strong, that the hate just doesn’t matter. That’s how you fight darkness: with light.”
