American Jewish Committee Houston regional director Rachel Schneider leads the office’s efforts in combating antisemitism. Among AJC’s most important methods have been interfaith and intergroup work.
“Unity is our strongest defense against hate,” Schneider said. “Antisemitism is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s such an old, old hate.”
Examples of AJC Houston’s community bridge-building efforts include interfaith Seders, a Latino Chanukah celebration and, recently, dinner with a Hindu organization.
AJC Houston is one of the organization’s smallest chapters, but Schneider has a vision for its growth, especially with Houston attorney Bobby Lapin having recently been elected to a three-year term as AJC’s national president.
“Under Bobby’s leadership, we can really grow our Houston office,” Schneider said. “Bobby is a pillar of the Jewish community. Everybody knows him, everybody loves him, everybody respects him.”
Lapin is working both locally, nationally and internationally on combating antisemitism.
“AJC, like other Jewish organizations, considers the fight against antisemitism to be one of our absolute primary areas of focus,” Lapin said. “Antisemitism has reared its head in a way that many of us never really anticipated.
“We need vigilance, attention and everyone to lean in to do everything we can to combat it. We have to ensure that our community partners stand toe to toe against antisemitism. Right now, our community is feeling particularly vulnerable.”
Lapin, a former member of AJC’s national board of governors, is grateful for the leadership of AJC executive director Ted Deutch, who served as a U.S. congressman from Florida, from 2010 through 2022.
“We were so fortunate to hire Ted Deutch to be our national CEO in October 2022,” Lapin said. “Ted had spent a career in Congress, fighting antisemitism and combating anti-Israel initiatives. He was known as someone who could work across the aisle.
“Because AJC is fiercely nonpartisan, Ted has been such an outstanding and effective advocate for us, because he’s respected throughout government and the diplomatic corridor for someone who can be a trusted partner to ensure the Jewish community can be safe and secure.”
The AJC Houston office also is relatively unique, noted Schneider, because Houston is home to a large consular corps, second nationally only to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
“We are talking with diplomats about global antisemitism trends in their countries and working with them to create real action plans in their countries,” Schneider said. “We have championed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which the state of Texas has adopted. We have to make sure we’re speaking the same language when we’re combatting antisemitism around the world.”
AJC Houston works with local, state and national elected officials on combating antisemitism and the importance of Holocaust education. To emphasize the importance of Holocaust education, AJC Houston’s leadership recently met with Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath.
“One of our priorities is strengthening Israel’s place in the world,” Schneider said. “At AJC, we cannot separate our Judaism from our Zionism. They’re one and the same. We push for stronger laws to tackle hate crimes as a whole.”
Although AJC has a Campus Affairs division based in Ann Arbor, Mich., the AJC Houston office works with administrators from local universities and kindergarten through 12th-grade schools.
“When one group is being called out persistently due to their ties to Israel, it is endangering students and their right to get an education at their school,” Schneider said.
Schneider said AJC Houston has worked to inform educators about Israel through trips there, so they can get a complete picture of the Jewish state. Both Rice University’s Dr. Reginald DesRoches and St. John’s School’s Daniel Alig have traveled with AJC to Israel.