Columbia Senior Eden Yadegar Is Standing Up for Jewish Students Everywhere

This past spring, Columbia University student Eden Yadegar stood before Congress wearing her Magen David necklace, giving her testimony about the appalling antisemitism she’d witnessed at her school since October 7.

“My name is Eden Yadegar, and I’m a junior at Columbia University double majoring in Middle East studies and Jewish Studies,” she says. “I’m 20 years old, and the daughter of American immigrants who fled Iran 45 years ago to escape the life-threatening antisemitism that infected their country. I’m grateful to be a student at Columbia, but I’m horrified that the same Jew hate that drove my family to the U.S. has become normalized here.”

 

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Eden then went on to talk about how she couldn’t complete her Middle East Studies major, because the professor who taught the only course on Israel described October 7 as a “stunning, astonishing, awesome, jubilant achievement.”

“[Antisemitism] is pervasive in classrooms, across campus, in student groups, and online,” Eden says. “Is this 1938 or 2024?”

The video of Eden went viral, racking up 1.8 million views, and putting the student in the spotlight alongside other Jewish student activists. She became a leader at Columbia and is now running on the Aish Ha’Am slate as a World Zionist Congress delegate candidate – where she can continue her important work and empower other young Jews to speak up.

Stepping Up to the Plate at Columbia

Before October 7, Eden said she felt like a Columbia University student who was also Jewish. But that changed on that tragic day.

“Post-Oct. 7, I feel like a Jewish student at Columbia. While my Judaism has always been an integral part of my identity, and a critical part of who I am, I never felt like it defined how other people viewed me. After Oct. 7, that changed entirely. People looked at me, and all they saw was my Judaism and Zionism.”

Instead of concentrating on her classes and having a college experience, she told Aish, “I, like so many of my peers across the country, was put on the defensive and in a position where I needed to stand up for our people and advocate for them.”

She started organizing pro-Israel rallies, holding educational events, meeting with Columbia administrators, speaking to the media, and ultimately testifying about her experience before Congress.

“I was spending my time working with administrators at Columbia to plan vigils on campus,” Eden said. “We were mourning for brothers and sisters who had been slaughtered and seeking community when so many of our classmates and faculty were celebrating that slaughter. Frankly, there was no leadership to be found on campus.”

Though it’s a huge responsibility, Eden is grateful for the opportunity to stand up for am Yisrael.

“It has been the biggest privilege of my lifetime to be able to fight for Israel and the Jewish people,” she said.

Forging a Jewish Connection

Eden is running on the Aish Ha’Am slate for WZO because she said Aish, “prioritizes connection to Judaism and empowerment. When I say connection, I don’t mean exclusively in a religious or spiritual context. That is certainly a critical part of Judaism, but to be Jewish is not just to observe the Jewish faith. It also [means being part] of the Jewish people.”

This past year, Eden has learned that “empowered Jews empower Jews. When I say Aish is about empowerment, it means empowerment that starts internally, and connecting to your faith, your spirituality, and your people. That’s what Aish is all about. Aish’s approach is so unique and important when we’re living in a time when the largest issue facing the Jewish community is a lack of connection and unity.”

While Eden acknowledges that the Jewish people have come together post-Oct. 7, before that, they were “disenfranchised and disconnection… We should never let it get to that place again.”

If she is elected to the World Zionist Congress, Eden hopes to spread a message of Jewish connection, which would include going to Jewish school, spending time in Israel, studying Torah, giving to Jewish causes, advocacy, and uniting with our fellow Jews.

“That connection leads to empowerment,” she said. “If I get to be part of empowering other Jews to connect with our people, that will be the greatest blessing in life.”