Being a Jew in Public

A Jewish man wearing a yarmulke was shot multiple times on his way to synagogue in Chicago. A rabbi in Maryland was attacked by a man wielding a wooden stake. In Manhattan, a man wearing a yarmulke was called “dirty Jew” before being punched in the face. Each of these assaults occurred within a two-week span last month.

One year ago, such scenes would have been unimaginable; few American Jews thought twice about publicly identifying as Jewish. Wearing a yarmulke, displaying a Star of David...