In 2018, when I began working on my book A Peoplehood | Amiut Yehudit, I believed I had a clear vision of what I was creating. I was exploring a double helix question: how to illustrate the multiplicity of contemporary Jewish identity while documenting the impact of antisemitism on that identity.
The Project's Evolution
The project considered not only how Jews see and express themselves but also how present-day Jewish life is interpreted, projected upon, or politicized by the world beyond the community. My goal was to move beyond headlines and statistics into the lived texture of this moment.
The impetus for the work was my observation in the early 2000s of the reemergence of overt antisemitism and its shaping of contemporary Jewish life. Security guards became a regular presence at Jewish Day Schools, police were stationed outside synagogues during High Holidays, and the annual Israeli Apartheid Week began at universities, first at the University of Toronto. This period also coincided with the rise of social media and online discourse.
Attacks Shattered Sense of Safety
The book does not define Jewish identity but observes how it is experienced personally and collectively in ways that resist simplification. It invites audiences to engage with spaces between past and present, visibility and erasure, personal testimony and public discourse.
The project has taken multiple forms, including a gallery installation and a conceptual documentary short film. I was translating the material into book form when the ground shifted beneath me.
October 7 and Its Aftermath
The brutality of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, shattered a sense of safety for Jews worldwide. The aftermath—the silence, distortions, and justifications—left many Jews feeling betrayed by individuals and institutions they once counted as friends and allies.
October 7 did not just alter the broader context of my work; it changed how I understood the material I had already created. Examining it through a post-October 7 lens revealed a community on a precipice, aware of being in a different era than the late 20th century but never imagining the torrent of global Jew-hatred that would be unleashed. Canada has sadly become a world leader in this hatred.
Living Through a Destabilizing Moment
Before October 7, my photographs showed security guards in playgrounds of Jewish Day schools and police in front of places of worship on Jewish holidays. After October 7, I have images of a police command truck stationed in front of a Jewish day school since 2023, still in place in 2026, and police positioned daily at the synagogue at the end of my street.
We are living through a profoundly destabilizing moment emotionally, politically, and culturally. The book holds both longer trajectories and a moment of profound disruption in view.
In the context of Jewish Heritage Month, there is often an emphasis on celebration, continuity, and contribution. These are important, but they are not the whole story. Rather than providing answers, A Peoplehood | Amiut Yehudit invites reflection and dialogue. Rather than offering a historical overview or a singular narrative, it creates space for an intimate, multi-voiced exploration of what Jewish peoplehood means today.
The book brings together voices, images, and materials that do not always align neatly. At times, the past and present echo each other, reflecting what it means to be Jewish today.
Marnie Salsky is a Toronto-based photographer and author of A Peoplehood | Amiut Yehudit.
