Sahar Tartak Was Attacked at Yale for Being Pro-Israel and Jewish

Immediately after the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, students at Yale began protesting the Jewish state, yelling, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” Signs went up that said, “Let’s celebrate the resistance’s success!” according to Jewish student Sahar Tartak, Yale ‘26.

The horror didn’t stop there. After months of anti-Israel protests at the university, Sahar, a history major, editor-in-chief of the Yale Free Press and student leader with Chabad, was documenting the encampments with her fellow Jewish students in the spring of 2024. Suddenly, demonstration organizers and participants walled off her and her friend. They yelled at Sahar and her friend, waved flashlights in their faces, and shoved them. And then, a protestor with a Palestinian flag waved it in her face and stabbed her with it in her left eye, as she wrote in The Free Press.

“I felt pressure where the stick of the flag had hit my left eye and had a headache last night and much of today,” Sahar wrote in her article. “I’m okay now, though. But last night, sitting in the hospital, I couldn’t help but think of my mother, Shahnaz, who grew up in Iran. Her neighbors threw rocks at her for being a Jew. She has a scar on her eyelid to this day.”

Speaking Up on Campus – and Beyond

Sahar has been an outspoken student activist since the aftermath of October 7 and the personal attack she experienced. She has not only written for The Free Press, but also the Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon, and the Yale Daily News. She testified before Congress and is supporting Jewish students at Yale by running challah bakes and cooking Shabbat meals.

Now, she is running on the Aish Ha’Am slate for the World Zionist Congress to further her activism. If she becomes a delegate, she wants to focus on the college campus problem, which she believes is indicative of a bigger issue in the United States.

“The cultural wave on our college campuses is extremely important when it comes to our future,” she said. The World Zionist Organization Congress should be doing what they can to make America a more truly democratic place that really lives up to its own values. That starts for me, at least, on a college campus. It’s upstream of a lot of American culture and practices.”

Sahar is honored to run on the Aish Ha’Am slate, saying it’s diverse and “brings together Jews with one shared mission in fighting for the survival of the Jewish people and Abrahamic, monotheistic values that are being threatened in this world.”

She said that if she is elected as a delegate, she hopes to, “achieve meaningful change on the ground. I really hope the World Zionist Organization Congress can provide resources and support to college students who are making changes right now.”

Keeping Young Jews Connected

While it was apparent that October 7 ignited Jewish pride in many Jews, it had the opposite effect on others. Sahar has seen that some of her fellow Jews have disconnected from their identities.

“Some [young Jews] have looked at what’s going on the past year and a half and said to themselves, ‘Hey, maybe it’s not worth being Jewish. Maybe there is something wrong with being Jewish. Others say the Jewish people aren’t right. Maybe I should believe them and join their cult,’” she said.

Instead of turning these Jews away, Sahar wants to bring them closer.

“Jews are such precious souls and people, and it’s our job to pull them back into our Jewish family, invite them to Shabbat dinners, pull them back into our community, and make sure they have a meaningful relationship with Judaism and with Hashem.”

No matter where they are on their Jewish journeys, Sahar has a message for Jews her age: to embrace who they are and be proud. How can they do that? By practicing Shabbat.

“Find one way to keep Shabbat every week, whether that’s attending Shabbat dinner or putting your phone away, even for an hour,” she said. “Shabbat is the spiritual and physical recharging of the Jewish people that has kept us alive for generations. Especially for young Jews, it’s a crazy and chaotic time in this world. Every Jew needs to experience that peace once a week.”

She continued, “Do what you can. It’s not all or nothing.”

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