The emotional toll for Jews is staggering.

An executive VP wrote a note to their entire organization at the beginning of Ramadan noting that some Muslims are dealing with the duality of embracing the “joyful reflection and service of Ramadan” while recognizing that Muslims in Gaza are living with “suffering, famine, death, and destruction. The emotional toll is staggering.” The note goes on to say, “I remain grateful to those among you who have reached out to express your pain, your outrage, your frustration – your voices matter, your messages resonate, and you belong here.”

While I too feel sorry for the pain and duress of Gaza civilians, my executive didn’t show any empathy to the trauma that many Jewish employees were feeling as a result of the torture, rape, and murder of Israelis and the taking of hundreds of hostages on Oct 7th or the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses.

But perhaps the executive was waiting for Passover to write a similar empathetic note for what Jews were feeling as they sat down for their holiday. However, no Passover note was sent out! I was truly stunned! In the face of this asymmetry, how do Jewish employees feel acknowledged and included at my workplace when executive management does not reach out to Jews in the same way they reached out to Muslims or even at all?