Upstanders: How Aaron Wertheimer of Marketing Reel Is Standing Up Against Antisemitism, Racism, Bigotry, and Hate
Leave space for others’ concerns– had I not been at that Shabbat dinner table and listened to my friend about his qualms about our world, I would not have been in a position to connect him to our marketing agency and help those in college have access to better mental health resources.
An upstander is the opposite of a bystander. A bystander is someone who stands by while others are being bullied, maligned, or mistreated. An upstander is someone who stands up to protect and advocate for the victim. We are sadly seeing a surge of hate, both online and in the real world. Many vulnerable minorities feel threatened and under attack. What measures are individuals, communities, and organizations taking to stand up against Antisemitism, Racism, Bigotry, and Hate? In this interview series, we are talking to activists, community leaders, and individuals who are Upstanders against hate, to share what they are doing and to inspire others to do the same. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Aaron Wertheimer.
Aaron Wertheimer currently works as a copywriter for Marketing Reel: Marketing Reel is a business-to-business and business-to-consumer (B2B and B2C) video and content marketing agency serving finance, high-tech, healthcare, education, trades, auto, real estate, and consumer goods industries. He believes arts and culture have the power to transform the world for the better, which is why he currently volunteers as a dance/music instructor and community organizer with inclusive organizations such as Studio D, Dayenu, and Limmud North America. He completed education and psychology degree programs at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
The pleasure is all mine, truly. Thank you for having me! I was born and raised Jewish in a small middle-class, multicultural neighborhood just outside of Detroit, Michigan. Though my brother and I were raised by a single mom, my childhood wasn’t lacking in any way. I fondly remember my brother and me playing on the small front grass lawn we shared with our neighbors, being babysat by our next-door Indian neighbors, having block parties each summer with the kids across the block, and going to bed to the sound of crickets and the muted freeway din behind our home.
As a child, I wasn’t aware that we were on a tight budget, as my mom always managed to make us feel taken care of, happy, and heard. She hustled and applied for government-sponsored programs (like Jewish Family Services) to take care of us, and she even reached out to family members to make sure my brother and I received an outstanding Jewish private school education.
To help illustrate the picture of my childhood, my mom would take time out of her busy day to prepare lunches for students at our school. We also had a once-a-week treat after Saturday religious services: Taco Bell. Though some may consider the $9 we spent at Taco Bell on tacos, nacho cheese, and burritos paltry at best, I couldn’t have cared less. We were all together, we had each other, and we were happy. That’s what matters most.
In hindsight, these early memories have been the best education I received in my life so far. I learned that money truly can’t buy happiness. Happiness comes from within.
As a current marketing copywriter, aspiring educator and writer, performing artist, and perennial learner, I credit my current professional and personal endeavors to my mom’s passion for giving back to the community, her unwavering commitment to maintaining interfaith dialogue between people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and her zeal for education.
Can you share a personal story of how you experienced or encountered antisemitism, racism, bigotry, or hate? How did that experience shape your perception and actions moving forward?
I feel extremely fortunate not to have had any direct experiences of antisemitism, racism, bigotry, or hate as it relates to being Jewish, but after the 2018 killing of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, my local synagogue near my house was vandalized with the spray-painted words “F*** Jews.”
When I saw then-President Donald Trump suggest on the news that the Tree of Life synagogue should have protected itself better and that we needed to “stiffen up laws in terms of the death penalty,” I knew our leadership at the time wasn’t doing enough to combat hate and bigotry.
I was 25, and the way I coped with the frustration and grief of not knowing what to do was by turning inward to music, dance, and writing. Fortunately, playing music and shows at restaurants, going social dancing, and writing poetry helped lift me out of the funk I felt about making a change and addressing antisemitism.
After the vandalism event occurred a mile from my home, I just sort of naturally fell into using education and the arts to help combat antisemitism.
The events of Trump’s presidency, the vandalism at my local congregation, and the recent events of the Israeli-Gaza war have not only increased my motivation to continue to seek justice for those who experience antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hate, but also reinforced the necessity for doing so through arts, culture, and storytelling promoting the joy, diversity, and richness — not just grief and suffering — of marginalized communities and their lived experiences.
I’m so grateful I now have the opportunity to work with Marketing Reel, an organization that works with people from countries who have faced discrimination in the past (Ukraine, India, and the Americas), an organization that’s who is committed to providing quality marketing content and strategy for a variety of causes, individuals, women-owned-, and small-minority businesses. I’m also so grateful I can use my experience as a writer, educator, and artist to now volunteer with three excellent organizations — Studio D, Dayenu, and Limmud North America — working to end hate directed at minority populations.
Can you describe how you or your organization is helping to stand up against hate? What inspired you to take up this cause?
Marketing Reel stands up against hate by hiring a mix of individuals from a variety of countries. As a remote content marketing agency, we hire and work with minority populations as part of our effort to support those experiencing bigotry, hated, and discrimination around the world. It just so happens that these people tend to do great work for us as well. For example, we’ve hired and currently work with graphic designers from Ukraine, website developers in India, account managers based out of Hungary, small-family-run businesses in Canada, and other women-owned businesses across the U.S.
Marketing Reel currently partners with healthcare and education start-ups aiming to make receiving education and healthcare services easier for those who’ve historically been discriminated against because of their age and disability. It also partners with people of different faiths and creeds, people who are doing the hard work of creating more just and equitable health, social, and economic outcomes for our world.
Outside of my job, Studio D is currently standing up against hate by holding once-weekly adaptive dance lessons for individuals aged 4–18 with special needs. At another volunteer organization — Limmud North America — I work with a group of nine other community members to engage in text-based study, explore the history of the Los Angeles Jewish community, and learn the fundamentals of grassroots community organizing. Finally, at Dayenu, I put into action what I’ve learned at Limmud North America by partnering with other Jews to confront climate change from a Jewish perspective. Dayenu builds up the collective Jewish voice to lobby bold political action for climate change.
I was inspired to volunteer for Studio D, Limmud North America, and Dayenu after I bared witness to how few opportunities people with special needs had to engage in dance and the arts, how my peers felt somewhat helpless to do much about climate change, and how disconnected I felt to my local Jewish community in affecting change for both special needs individuals and for our climate at large.
Most importantly, I cannot emphasize enough how serendipitous it was to be hired as a copywriter at Marketing Reel. Our marketing agency acts as the loudspeaker for so many clients who are already doing the great social, economic, political, and environmental work that I so value, respect, and do in my spare time as a volunteer. I was inspired to work for Marketing Reel, because I thought I could use my skills as a writer, educator, and artist to be a loudspeaker for organizations whose missions deserved to be broadcasted to and heard by the rest of the world.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your work as an Upstander?
I think the most interesting story that has happened to me since I began my work as an Upstander has more to do with how my volunteering and professional experience have come together.
There was one night I was at a Shabbat (the Jewish sabbath and day of rest) dinner event hosted by several Jews. We were discussing the ways we could address how to promote a more just, equitable education system for people in public schools.
I happened to be a creative writing teacher at the time for creative writing teacher at the time for middle and high school students while working as a marketing copywriter for Marketing Reel.
When I brought this up during dinner, one of the people I was sitting next to told me he happened to be searching for a marketing agency to help promote his start-up focusing on empowering college students with mental health resources and education.
What a coincidence! So, I passed on my CEO’s contact information to my newfound friend, and since then, all three of us have been in contact and have talked about potential partnerships to help raise the specter of marketing for mental health and education initiatives.
I always had thought that my life experiences as a writer and artist were somewhat disconnected, but after that Shabbat dinner, I saw how intrinsically linked they truly can be: had I not worked for Marketing Reel or volunteered with organizations like Studio D, Limmud North America, or Dayenu, I might not have had the experience — or credibility — to get the ball rolling on this partnership.
Though it may have been just a Shabbat dinner, it felt like the catalyst for something much larger. For one, I felt a measure of comfort in the notion that there are other people like me looking to make the world a better place through education.
I recall this memory in times when I need a little pick-me-up to sustain me to share, promote, and lift the stories of others and keep working towards a more peaceful, loving, just, and harmonious world.
Could you share an inspiring story that demonstrates the impact your efforts have had on an individual or community?
Absolutely. At Studio D, we work with individuals who come to our dance studio with physical disabilities. Some of these people also have special needs such as autism, down syndrome, cognitive delays, and more. One of the young students we work with had historically been very angry, closed-off, and disengaged prior to joining Studio D’s dance program.
After 6 weeks of our 15-week program, he slowly opened up, and he now is a regular presence in our class. When I arrive at the studio with my bike, he’s always the first person to greet me. He opens the door wide, smiles up at me, and hugs me. He has also made friends with others in the class, and when he’s not feeling like dancing, he’s calm and politely says he’d like to take a break.
Best of all, he proudly performed at the showcase at the end of our program, and he gave us volunteers and his dance teachers a giant bear hug.
The story doesn’t end there: Only after the 15-week program finished did I find out that my student’s mom happened to be in the same graduate program as my mom. They ended up connecting. Despite graduating 14 years ago, my mother and my student’s mother are now in regular contact with each other.
It might just be in my head, but I feel somewhat responsible for playing a small role in helping them connect. I’m always inspired by this student, as he has helped reaffirm for me what I’ve always wanted to (and now do) believe about the world: one person, one connection, and one action at a time can make the world a better place.
In your opinion, why do you think there has been such a surge of antisemitism, racism, bigotry, & hate, recently?
It’s true: antisemitism has surged, but I don’t know if that’s the whole picture here. I think part of the reason a surge is occurring is because social media and the internet can easily publicize the hate that may have always existed but was not always made publicly visible. I think the blessing with our new technology is that we’re discovering and highlighting new perspectives — both loving but also hateful — that were once muffled or not heard as loudly as in times past.
It’s tough to grow with new technologies and to come to terms with new perspectives, hence some people shut down and drown out change and new perspectives with hate. As a result, I think the current rise in antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hatred is the byproduct of a person (or brain) that’s overwhelmed by a deluge of information and “under-resourced” in learning how to make sense of this deluge of information in a narrative that fits with a person’s values, core beliefs, and creeds.
At the same time as information is being more widely disseminated to the public, I think we’re learning more than ever about the importance of mental health as it relates to taking care of ourselves in understanding people’s mostly loving — but sometimes hateful — perspectives on life.
Research has suggested that increased time spent on social media is linked to mental health outcomes like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. I think antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hate could be an outward manifestation of a pre-existing, undiagnosed mental health issue that is only exacerbated that much more by the rise of social media and always available information on the internet.
In short, just as mental health issues have always existed, I would say there’s a slight surge and/or correlation between social media and antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hatred. Hatred may be on the rise because it’s been made more visible thanks to the proliferation of social media, video streaming, and other news-streaming websites. People will follow the trends, and thus, hate crimes may increase more because people perceive hate to be normal — especially when it’s broadcasted so frequently and publicly on social media. That’s my two cents on the issue.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I’m definitely no expert when it comes to political reform, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I think in order to solve the amount of hate, bigotry, discrimination, antisemitism, and racism in the world, we need to do more of what organizations and companies like Marketing Reel, Studio D, Limmud, and Dayenu are doing: leaving space to listen to, share, and talk about our unique stories together — both what’s lovely about, but also what makes us feel uncomfortable about each other.
Politicians, society, and the community at large would be wise to do the following to end hate, bigotry, discrimination, antisemitism, and racism in the world:
1. Make holidays like Juneteenth a national holiday celebrated by all individuals.
2. Provide tax credits to companies for committing to climate change, hiring diverse individuals, and volunteering.
3. Allocate more funding for education and the arts (Okay, I’ll admit I’m a little biased here).
What are your “5 Things Everyone Can Do To Be An Upstander”?
1 . Leave space for others’ concerns– had I not been at that Shabbat dinner table and listened to my friend about his qualms about our world, I would not have been in a position to connect him to our marketing agency and help those in college have access to better mental health resources.
2 . Listen more– Sometimes, all it takes to change a person’s life is to know that they’re being heard. When someone feels uncomfortable or is projecting hate, it’s often from a place of fear, pride, pain, or deep emotional hurt. Sometimes, a simple, “I hear and feel you,” is often all that a person is looking for, and they might open up as a result. Whether as a copywriter on the job crafting the right content for someone, or bridging the divide between people of different faiths, I’ve found that providing a listening ear goes a long way in combating hate and promoting mutual respect.
3 . Be curious: ask questions of clarification– I can’t tell you how many times repeating back what I heard and asking for clarification has helped me better understand the needs of others. When you’re listening and asking questions, you’re more likely to understand the motives another person has if you ask them what’s on your mind (respectfully, of course). If they’re someone who promotes hate, you’ll immediately be able to tell, and you’ll be able to act accordingly to combat it — usually with additional clarification questions. People love to mirror each other’s behaviors. The more you ask questions, the more you’ll help reflect what you’re hearing, and you increase your chances of having them hear you out as well.
4 . Act on your feelings and intuition– if after asking for clarification something doesn’t sound right, and the person still perpetuates hateful acts of discrimination, take action. Listen to your feelings and intuition, and know deep down that if you feel angry, sad, grief-stricken, frustrated, or fearful, take those feelings and act on them. Your feelings exist for a reason: use them for good. Stand up to hatred, bigotry, antisemitism, and racism by listening to your inner compass.
5 . Reflect, think before speaking, and then speak– everyone has an opinion, which is why it’s important to reflect on and think about what you want to say before saying it. I remember a time when I was at another Shabbat dinner, and I was speaking to a friend of mine who identifies as Muslim. At the time, we were talking about how the Quran differs from the Torah. He mentioned that he wasn’t sure about his beliefs toward Jews and Muslims, which I took to mean that he didn’t think they deserved equal treatment. When I heard that my friend wasn’t sure, I started pointing out left and right how Jews and Muslims deserve equal treatment. After he pointed out that I misunderstood him, that what he meant was that he’s still coming to terms with his family’s beliefs about Jews and Muslims and his personal beliefs, I realized I shouldn’t have interrupted him and gone on a mighty tirade against the tyranny of small-mindedness.
Fortunately, we’re still friends today. However, I learned a valuable lesson from this experience: reflect on what someone else says, think before speaking, and only then speak. I try to practice this daily, but like all people, I make mistakes (a lot of mistakes). As a bystander, it’s important to reflect on what others say before speaking, just to ensure you’re not allowing your own biases to cloud your perception of their words and actions.
How do you handle the emotional toll that comes with being an Upstander?
That is a great question. At the end of the day, we’re all human. Just as most of us want to live in a compassionate, harmonious, and loving world, we need to give ourselves a heavy dose of grace and compassion when we feel we need breaks from the work we do.
For this reason, I meditate, journal, exercise, and practice hobbies such as playing piano, writing poetry, and going social dancing to help me recharge my batteries.
I find that a daily gratitude practice also helps me put life in perspective: too much focus on what could be improved blinds me to the gifts and joys that exist at every moment in life. Writing down what I’m grateful for helps me recognize how much love already exists in this world and how if we keep building on it, love — not hate — will be all that we see in this world.
In other words, the more I give myself love, grace, and compassion when I feel I need it most, the more joy I will have in Aaron’s emotional piggie bank to spread to others. Giving ourselves love can have a ripple effect outwards: the more that other people see people feeling joyous and happy in the world, the more people will realize that joy — not hatred — was all that ever existed in the first place in our lives. At least, that’s how I feel when I witness smiling and happy people going about their days.
If you were in charge of the major social media companies, what would you do to address the hate on the platforms? Could you share specific strategies or policies that you believe would be effective in addressing hate on social media platforms?
Again, I’m no expert, but if I were in charge of major social media companies, what I would do to address hate on platforms would be to hold a town hall, webinar, or open forum meeting with people of all ages and ask them what they want to see out of their social media experience. In short, ask the stakeholders first.
Then, I would have social media companies like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok report back what they learned from their respective stakeholders, and come up with proposed solutions on how to effectively manage hate on social media platforms.
Finally, after stakeholders and social media companies come to a consensus on which ways social media can help and hinder public society — and actionable strategies to curb hate and promote harmony — I would come to politicians with the proposed solutions and have them enforced via legislation.
What these solutions look like in real time might be mandatory diversity and inclusion classes for the public, classes that must be learned before being able to have a social media profile. Just as we require an individual to take driver’s education to minimize traffic accidents, so too would it be a requirement to learn how to use social media to reduce hate crimes and combat bigotry.
The principle behind this strategy is that speaking one’s mind is a privilege. As the saying goes, “With great freedom comes great responsibility.” For this reason, I believe we need to treat the freedom and privilege of using social media the same way. If politicians can educate people on the advantages and disadvantages of social media, politicians will be better poised to help the public manage the ways in which free speech is sometimes used to propagate hate.
How would you answer someone who says: “Hate speech is permitted under the US Constitution. Why are you so worried about permitted, and legal speech?”
If the person speaking to me had a sense of humor and was open to appeals of logic, I would likely point out that we’re also legally allowed to own guns; that doesn’t mean I can shoot people because I have a gun.
I would also bring up an emotional appeal: just as words can unite, words can also divide. I would ask the person if they’ve ever been hurt by someone else’s words, and then I would ask them to imagine or recall how it felt to be on the receiving end of those hateful words. If they were open to hearing it, I would remind them of the golden saying, “Do not do unto others as you would not want done unto you.”
Finally, I would appeal to their sense of community if they were not willing to listen to both my emotional and logical appeals for curbing hate speech. I would say something to the effect of “do it for your community,” to show that other people are counting on you not to speak hateful words, and if not for yourself, do it because we need you to do so. Our society is only as strong as our weakest links, and if our hateful words are causing us to make someone feel weak and hurt, then we need to curb hateful words and do so for the health of their cherished community.
Are you optimistic that we can solve this problem in the United States? Can you please explain what you mean?
While I believe that hate will always exist, I am very optimistic that we’ll be able to understand where hate comes from, how it’s perceived, and what can be done to mitigate its effects on others.
Just as modern medicine has helped us live longer and eradicate illnesses once thought to be lethal, I believe we can also come to better understand the human condition — specifically what causes people to engage in acts of hatred, bigotry, antisemitism, and racism — so that we can end hatred and bigotry towards all.
It’s a tall order, but I believe it can be done. And I believe it already is being done. So many amazing organizations are already doing the great work of promoting harmony, inter-faith dialogue, and love while combating hate, discrimination, bigotry, antisemitism, and hate. The more we give voice to and promote these voices of love, the more we will see that love — not hate — is what has always bound us and what will continue to bind us together long after we depart from this planet.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an Upstander but doesn’t know where to start?
I would say trust your gut. I would say be in touch with how you feel and take the very first action that’s in your power. While it may be tempting to want to combat hate, antisemitism, hatred, racism, and bigotry by staging a ginormous revolution, the best revolutions start with small actions that compound and build upon each other.
With that said, take one step at a time, and take the very next step you see in front of you. Don’t worry about the top of the staircase or the revolution. Just take the next step, and eventually, step by step, you will reach the staircase that can help you change the world, one small action and one individual at a time.
In what ways can education be leveraged to combat antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hate?
Education can agitate the public and make visible that which was once invisible. In other words, education can bring to people’s awareness people practices that need to change. For example, I took a community organizing education class with an organization called Dayenu. I didn’t realize the common steps needed to help organize and run a protest, but once I did, I found myself more empowered to help raise money at the intersection of climate change and antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hate. Had I not been educated about how business can fuel climate change, I would not have known what I needed to do to take action on it.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The first quote that comes to mind is Barack Obama’s, “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen; you will fill the world with hope, [and] you will fill yourself with hope.”
When I need a pick-me-up, I am reminded of Barack Obama’s life. I’m reminded of how despite our challenges, in every moment, there is an opportunity to bring hope and goodness to ourselves and to our world. This quote has helped inspire me all throughout various challenges in my life: when I was in graduate school earning my degree in education, after the Pittsburgh Tree of Life shooting in 2018, and now during the recent war between Israel and Hamas.
I’d be lying if I said this quote makes me feel 100% better every time, but Barack Obama’s words fill me with just enough energy to take the next step to take me to a place of hope. And once I act, I almost always feel better than I did before.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Wow, what a great question. I think I’d like to meet Dave Grohl. Not just because I’m a fan of his music, but because he’s experienced such a rich, inspiring life. In his early twenties, he skipped out on a college degree to follow his passion — the uncertain path of music — and he found success. He also witnessed the death of his beloved bandmate and best friend Kurt Cobain at a very young age.
Still, despite the peaks and valleys of his life, he manages to make amazing music with people with such tenacity, resilience, and a positive attitude. And best of all, he’s married and is a great father to his children! I’d love to meet him just to learn from him his secret sauce for living a rich, full, and positive life of joy.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can reach out via LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwertheimer1/ .
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your important work!
The pleasure was all mine! Thank you, and I wish you the best as well!
Upstanders: How Aaron Wertheimer of Marketing Reel Is Standing Up Against Antisemitism, Racism… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.