This Jerusalem Post opinion piece by Peretz Chein addresses how Jewish educators can help students navigate hostile campus environments in the post-October 7th era. He argues that Jewish students need to shift from "living outside in"—where their identity is shaped by others' perceptions—to "living inside out" through inner strength.

Chein explains how the "looking-glass self" phenomenon leads students to internalize antisemitic attitudes and rhetoric, causing them to retreat from visible Jewish identity. When admired professors or peers make hostile claims about Israel, it doesn't just challenge politics—it "shatters identity and soul."

The solution is avoda pnimit (insourcing)—the practice of deepening understanding of oneself from within. Rather than curriculum changes, this requires educators to embody a different presence: creating safe spaces where students can turn inward and discover their authentic Jewish identity beneath external pressures.

Chein illustrates this with an example of an educator helping a student anxious about wearing a kippah—not rushing to strategy, but holding space to explore what feels true beneath the fear. The goal is helping students touch "something in themselves that external circumstances cannot reach."