Picture this: Times Square. The usual chaos of Elmo demanding tips, tourists photographing billboards, street performers battling for attention. And then — a woman in a hot-pink dress with an oversized Star of David necklace, surrounded by children of all backgrounds, including Muslim kids, begging for photos like she’s stepped out of a Disney movie.

This isn’t a publicity stunt. This is Ayelet Raymond’s life.

You might know her as Kosher Barbie. Or Miss Israel 2025-2026. Or Miss World Influencer. But what matters most is what she’s doing in a moment when Jewish visibility in America increasingly feels like a risk: she’s making antisemitism lose its power through sheer, unapologetic joy.

A Particular Kind of Exhaustion

There is a particular exhaustion that settles into the Jewish soul when hatred becomes ambient noise. Since October 7, that exhaustion has deepened into something heavier: grief layered with vigilance. We explain ourselves carefully. We cite facts meticulously. And still, antisemitism keeps rising — on college campuses, in social media comment sections, on city streets that once felt safe.

The instinct for many has been to soften our edges, to clarify endlessly, to make ourselves smaller and less threatening.

Ayelet Raymond has chosen a different response. Not denial. Not silence. Not retreat.

“I live in the US with a thick Israeli accent, and I’m not trying to hide it,” she tells me when we sit down to talk. “I’m not here to blend in — I’m here to represent.”

Read that sentence again. At a time when saying you’re Israeli can attract immediate hostility — when Jewish students are advised to hide their identity “for safety” — she leads with her Israeli identity.

And she’s under no illusions about what that means.

“When I say I’m Israeli or from Israel, the word Israel is already connected to politics. It attracts hate or criticism,” she says matter-of-factly. She knows the risk. She chooses visibility anyway.

“I feel the necessity for Israeli voices in the United States in the rise of antisemitism — rising up so much against Jews.”

When influencers with massive platforms spread misinformation about Israel, she doesn’t respond with rage or carefully crafted rebuttals. She responds with something far more powerful: authenticity.

“I advocate for Israel to bring smiles on people’s faces,” she says........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)