What if the best weapon against antisemitism wasn’t a counterattack—but a story? That’s the radical, hopeful bet that Deborah Apeloig has been making for the past three and a half years with her platform, Tikun Talks. I sat down with Deborah at the ADL’s Never Is Now Conference, and what followed was one of the most candid, passionate, and urgently needed conversations I’ve had in years.

Deborah is not a politician. She’s not a pundit. She is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors, a former advertising strategist, and a woman who made a decision: to use every tool she has to repair the world—one conversation at a time.

From Advertising to Advocacy

I opened our conversation by asking Deborah about her unique approach to combating hatred—not by confronting darkness directly, but by flooding the space with goodness.

“As a content creator, you have a very interesting way of finding hate. It’s actually through goodness, good stories. I like to say—pro-Semitism. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’ve been developing.”

Her answer was immediate, personal, and deeply rooted:

“I am the proud granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors, and ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I had a purpose and a responsibility and a commitment to be a voice for the Jewish people. That’s my Tikkun.”

That word—Tikun —is the heart of everything. In Jewish tradition, Tikkun olam  means “repairing the world.” For Deborah, it’s not metaphor. It’s mission.

Drawing on years of experience in advertising and brand strategy, she recognized something most activists miss: narrative is a product. And like any product, it needs to be sold. So she built Tikun Talks three and a half years ago—exactly one year before........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)