Much more than a memoir, White. Blonde. Jew. doesn’t fit neatly into a category—because neither does its author Alyssa Rosenheck.

The Nashville-based bestselling author of The New Southern Style and one of Architectural Digest’s Top 50 Interior and Architectural Photographers in the United States, Alyssa Rosenheck has become a critical voice in the fight against antisemitism. Embracing the weight of responsibility required by this moment, Alyssa has traveled to Israel multiple times as a postwar delegate, meeting with foreign ambassadors and October 7th survivors. Honored as a 2025 Hero Against Hate by the ADL, Alyssa uses her platform to advocate for Jewish life and combat anti-American ideologies—and she does so with the beauty and grace one might expect when viewing the world through the lens of a celebrated photographer.

Alyssa’s advocacy for Israel and Western values cost her a book deal with a major publishing house when her identity became associated with the radioactive buzzwords of the moment: White. Zionist. Colonizer. Genocidal. Jew. Her response? She doubled down in truth and wrote a different book that can’t be ignored: White. Blonde. Jew.: A Call to End Extremism, Speak Up, and Reclaim Center. Refusing to be silenced, Alyssa stands tall in her commitment to challenge stereotypes and battle misinformation—but she’s paid the price. “My defiance, my insistence on owning my own story, has made me an outsider,” Alyssa says. “A voice that won’t fold neatly into their narratives. And that is the cost of standing firm in a culture that values curated image over inconvenient truth, spectacle over substance, and silence over complexity.”

Weaving deeply personal stories with historical context and a toolkit for the present day, Alyssa shines a light on the realities of antisemitism, DEI, the BDS movement, the “obsession with oppression,” and so much more. Sharing her lens from the leading edge of Israel advocacy, sounding the alarm on anti-American ideologies threatening our country, and detailing major discriminatory snubs in her professional life, White. Blonde. Jew. is a compelling and essential read for Jews and non-Jews alike. “This is not a passive memoir,” Alyssa says. “It is a deeply personal excavation of identity, media manipulation, extremism, antisemitism, and the weaponization of language itself—written by someone who has been on the front lines, literally.”

Not intended to sit idle on a shelf, Alyssa designed White. Blonde. Jew. as a guidebook to inspire action—empowering readers with the tools to have real discussions and carry the torch in their own communities. She closes each chapter with a section titled P.A.C.E. (Pause. Analyze. Contemplate. Engage.), a detailed guide for book clubs that’s been crafted to facilitate honest self-reflection and open dialogue. Alyssa explains, “Every chapter ends with questions because the goal was never to shut down conversation—it was to begin one.” She even offers additional resources, reading lists, and suggested actions for advocating in local government, school districts, and on social media.

Published August 18, White. Blonde. Jew. has been nominated for the Sophie Brody Medal by the American Library Association, an award that recognizes outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (Israel Foreign Ministry Special Envoy for Trade and Innovation) calls White. Blonde. Jew., “A bold and unflinching book that takes on antisemitism, misinformation, and the weaponization of race. Rosenheck’s call to ‘reclaim center’ is as timely as it is necessary—and her personal stories make it impossible to look away.”

Leah Grossman: This book is so important, and yet I’m sure it wasn’t easy bringing White. Blonde. Jew. to fruition. With Nashville’s Bell Bird Books recently cancelling your launch event, it seems the challenges may continue even post-pub date. How have you overcome the obstacles in your way, and what does it mean to you that White. Blonde. Jew. is now in the hands of readers everywhere?

Alyssa Rosenheck: In a recent Torah portion, I came across a teaching about how we relate to the challenges in front of us. We have a choice: to see ourselves as smaller than the challenge, to stand as equals with it, or to approach it with agency – to rise above it and take control of how we respond. The teaching asks you to look back at a time when you overcame something difficult and remember who you were in that moment, so you can carry that strength forward when life challenges you again. That perspective has helped keep me centered and focused on what matters.

Bell Bird Books lost an incredible opportunity to host a meaningful dialogue. I would have brought business into their store, and so many of my peers in the Artists Against Antisemitism community saw a mainstream independent bookstore hosting this conversation as a meaningful win.

Bell Bird Books canceled my launch not because I believe they are antisemitic, but because the owner folded under a coordinated online and offline pressure campaign targeting me for my Zionism – a core part of my Jewish identity. That was a real choice. They could have held the line with principle and character and become part of the solution. Instead, they chose cowardice. This problem with organized pressure........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)