Bina Newman gave her great-aunt Barbara Steinmetz the title of “nana.”

Newman’s grandmother passed away when she was just a toddler, so despite the nearly 1,200 miles that separated them, Steinmetz stepped up in place of her late sister and the pair maintained a special bond. As a Holocaust survivor, Steinmetz’s position as a proud Jewish woman partly inspired Newman, 19, to take a year off after graduating from Columbus Torah Academy in 2024 to move from Columbus to Jerusalem and immerse herself in Jewish culture.

With one week left in her year abroad, Newman opened her phone on the evening of June 2, after being logged off for Shavuot observance in Jerusalem, to see the news that another antisemitic attack occurred in America the day before.

Newman recalled speaking with her friend

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