When Jewish Joy Becomes a Target: One Musician Fights Back
How a beloved festival performer found himself on the front lines of a new kind of hate
The hot spring conversation seemed innocent enough. After performing at an Oregon music festival five years ago, musician Mikey Pauker was soaking with fellow artists when one asked: “So I hear you’re Jewish… do you support genital mutilation?”
What followed wasn’t just an uncomfortable debate about circumcision. It was the beginning of an 18-month harassment campaign that would eventually force this Jewish musician—now studying to become both a rabbi and cantor—to confront a medieval form of hate dressed in modern clothing.
Today, Pauker’s story reveals a disturbing trend: Jewish artists and creatives being systematically targeted, not for their politics, but for their identity itself.
From Festival Favorite to Pariah
For years, Pauker had carved out a unique space in the secular music festival circuit. His mission was simple but profound: bring Shabbat services to festivals where thousands of young Jews gathered but had no access to their heritage.
“I was literally able to watch bridge building and transformation happen in real time,” he explains. “People who weren’t Jewish, who maybe heard of Jews being not favorable in their narrative, would join us.”
Then October 7th changed everything.
“The world was flooded with misinformation,” Pauker says. “These spaces were no longer available because of their misunderstanding of what it means to be a Zionist. They don’t understand that we’re a people, we’re a faith, we’re an ethnicity.”
When Disagreement Turns to Defamation
What began as that uncomfortable hot spring conversation escalated dramatically. The fellow musician began contacting festivals, telling promoters not to book Pauker. The accusations were medieval: that he “drinks baby’s blood,” runs “shady Jewish music business deals,” and supports “genital mutilation.”
“This is rhetoric that goes back to the blood libel. I think she borrows a lot from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” Pauker notes.
When he tried to make peace, the harassment intensified. She sent voice notes yelling and blaming. When his attorney sent a cease and desist letter, she replied that she wouldn’t stop. And she didn’t.
The harassment followed a pattern: every six months, another message. After he was booked for a Hanukkah concert at Harbin Hot Springs, his accuser publicly praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and celebrated the October 7th massacre. The venue canceled Pauker, citing “security concerns.”
Then came the 4 AM emails: “Good luck getting booked at any music festival that wants talent, you Zionist scum of the earth.”
The New Antisemitism: Cancel Culture Meets Blood Libel
What makes Pauker’s case particularly chilling is how it blends ancient antisemitic tropes with modern cancel culture tactics. The accusations—blood libel, secret cabals, dangerous religious practices—are centuries old. The methods—mass emails to venues, social media campaigns, coordinated cancellation efforts—are distinctly 21st century.
“If you don’t go along with the narrative of the antisemitic brain rot in our country, Jews are literally being canceled from cultural spaces,” Pauker says. “When we allow people like this to get away with it, this is the issue.”
The pattern is spreading. Just last week, Israeli musician Guy Hoffman was canceled over “security concerns” after refusing to post about “atrocities in Gaza.” The same language. The same excuse.
Fighting Back: From Silence to Solidarity
For months, Pauker stayed quiet, collecting screenshots and documentation. His lawyers eventually advised him differently: “The press, this is happening everywhere. You need to go online and speak directly to her and push back.”
When he finally spoke out publicly, something remarkable happened.
“I didn’t know there were thousands of people around the world that actually cared,” he recalls. “I didn’t know there were dozens of people that were attacked by her. She has been targeting Jewish communities, targeting Jewish people.”
The two concerts his accuser tried to cancel? Both sold out.
“Because of this person, because of her intense cancel action,” Pauker says with a hint of irony.
From Festival Stages to Rabbinical School
The experience catalyzed a transformation. Rather than fight to return to spaces that no longer wanted him, Pauker doubled down on his Jewish identity.
He applied to both rabbinical and cantorial school at the Academy of Jewish Religion in New York, becoming a “Kolbo student”—one who studies both disciplines simultaneously. His days now begin with Torah study, followed by Nusach class (the cantillation modes that mark Jewish time), counseling, and more.
“My teacher is Hazzan Sol Zim, one of the legendary Hazzans from the golden age,” Pauker shares with evident reverence. “I get to sit with him and study music theory all day.”
He’s learning the ancient modes that allow a blind person to know, just from hearing the melody, whether it’s Shabbat morning, the High Holidays, or Purim. “As a Jewish people, we love time, and we love marking it with our music.”
The Dual Mission: Joy and Justice
Today, Pauker walks a tightrope between two imperatives: spreading Jewish joy and confronting Jewish hate.
“As a Jewish musician, I want to spread the love. That’s my main focus—how do I find a way to find a Jewish soul and turn them on about God, about prayer, about their ancestry?” he explains. “But we have to come out and speak up. When people come at us, we need to stand up for ourselves.”
Last month, he released “Shema (Listen),” a remix with electronic producer The Human Experience. He’s now preparing to release “Ya’aloz Saddai,” and continues leading renewal services and headlining Jewish music festivals.
“If you’re a Jewish creative shining your positivity, great,” he says. “And if there’s a way you can fight back using your platform about anti-Zionism and antisemitism, please do so. We never know what the power of our words will be.”
Why This Matters
Pauker’s story isn’t just about one musician’s harassment. It’s about a systematic effort to push Jews out of cultural spaces, using a combination of ancient hatred and modern tactics.
The accusation of “Zionism” has become a weapon to target any visible Jew, regardless of their actual political views. The invocation of “security concerns” has become code for “we don’t want Jews here.” The demand that Jews denounce Israel—or face professional death—is the new loyalty test.
“If we continue to put our heads down, these people will continue,” Pauker warns. “And we’ll live in a society where their narratives become true. We’ve seen this historically.”
The Response
Since going public with his story, Pauker has discovered he’s not alone. Dozens of people have come forward with their own stories of being targeted by his accuser. Thousands have expressed support. The legal battle continues, but vindication comes in unexpected forms.
“If this didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have met you,” he tells me, referring to our connection through Instagram DMs—the modern tool for building resistance networks.
As antisemitism in New York has surged over 300%, as hate floods social media, as Jewish students face daily harassment on campuses, stories like Pauker’s reveal the human cost. But they also reveal something else: resilience.
“We survived the Romans, we survived the Nazis, we survived, and we’re still here,” I tell him during our conversation. “We survived even after October 7th. And that scares them because they don’t have a mechanism to win.”
“I think you should be a rabbi,” Pauker responds with a laugh.
But perhaps we all need to be. Perhaps every Jew who refuses to hide, who continues to create, who speaks up when attacked, who turns on one more Jewish soul to their heritage—perhaps we’re all doing sacred work.
Pauker will perform at Soul Spark on February 20th in Aliso Viejo, and will headline a Jewish music festival in Northern California in April. His new music is available on all platforms, and he’s hosting a Tu B’Shvat Sound Circle in Pico-Robertson this Sunday.
For more information, visit MikeyPauker.com or follow him on Instagram and TikTok.
Because in times like these, Jewish joy isn’t just beautiful. It’s revolutionary.