On a beautiful afternoon in Chicago, a room full of women gathered for a Naamat event that was equal parts eye-opening, emotional, and energizing. The conversation, led by advocate and entrepreneur Lindsay Pinchuk and NA’AMAT USA Executive Director Kim Marks, covered what it means to speak up, hold the line, and find community when the world feels uncertain.
October 7th changed everything — and clarified everything
Lindsay was scrolling Instagram late on the night of October 6th when she sensed something was wrong. By morning, she was watching events unfold in real time. She eventually walked out of a Whole Foods parking lot, hit record, and posted a three-minute video. Within 13 minutes, it had been viewed over 100,000 times. “I felt like I was watching the Holocaust unfold in real time,” she said. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
On the other side of the globe, Kim woke up in Tel Aviv. At 6:29 a.m., she heard sirens moving up the country, then a boom that shook her building. She and her husband ran to the bomb shelter. “It wasn’t a one-off,” she said quietly. “We spent the day seeing and hearing horrible things, but also the most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen: so many people rushing to protect and to help.”
Kim described finding herself in the bomb shelter of a women’s shelter in Tel Aviv, sitting with social workers who were checking on their own families, many with children or husbands serving in Gaza or up north. “Here they were, under attack, and they were at work, holding the hands of women who needed them,” she said. “That’s holding down the home front.”
On the cost of speaking up — and the silver linings
As a social media and marketing professional, Lindsay lost about 10,000 followers over the next two years, walked away from a large contract, and lost access to some of her favorite entertainers. She doesn’t dwell on any of it and continues to post about Israel and Zionism with zeal and consistency. “I prefer the term ‘silver linings,'” she said. After all, despite that initial loss, she has managed to rebuild her platform with over 60,000 new followers, as well as new, unexpected professional relationships. Her framing for how she communicates: “I always ask myself, who’s going to see this who isn’t Jewish and really needs to be educated?” Surprisingly, at a recent summit against antisemitism in Miami, over a third of the room stood when non-Jewish advocates were asked to identify themselves. “More people are on our side than you think. I have seen it and witnessed it firsthand.”
On losing friends and finding home
Several women in the audience named the quiet grief of losing friendships since October 7th. Lindsay’s response was direct: “Cut the loss. If you’ve lost something, you really haven’t lost anything. Find a safe space where you are truly welcomed. Look around this room right now.” Kim was equally clear: “There are women all over this country looking for values-aligned community where they can bring their whole selves. Don’t worry about spaces where your Zionism is disqualifying. You’re home.”
