An August 2024 post on Humans of Judaism (@humansofjudaism) shares photographs of the Israeli athletes who won Olympic medals in Paris even as their country faced the threat of an Iranian attack. Another celebrates Martin Cooper, the Jewish American engineer who invented the first personal cell phone, and a third memorializes sex therapist Dr. Ruth, who passed away in July.

With its tagline “Everyone has a story. What’s Yours?,” Humans of Judaism is creator Nikki Schreiber’s way of finding an upbeat counter to the grief and heartache many Jews are experiencing these days. Through its posts on Instagram, X (the former Twitter), TikTok, Facebook and other social media platforms, the popular social media brand shares daily Jewish mini-profiles, stories and photographs with its nearly 800,000 followers across all its platforms.

Schreiber, who grew up in a Modern Orthodox family in Highland Park, N.J., was close with her father, Bayrish, a part-time cantor and senior executive with a large accounting firm. When he died unexpectedly in November 2013, at 67, she was devastated.

Several months into her year of mourning, she decided to do “something meaningful in his memory,” Schreiber said. She started Humans of Judaism (a riff on the popular Humans of New York photoblog) to “share positive moments within the Jewish community.”

“If even one person appreciates the post of the day, that’s success,” said Schreiber, who lives in Teaneck, N.J., and works for a health care management company. “I’m not looking for millions of likes. I just want to reach the people who want this type of content.”

Schreiber’s latest project is Humans of Judaism, the book, scheduled for release on October 22. It features some 300 inspirational stories and photographs from Schreiber’s posts as well as original material. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why do you think your feeds have become so popular?

I did nothing to promote it, other than to tell a few friends and family. But I started the Instagram page on June 8, 2014, and that month, three Israeli boys—Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel—were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. And that started a war with Gaza, so the summer was a little like October 7 in terms of people yearning for some type of strength while they were mourning.

Why did you decide to publish your book now?

It was bashert. The book was always meant to be a meaningful read with Jewish stories. However, following October 7, a greater purpose emerged in sharing Jewish pride, resulting in profound timing for the book’s publication.

How did your social media focus develop?

For many Jews, one of our favorite things is to find out that a celebrity is Jewish. I’m a big pop culture fan, so it was thrilling for me to be able to dig a little deeper into this. One of my early posts was about Jewish fashion designer Max Azria, who delayed a show during New York Couture Fashion Week because it fell on Rosh Hashanah. I’m constantly growing, trying out new things. Over the last few years, I’ve been focusing on biography, history, Holocaust survivors, Righteous Among the Nations.

Has October 7 impacted what you share online?

It changed everything. After the Hamas attack, there was greater public focus on Jewish content, some seeking to connect with Judaism and others looking to tear it down. This, for me, resulted in a high volume of hate speech/bots and a sizable boost in new followers.

Prior to October 7, the comments section wasn’t an echo chamber, but comments were very much in the tenor of the post. Today, every post has a certain number of negative comments. I keep most up, even disagreements. But I won’t allow hate speech.

What was it like sharing those first posts after the Hamas attacks?

There was a great deal of sensitivity to providing content that would give followers a space of comfort that highlights unity, strength, perseverance and the support of our friends.

It was also important for me to share facts and history of Israel, which were being wildly distorted. My mother’s family had to flee the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1920s [during the Arab riots]; they had been there for seven generations. I strive to fight hate with love, address misinformation with education and maintain a safe online space to celebrate Judaism.

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Curt Schleier, a freelance writer, teaches business writing to corporate executives.