A new Chabad billboard campaign is taking over high-traffic locations across New York City, with plans underway to expand to Florida and other cities.

Titled “Born To Be A Yid,” the campaign seeks to respond to the unprecedented rise in antisemitism not with fear, but with Jewish pride, joy and a renewed commitment to Jewish identity and Jewish life.

“The public knows all too well about the challenges we face,” Chabad spokesman Rabbi Motti Seligson, who directed the campaign, said.

“We wanted to go in a different direction, one that is confidence-inducing and joyful. No one needs another billboard telling them how scared they should be. What we need is something that puts a smile on someone’s face and has them walking a little taller.”

The billboards, displayed at high-traffic locations throughout New York City, feature two powerful images. One shows a Jewish couple standing beneath the chuppah as the chosson breaks the glass. The other depicts two young Jewish boys wearing yarmulkes and tzitzis, laughing and playing together.

According to the campaign organizers, these scenes were deliberately chosen because they capture moments of Yiddishkeit untouched by fear or negativity. Instead, they reflect the beauty, confidence and simple joy of Jewish life.

“Born To Be A Yid” billboards have appeared at major crossings across New York City, including near the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island and above the Third Avenue Bridge entrance to Manhattan from the South Bronx.

The campaign has already drawn interest from other parts of the country. A digital billboard in Times Square is planned in the coming weeks, while billboards have already been reserved in Florida and additional cities are under consideration.

The campaign was made possible through donated billboard space valued at approximately $200,000.

The campaign’s creative was developed by copywriter Avi Webb and designer Chana Snyder, using photographs by Zalmy Berkowitz and Mendel Grossbaum. Yossi Popack and Chabad of the UAE also played a role in bringing the campaign together.

“Amid the constant barrage of bad news, people are looking for joyful ways to express their Jewishness and to transform the world for good in a positive way,” Rabbi Seligson said.

The message, Rabbi Seligson said, is rooted in the Rebbe’s approach to confronting darkness.

“We didn’t invent this idea. The Rebbe taught it decades ago,” he said. “Don’t organize Jewish life around the haters. Build something so joyful, so strong, that the hate doesn’t matter anymore. And it’s how you fight darkness, with light.”

Photos: Yisroel Teitelbaum/Chabad.org.