A Cornell University student turned down an internship at a New York startup saying that he is “not interested in working for a Jew”. A screenshot of his message was posted on social media by the founder of the startup, and the incident has since snowballed into a larger controversy about antisemitism.
The 19-year-old student rejected an internship opportunity at VryfID — a startup by Jewish brothers Gabe and Aiden Einhorn.
The viral screenshot
Last week, Gabe Einhorn took to X to share a screenshot of the Cornell student’s message rejecting the internship.
“This kid applied to our job on handshake, we accepted him, and then he responded this,” wrote Einhorn, sharing the screenshot where the student wrote, “Not interested in working for a Jew. Thanks.”
The student sent the message to both brothers via job search site Handshake after applying for a summer role at their startup.
“He probably knows nothing about Jews accept for what they tell him in college and on social media. Sad world,” Gabe Einhorn said in his X post.
Student gets doxxed
The post quickly went viral, drawing responses from Jewish entrepreneurs and founders.
Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of , was among those who urged Einhorn to name the student.
“No, Gabe. You are being weak. If somebody does this, they deserve consequences. The only way a people prevails is with strength. Be a strong Jew. Don’t be one of the weaklings that reacts in a way to get us attacked more; be a man that makes them afraid to attack your people,” he told the founder of VryfID.
The message ultimately led to Einhorn doxxing the student. “You’re right. You have a good point,” he told Lonsdale, and later shared an Instagram video where he named the Cornell student who rejected the internship citing his religion.
“I felt bad exposing him because I thought he could have made a mistake and he really doesn’t believe this wholeheartedly,” Gabe Einhorn told The New York Post. “People just like to spread hate across social media because they’re anonymous and they have no repercussions.”
He said that the antisemitic message left him and his brother stunned. “Me and my brother kind of looked at each other like, ‘What?’ We never really experienced [] this directly,” Gabe said.
“Cornell condemns antisemitism and all forms of hatred and discrimination in the strongest possible terms,” a university spokeswoman also told The Post.
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