In her sermon on March 8, Rabbi Sharon Brous, of IKAR in Los Angeles, eloquently and comprehensively outlined a concern that many of us in the Jewish community have been feeling. Brous, both a Columbia alumna and mother of a current Jewish student at Columbia, articulated the conundrum many of us feel as efforts to fight antisemitism on campus veer into authoritarian actions which ultimately make Jews less, not more, safe. She shares that she at first welcomed the government calling to task the university administrators who had given tacit permission to college protests which left Jewish students feeling threatened and intimidated. Finally, she writes, someone was conveying unequivocal condemnation of efforts to harass Jewish students.
But now, some of these efforts are causing a new concern. Rabbi Brous, and others, are beginning to see that these heavy-handed government responses could potentially be used as a wedge. They could ultimately serve to make Jews the scapegoats if authoritarian trends, diminishing rights and operating without due process, continue.
Rabbi Brous writes of these government efforts to penalize campuses:
“These hearings, the defunding, the threats of militarized campuses and rewritten curricula– these are extreme acts that may feel comforting to the Jewish community– finally someone is listening. But please hear me: these actions themselves constitute a form of antisemitism. What may feel, today, like a welcomed embrace is actually putting us at even greater danger. We, the Jews, are being used to advance a political agenda that will cause grave harm to the social fabric, and to the institutions that are best suited to protect Jews and all minorities.”
Jews thrive in free and open societies and suffer in authoritarian regimes. While addressing the very real and visceral concerns of antisemitism, we must also stay committed to the ideals of religious freedom, personal liberty and respect for free speech and due process.
There is genuine and legitimate concern about the sincerity of these actions designed to address antisemitism. While Columbia is being targeted and punished, the White House is simultaneously dismantling the Department of Education. This action will only lead to more discrimination, threatening Jewish student safety at a moment of record-level antisemitism. The Department of Education is the only government agency tasked with protecting student’s rights. Closing it means closing the Office of Civil Rights, a critical tool for protecting Jewish students on campus.
When discrimination against any community is allowed, Jews are unsafe. When discrimination against Jews is allowed, every community is unsafe. We should be putting more resources into fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, not damaging the very agencies on which we depend to protect us.
On a local level, we will continue to combat antisemitism to the best of our ability, by partnering with state and local officials on policy and legislation. The efforts would be enhanced by federal support through the Department of Education.
JCRC March Activity:
- Tracking proposed bills drafted to address concerns expressed through meetings with city officials in response to hate group actions in Nashville last summer.
- Working with Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon, and her team to host a reception to recognize the establishment of a bipartisan Tennessee Israel Caucus in our state legislature.
- Working with MNPD leaders to facilitate a training video for all officers to educate about the Jewish community. The video will be filmed at the Gordon JCC in late April.
Upcoming Events:
- April 24: Community Yom HaShoah service hosted by Congregation Micah
- April 29: Community Yom HaZikaron Service
- May 18: Community Yom HaAtzmaut Event
For details jewishnashville.org or contact Deborah Oleshansky, deborah@jewishnashville.org
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