Ramban, in his famous commentary regarding the confrontation between Yaakov and Esav, notes that the Jewish people must always emulate Yaakov in his threefold approach to confronting antisemitism. Yaakov engaged in intensive tefillah, prepared himself for struggle, and engaged in diplomatic efforts.
For the last 13 months, as a community, we have taken this Ramban to heart. We have all intensified our efforts in tefillah in all of our shuls. As a community, we have gone to great lengths to support the war effort in Israel, as the Jewish people battle against vicious terrorists both in Gaza and Lebanon, and their patrons in Tehran. And, with respect to civic engagement, political advocacy and galvanizing our community in critical elections, we have been blessed by the remarkable grassroots efforts of Bergen County Jewish Action Committee (BCJAC).
In the pressure cauldron of two critical election cycles in 13 months, BCJAC has helped ensure that our local elected officials take a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism. While there is often much fixation at the national and state level, BCJAC makes an enormous difference for all of us at the most local levels, touching our lives intimately and directly.
First and foremost, as representatives of the community, we wish to express our deepest gratitude to BCJAC. To the four remarkable women who comprise its executive committee, Aviva Angel, Rachel Cyrulnik, Emma Horowitz and Chana Shields, who have invested thousands of hours over the course of the last year, we are all profoundly indebted.
And yet, while elections are absolutely critical, they really are only the beginning of our civic engagement. None of us are satisfied with the status quo, in which our shuls, and even private residences, are targeted by those who openly embrace Hamas, Hezbollah and even Hitler. It is long past time for local municipalities to enforce their own permitting processes, and well accepted, common sense time, place and manner restrictions on protests against the normal business of our community.
In partnership with the rabbinic and lay leadership, and other vital organizations, BCJAC will continue to lead our efforts here across municipalities to ensure that our community can function normally, without harassment of any kind. We will not wait passively for an Amsterdam-like pogrom to make it clear that our community will not continue to abide harassment.
We call on all members of the community to become partners in this effort. We are blessed with a community with great talent in all areas necessary to fighting antisemitism, whether it is legal expertise, expertise in data analysis, social media, and more. We encourage each member of the community to take personal responsibility for this effort, which impacts each and every one of us. Please be in touch with [email protected] to join us in this effort.
We are deeply grateful for all of those with particular areas of expertise who have already joined, and look forward to welcoming more volunteers. It is absolutely remarkable that there are literally hundreds of people who have volunteered over the course of the last year for BCJAC. And, of course, we are deeply appreciative of the dozens who have given their time and financial support as well.
We further call on the community to be fully unified in this effort. Since the sale of Yosef, through the sinat chinam which caused the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash, and in the leadup to October 7, internal divisions have always been the Achilles heel of our People. When we are divided or apathetic, we are weak and ineffective. When we are united around the efforts of BCJAC, we already see what kind of impact we can have. In this critical hour, let us all rise to meet this moment to lend our collective strength to BCJAC.
This same spirit of unity must be maintained irrespective of any political differences which exist within our community. In the fight against antisemitism, partisanship of any sort must never cloud the basic reality of our shared fate, nor strain the bonds of affection that sustain us all.
With respect to communal unity and cohesion, we wish to emphasize two core features regarding BCJAC.
First, as Rabbi Soloveitchik taught us, in the fight against antisemitism, all members of the Jewish people must stand together, irrespective of denominational differences. There is a home for each member of our faith community in BCJAC. Our enemies, on October 7, and since, have never stopped to ask whether the Jews they were targeting were Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated. As such, BCJAC will continue to defend all members of our people against vicious antisemitism.
Second, BCJAC has its arms fully extended to our neighbors of good faith, people of conscience, from outside of our faith tradition, who seek to partner with us in our battle against antisemitism. In so many different ways, the battle against antisemitism is a battle for the soul of America. In the history
of human civilization, no society, from Ancient Babylonia and Egypt, to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, have survived long once antisemitism was normalized. Antisemitism is often aptly described as “the canary in the coal mine;” once its grip on a society takes hold, other forms of ethnic and racial hatred inevitably and invariably follow. With historical perspective, it becomes clear that there is nothing more patriotic than fighting antisemitism in this country. As a community, we welcome all those good and decent neighbors of ours who see antisemitism for the cancer that it is in our society, and who wish to partner with us in this battle for the soul of our communities.
In the coming months, with God’s help, and yours, BCJAC will continue to grow and achieve great successes in our communal battle against antisemitism. We urge each one of you to become full partners in this sacred work. Together, there is nothing which we cannot do.
