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April 4, 2025
One of the reasons I decided to become a rabbi was my interest in listening to people: to their stories, their worries, their hopes, their joys. It is an honor, a blessing, and a privilege to be present with and for the emotions and experiences that are shared by those I serve. In recent months, I am listening to so much fear and sadness, disbelief and anxiety, about the destruction of so many norms and values of our beloved United States of America, a place in which we have all been privileged to build lives that for many of us felt until recently safe and secure. Not one of us is immune to the unprecedented and destructive actions of the new administration. Several in our TOS community have lost jobs or lost critical research funding due to the actions of the new administration; there are graduate students who have had their offers of admission rescinded because of funding cuts; there is great worry for those of us who are immigrants (no matter how long we’ve been in this country), or are part of the LGBTQ community, and for all of us whose financial security is in grave danger because of the real possibility that our national economy and global economy will continue to suffer. With all of the legitimate worry about so much in our nation,we are living in a time when it can be tempting to turn inward, to retreat, to concern ourselves only with our own immediate circles of concern. Jewish tradition teaches that we cannot be only for ourselves, no matter what. The first-century sage Hillel famously taught: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Since the very beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the increase in antisemitism has been fast and furious, with antisemitic incidents increasing by 360 percent in the first year of the war compared to the prior year. However, our current administration’s actions of detaining and deporting university students without due process in the name of combating antisemitism go against the fundamental rights provided by our constitution and, needless to say, are a clear and present danger to every American. When Jewish individuals or organizations call for such actions, this of course adds fuel to the already raging fire of antisemitism in our nation. Many Jewish leaders and organizations have spoken out publicly to denounce these actions. It does not mean that we are unconcerned about the scourge of violent antisemitic actions and rhetoric but that we cannot and must not accept the authoritarian, unconstitutional actions of the current government against anyone. Likely needless to say, we are living in the truth of these famous words written by Martin Niemöller in 1946. (To read more about Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor who had originally been a Nazi sympathizer, click here).
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller
With so much instability in our nation and our world, with so much that we once took for granted as solid ground beneath our feet being threatened and dismantled before our very eyes, we need to strengthen and recommit ourselves to our bonds to our own community so that we can speak out for the fundamental rights of everyone. I am listening to so many people expressing that they are exhausted and overwhelmed. This moment calls for the strength that can only come from nurturing our individual relationships and our community, so that when one of us feels too weak to go on fighting and needs to rest, others of us hold them and keep marching forward. This is what I imagine it was like for our ancestors who crossed the Sea of Reeds chased by the Pharaoh’s army, and who wandered the vast and uncharted wilderness: “I’ve got you,” they’d whisper to the one who felt like they couldn’t go on – “Don’t worry – we’re in this together and together we’ll keep going.”
Below are some important pieces by leaders of Jewish communal organizations, denouncing unconstitutional detention and deportation.
May we go from strength to strength, together.
Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman
JCRC of Boston – “Fighting Antisemitism Requires Urgency – and Precision”
eJP- “We must fight for Jewish students – and our values”
Forward – “As Zionist Jews, we must condemn Trump’s campaign to deport students”
