Dear Friends of JCRC/AJC,
On this Erev Shabbat, just a week before our Holiday of Freedom, America continues to come to terms with the tragedy of the horrific murders in Atlanta.
In this most difficult time, the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC) of Detroit expresses our support for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. We declare our revulsion at the increasing violence, discrimination and hatred Asian Americans have had to endure, especially over this past year. We stand in solidarity with the AAPI community and will work to bring the voices of our associated groups to join as well, including the Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, Muslim Jewish Advisory Council, Interfaith Immigration Coalition and Michigan Uyghur Alliance.
Jews from around the world, and those we build relationships with, know what it means to face bigotry, racism, antisemitism and intolerance. Together, we work to make America a place, as George Washington said to the Jewish community of Rhode Island 230 years ago, “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” We will not fail our AAPI brothers and sisters. We will remember their needs for protection and respect right along with our own needs and those of our allies.
As Jews all over the world get ready for the Passover holiday, we remember how the ancient Egyptians fell into the cynical spiral of hatred and violence against the Israelites in their midst. Fear and prejudice poisoned the minds of the Egyptians from Pharaoh all the way down. We will not allow such prejudice and fearmongering to poison American society. We will fight for an America where every member of all our beautiful, diverse communities will feel safe, welcomed and fully part of this great society. We will not let our blessed country fall into the moral abyss of ancient Egypt in the Passover Haggadah.
So, as we enter Shabbat and the week of Passover, we sadly mourn with our Asian American and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. At the same time, we also hold on to the hope that together we can end the words and actions that divide our society and allow for the most heinous acts of violence to be tolerated. We are stronger than that. We are better than that.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Executive DirectorJCRC/AJC of Detroit
