April, 2025
Dear Hevre (Friends),
As many of you know, I serve on the executive committee of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis (MBR). Last week we drafted a statement on “Fighting Antisemitism and Protecting Civil Rights.” Given the issues involved, I thought many of you would like to read—and possibly share—that statement, which now has been signed by many local rabbis.
As always, I am here for you. If a conversation could be useful to you, please don’t hesitate to be in touch and let me know. We are all in this together.
I wish us all a meaningful rest of Pesach. Moadim L’Simcha.
Kindness & Shalom,
Rabbi Darby Leigh
| Rabbinic Statement on Fighting Antisemitism and Protecting Civil Rights The past 18 months have been among the most challenging in the history of American Jewry. We have seen an unprecedented rise in antisemitic hate in the wake of the grotesque inhumanity of October 7. We have witnessed college campuses, so many in our communities, become centers of anti-Jewish invective. At the same time, we have seen our concerns and fears addressed by political leaders at the highest levels. Wielding the power of the state and federal government, whoever is in office, in identifying the problem of antisemitism and offering support to our community is a uniquely American blessing. The power of government is understood in classical Jewish tradition to be a critical dimension of sustaining a just and peaceful society. In Pirkei Avot- the Wisdom of our Ancestors- we learn that we are obligated to pray for the welfare of the government, for “were it not for the fear that it inspires, every person would swallow his neighbor alive.” (3:2) The chaos of a culture, or campus, without governance is not freedom. It is a sovereignty of bullhorns and of mobs. And from the hard learned experience by generations of Jews, such mobs are dangerous to our collective welfare. But government power unrestrained by due process and unchecked by neutral courts is profoundly dangerous as well. Despotic rule is its own existential danger to Jewish life, and to the freedoms every citizen and resident of the United States is entitled to expect. No one should suffer detention, confinement or expulsion from our country without the basic civil liberties which our Constitution guarantees. While current law may allow for the Secretary of State to arrive at a conclusion that certain individuals’ presence in the country is at odds with the government’s foreign policy goals, we are gravely concerned that such acts should only be undertaken with judicial review. Further, many of us are deeply troubled by the ideas expressed by some students on campuses. Even so, we all agree that we cannot stand silently by as residents are apparently taken off the streets without any criminal charges being filed. Acts undertaken to support Hamas or other actors intent on killing Jews are themselves crimes. Anyone who has raised money for such groups, or who acted as their direct agent in the United States should be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We would applaud the goal of holding such criminals to account. But the United States cannot make unpopular thoughts into crimes. Simply stated: holding beliefs in opposition to the government cannot be illegal in a free society. In a similar vein, while pressuring universities to improve their policies is valuable – recklessly threatening them with financial destruction by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars from all programs is not a well considered act. Medical research, basic science and even academic programs that support Jewish studies are endangered. American Jews don’t seek the destruction of universities but their flourishing. It strikes us as transparently cynical to use the excuse of fighting antisemitism in order to achieve a goal of eliminating rigorous centers of intellectual freedom. We will not permit our community’s pain to be turned into a weapon against our own interests. The rabbinic community represented by the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis does not condone the prosecution of thought crimes or a war on academia even in the name of fighting antisemitism. In fact, because we condemn antisemitism, we also condemn all extrajudicial prosecutions and unfettered government regulation of thought. We believe that fighting for the freedoms of this society, even for those with whom we strongly disagree, is a way to defend ourselves against anti-Jewish hate. Whether from the rage of the mob or the unchecked authority of the state, Jews have usually been among the first to suffer when power alone rules a society. The basic moral law of the Jewish people, the Torah, insists that “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deut. 16:20) Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Pshischa reflected on this verse at approximately the same time Madison and Hamilton were creating our system of checks and balances. In words that must continue to guide the United States he explained: “With justice, you shall pursue justice… Even the pursuit of justice must employ only just means.” We call upon the courts, and all of the formal checks and balances in our system of government to ensure that the just ends we all seek are achieved through just means. But in any democracy it is not enough to rely on the formal promise of freedom inscribed in law. This Passover, also known as Zman Heruteinu- the season of our freedom- all people are called to do their part in securing the blessing of human freedom. MBR Executive Committee: Rabbi Ron Fish, President Rabbi Alison Adler, Vice President Rabbi Kenneth Carr Rabbi Darby Leigh Rabbi Jodi Seewald Smith Rabbi Andy Vogel |