For our congregants who live in Hastings, the news from Michigan was made only more unsettling by the antisemitic stickers that were placed around town earlier in the week.
Quite honestly, I am exhausted by news like this. Over the past several years, there have been so many violent and even deadly antisemitic attacks – Sydney, Australia; Manchester, England; Boulder, Colorado; Washington, DC; Colleyville, TX; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and too many others to full recount – that it is hard to keep track of them all.
Recently, there has been much conversation in the organized Jewish community about how best to respond to antisemitism. One writer and thinker whom I especially admire (Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute) makes the following argument. (The full article is worth the time, if you have five minutes to read it.)
There are many possible approaches to confronting antisemitism – some of them more productive, some of them less so. The best approach, Kurtzer argues, is for the organized Jewish community to maintain strong relationships with elected officials and with law enforcement, and to work to support the healthy functioning of the institutions of democracy. Doing so reframes antisemitism not as “a problem for the Jewish people” but rather as “a problem of our society.” And indeed, I am grateful that Temple Beth Shalom has strong relationships with our elected officials, law enforcement, and other civil servants.
Another productive approach is to strengthen security measures within individual Jewish institutions. This, too, we have been doing at Temple Beth Shalom – as our several recent congregational emails about security have noted. Our Board has been proactive in implementing security personnel, facilities improvements, trainings for staff and leadership, and consultations with outside experts to help keep our congregation safe.
Unfortunately, Kurtzer notes, there are also less productive approaches to confronting antisemitism. Perhaps most harmful among them is the tendency, so prevalent in our society, to hunker down into our partisan bunkers. It is long-evident that antisemitism is a problem not only of the political left or the political right. Comparing the two, and trying to determine which one is worse, unhelpfully transforms the actual threats against the Jewish community into a game of partisan one-upmanship.
There is an additional approach that Kurtzer considers, an approach that likely won’t transform the antisemitic landscape around us, but nevertheless can transform the Jewish feeling within us – which is: in spite of those who would threaten us, to continue to cultivate Jewish joy.
This evening, after what has been a painful week for the Jewish community, we will gather here at Temple Beth Shalom as we do every Shabbat: to light candles, to sip wine, to eat good food, to sing, to tell stories, to be surrounded by family and community – in short: to experience Jewish joy. Tonight, in particular, will be especially joyful. This evening is our annual Klezmer Shabbat (services begin at 7:30pm) – featuring our congregant-driven Klezmer band, our adult choir, and a special guest appearance from our Third Grade Religious School class.
Ethnomusicologists have described Klezmer music’s distinctive tone as the sound of “joy through tears.” Most Klezmer music is written in a hybrid of a major and a minor key – the sound of celebration (major), despite the difficult circumstances of the world (minor).
This week in particular, Klezmer will give a lift to our souls – the opportunity to experience joy through tears, surrounded by our loving Jewish community.
I hope we might see each other this evening. And I hope we will soon know better days.
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