8 July 4 • 2019
jn
views
Readers had plenty to say about
the online story “Sign Unveiled for
Trump Heights Community in the
Golan Heights,” published June
17.
Fred Jacobs: Surprised they
rejected Pottersville.
Nancy Federman Kaplan: With
you-know-who, shameless flattery
will get you … everywhere. Or so
these pathetic sycophants believe.
Steven Silber: How much
money did Trump funnel over to
Trumpenyahu?
Marcie Bensman: Giving
anonymously occupies a high
position according to Maimonides.
The Talmud tells us that giving
charity in order to boast about
it is actually a sin, but I’
m not
surprised here with those who are
involved.
Jeff Silver:
A gaudy sign on a
patch of AstroTurf in an empty
field with nothing built. Dedicated
by a would-be dictator [who might
soon be] under indictment and
his convicted felon wife. How …
fitting.
Craig Rubin: Wow, such hatred
in these comments. I think it’
s
nice to see Israel continue to
honor and celebrate President
Trump, especially in lieu of the
permanent damage done to
Israel by President Obama at
the United Nations. President
Trump continues to improve
the relationship between our
countries. Let’
s be happy about
that.
The JN welcomes comments
online at thejewishnews.com or
on its Facebook page. Letters can
be sent to letters@renmedia.us.
online comments
L
ast month, I found myself sitting in
an auditorium in Detroit together
with hundreds of people. I most
likely was the only Jew in the audience.
All around me were African American
men, women and schoolchildren. Extra
chairs were brought in,
but there still wasn’
t
enough room. I was
lucky and found some
extra space sitting on a
set of stairs, squeezed in
next to a middle-aged
woman. There were so
many attendees that
an overflow room was
arranged so that everyone would be able
to listen to the presentation.
Surprisingly, the topic of the panel
that attracted such a crowd was the
black-Jewish relationship. It was over
two hours of discussion and explication,
debating the commonalities and parallel
historical experiences of the black and
Jewish communities respectively, and
the ways that our future as Americans
is tied together. Due to the scintillating
intelligence and rhetorical power of
some of the panelists, it was also one of
the most entertaining lectures I’
ve ever
attended. But the lecture itself is not
what stuck in my head as I left. What
truly caught me was the number of peo-
ple, almost all black, who had shown up
to think through the issue of black-Jew-
ish relations, a topic I hadn’
t even
known was being widely considered in
the African American community here
in Detroit.
Last March, I moved back home to
Metro Detroit, accompanied by my
wife, Jenna, and my 19-month-old
daughter Maya. I had spent the last
decade or so away from Michigan, first
in Israel and then in New York City. In
Israel, I fell in love with Israeli warmth
and brusqueness, worked in hi-tech
and started to explore the world of
Jewish text and ritual. In our tradition,
I discovered a beautiful welter of val-
ues that helped me to become a more
mature and morally aware form of
myself. I channeled my innate curiosity
and decided I would do my best to be
lomed m’
kol adam, to learn from each
individual.
I eventually decided to attend rabbin-
ical school in New York City. While I
was there, I was struck by the incredible
diversity of the city. When at their best,
New Yorkers all share a sense of trust,
an understanding that while their cui-
sine, languages and religions might be
different, everyone is there for the same
reason, to make a better life for them-
selves and their families.
So, when after rabbinical school, a job
came open at the Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC in Detroit to
help the Jewish community build ties
with their neighbors, I jumped at the
chance. Here was an opportunity to
strengthen my home community, the
place where I was born and raised.
Now, in my role as JCRC/AJC com-
munity outreach manager, I am hon-
ored to have a job where I constantly get
to ask, “What kind of Metro Detroit do
we want to live in?” Do we simply want
to live in a place where we happen to
live together, where we don’
t know and
possibly even fear our neighbors? Or do
we want to live in a community defined
by real relationship and trust?
More and more people are realiz-
ing that the answer must be the latter.
Nationally, our very own U.S. Rep.
Brenda Lawrence has co-founded a
new bipartisan Black-Jewish Caucus in
Congress. The JCRC
/AJC has spear-
headed this work locally in partnership
with the Council of Baptist Pastors
through the Coalition for Black and
Jewish Unity.
I think back to the recent black-Jew-
ish panel I attended in Detroit, and I am
buoyed by a sense of hope. It seems we
are all thirsting to live in a more united
city and region, a place defined by the
common ties that bind us and not the
differences that set us apart. I hope that
you will join us in this important and
energizing work. ■
Rabbi Sam Englender is the community outreach
manager for the Jewish Community Relations
Council/AJC. If you are interested in learning
more about the coalition or how to get involved,
contact him at englender@jfmd.org.
guest column
The Ties that Bind Us
Rabbi Sam
Englender
Yiddish Limerick
Fourth of July
Ich gay nisht in shul, I’
ll soon
tell you why.
It’
s a yontef far alle, it’
s the
Fourth of July.
Dos franks un dos alles,
they all taste so good.
Ich hob azay lib all the
barbecue food.
Un fargess nisht to eat a
shtikale pie.
Ich gay nisht - I don’
t go
in shul - to synagogue
a yontef far alle - a holiday
for all
Dos - the
dos alles - everything
Ich hob azay lib - I love so
Un fargess nisht - And don’
t
forget
a shtikale - a little piece
By Rachel Kapen