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6 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019 

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A 

week ago, I led a 
prayer at a rally against 
hate organized by Rep. 
Debbie Dingell and co-spon-
sored by many anti-hate, civil 
rights organizations, includ-
ing the ADL, 
ACLU and 
ACCESS. 
That evening, 
my remarks 
were made as a 
board member 
of JCRC/AJC, 
whose mission 
is to represent 
the voice of the Jewish com-
munity to the broader Detroit 
community. 
As we were determining 
our participation in the event, 
we learned that Rep. Rashida 
Tlaib would be speaking, 
which raised the question 
of how Jewish organizations 
should decide whether to take 
part and co-sponsor events 
that involve individuals whose 
views on Israel and other crit-
ical Jewish causes go against 
the Jewish community’
s con-
sensus. 
Judaism has a long tradi-
tion of aligning with people 
with whom we disagree to 
further important causes. The 
Torah tells us that we got out 
of Egypt “on the wings of 
eagles,” and many rabbis have 
pointed out that eagles are 
the most unkosher bird you 
can get! 
Moreover, Rav Soloveitchik, 
who forbade any theological 
or philosophical work with 
the Christian community 
because of his strong rejection 
of Christian theology, was a 
strong advocate of working 
with anyone, of any religion, 
to help further important, 
real-world issues that Jews 
could not advance on their 
own. Now, that applies not 
only to topics affecting the 

Jewish community, but also 
to broader societal issues — 
such as hatred, intolerance 
and xenophobia, the ills that 
this rally was designed to 
oppose. Joining forces to fight 
wars or enemies, as America 
and England had to do in 
WWII and as Israel has to do 
constantly, does not automat-
ically legitimize or support 
the actions or ideas of those 
with whom we disagree, but 
have to unite with. 

Having said this, it is vital 
to keep in mind that when 
we partner on events with a 
broad group of people who 
may strongly disagree with us 
on certain issues, that those 
programs stick to their right-
ful goals and not mix in or 
promote partners’
 causes with 
which we disagree. 
At the Take on Hate rally, 
no speaker brought up extra-
neous and problematic issues 
such as Palestine or BDS. The 
event was more partisan than 
I would have liked, but Tlaib, 
in particular, was careful to 
focus her remarks on fighting 
hate against anyone and sensi-
tivity to those who are targets 

of such hate.
In addition, I find when we 
focus on a shared goal with 
a diverse group of people, 
we must ensure we are not 
participating with groups that 
are so problematic that mere-
ly partnering with them will 
poison the cause. Sometimes 
this dynamic needs to be 
examined based on who the 
main organizer of the event is 
and how many other co-spon-
sors there are, as well as who 
those co-sponsors are. In the 
case of the Take on Hate 
rally, the main organizer was 
Dingell, who was joined by 
other members of Congress, 
including Rep. Andy Levin 
and members of the Michigan 
State Legislature. 
While, as I mentioned, 
the rally was certainly not as 
nonpartisan as the planners 
intended, the main message 
rang true: Everyone was there 
to call out hatred and advo-
cate for tolerance and respect.
Partnering and speaking 
at these events is risky as 
one never knows how the 
program will turn out. Each 
decision needs to be made 
on a case-by-case basis, yet 
the risks of not partnering 
against anti-Semitism, hatred 
or any other cause so central 
to the Jewish community is 
far greater. We cannot do it 
alone; we need partners, as 
difficult and as scary as that 
might be. 
As a community, let us 
work together to find the 
partnerships that best advance 
our causes and help us be a 
light unto the nations and 
leaders against hatred and 
intolerance. 

 
Rabbi Asher Lopatin is a board 
member of the JCRC/AJC and 
founder of the Detroit Center for 
Civil Discourse.

Rabbi Asher 
Lopatin

When Do We Partner? When Do We Not?
Each month, the JN will let 
you know the stories that were 
read most often online. If you 
missed any, you can go to 
thejewishnews.com and search 
for them by title. These stories 
were most popular in August.

TOP 10 ON THE WEB 
• Southfield Teen Helps Save 
Life
• New Hope for Neurological 
Disorders Through Hyperbaric 
Oxygen Therapy 
• Schitt’
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• Mumford Grads Find Love 
at Last
• Kaufman to Step Down as 
Detroit Federation CEO 
• Anti-Israel Resolution 
Rejected in Ann Arbor
• Proud Boys Join Jewish 
Counter-Protesters 
• Woodstock 50th Anniversary 
• Belen Brings The Morrie to 
Birmingham
• Charlevoix the Beautiful

TOPS ON FACEBOOK 
• 
Oxford Recovery Center in 
Brighton and Troy 
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Friends Tie the Knot 
• Deep Political Divide Ignores 
Nuances of Holocaust Center 
• West Bloomfield Resident 
Helping the Homeless 
• Schitt’
s Creek Live 

TOP INSTAGRAM POSTS
• Schitt’
s Creek Live
• High School Student Starts 
Bubble Waffle Company 
• 91-year-old Holocaust 
Survivor Celebrates Bar 
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• Hazon Detroit Annual Food 
Festival
• Maccabi Detroit Girls Soccer 
Team video

Judaism has a 
long tradition 
of aligning 
with people 
with whom we 
disagree.

— RABBI ASHER LOPATIN

