18 | AUGUST 27 • 2020
Jews in the D
‘Racism and Jews’
Zoom event aims to explore the
connectedness of racism and antisemitism.
I
s the rise in
antisemitism its
own phenom-
enon or does it
stem from racism?
Thursday, Sept. 3,
at 7 p.m., Professor
Susannah Heschel
will speak at a
community Zoom
event that will
explore that question.
The event, “Racism and
the Jews: History, Conscience
and the Future,
” is hosted
by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, the
Coalition for Black and Jewish
Unity and Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC.
Heschel is the Eli M. Black
Distinguished Professor and
Chair of the Jewish Studies
program at Dartmouth College.
She teaches courses on mod-
ern Judaism, modern Jewish
thought and history. Heschel
is also the author of numerous
books and articles.
As the daughter of Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel, she
grew up surrounded by the
members of the Civil Rights
Movement. Her father is known
for his active role in the civil
rights and peace movements of
the 1960s, so from an early age,
civil rights were an important
aspect of her life.
“I discovered the Hebrew
Bible could change America.
I saw it could soften hardened
hearts,
” Heschel said. “I was
inspired by my father and by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
”
During the event, Heschel will
discuss whether rising antisem-
itism is a species of racism or
“hate,
” or a separate phenom-
enon. She will also explore
whether Jews can
fight antisemitism
while ignoring rac-
ism toward African
Americans, the
impact of antisem-
itism and racism is
on Black Jews and
how Jews should be
discussing racism.
“I am command-
ed to love my neighbor, but
how can I love my neighbor if I
don’
t know them?” Heschel said.
“That to me means that as a
Jew and as a human being, I am
obligated to understand people
that are all around me, which
include African Americans. I
want to understand their con-
cerns, their history and trou-
bles.
”
The event will also feature a
clip from the recently released
film Shared Legacies, which fea-
tures lessons of Black-Jewish
cooperation and a discussion
with a new generation of Black
leaders.
“I am well aware that we live
in a terribly polarized envi-
ronment, in America, in the
world and also in the Jewish
community. There is a lot of
anger and resentment and even
hatred,
” Heschel said. “We need
to understand the reasons for
the anger, but we also need to be
inspired so we don’
t get trapped
in the anger. I believe Judaism
has something to contribute to
lift ourselves out of that conflict.
In my opinion, the teachings of
compassion need to be com-
bined with the teachings of
justice we find in the Hebrew
prophets.
”
Register at jewishdetroit.org/events.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
Susannah Heschel
JCRC/AJC
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