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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