16 | JULY 22 • 2021
OUR COMMUNITY
E
arlier this month
I received an
email from Rabbi
Asher Lopatin, executive
director of the Jewish
Community Relations
Council (JCRC) and
the rabbi of Kehillat Etz
Chayim, our synagogue
in Huntington Woods,
informing congregants of his
plan to attend an upcom-
ing rally in Washington
D.C., representing the
JCRC and Detroit’s Jewish
community.
The flyer he sent, billed
“No Fear: A Rally in
Solidarity with the Jewish
People,
” was spearheaded
by Elisha Wiesel, son of the
late Nobel Laureate Eli Wiesel,
and hoped to gather Jews of
all stripes in a full-throated
demonstration of Jewish unity,
denouncement of antisemitism
and reaffirming the ideals of
Zionism. “Let us continue to
work toward more Jewish unity
as we stand up to antisemitism
and fight for the safety and
security of Israel,
” Lopatin wrote
in closing.
Scheduled for July 11, and
within eyeshot of the U.S.
Capitol, Wiesel helped corral
a cross-section of more than
100 Jewish and interfaith orga-
nizations that cut across the
political and religious spectrum.
Scheduled speakers includ-
ed television host Meghan
McCain, Erika Moritsugu,
deputy assistant to President
Joe Biden, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers
of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life
Synagogue and more than a
dozen others, including Wiesel.
I don’t consider myself
“political,
” but the rally’s intent
resonated with me on several
levels, particularly its call for
civic engagement. I hold the
construct of civic engagement
to be on par with, and comple-
mentary to, every American’s
obligation to be well-informed
on issues.
Each is critical in sustaining
our democracy and safeguard-
ing the freedoms our country
bestows upon its citizens. Each
Antisemitism rally in Washington gave this father
and daughter lessons in how to combat hatred.
Learning
to Lead
Bryan
Gottlieb
Contributing
Writer
ON THE COVER
Shlomo Noginski, a rabbi
who was stabbed in Boston,
speaks to a rally against
antisemitism at the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, D.C.,
July 11, 2021.
RON KAMPEAS, JTA