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

