8 | SEPTEMBER 2 • 2021
PURELY COMMENTARY
T
his year saw some great
Jewish highs — two
gold medals for Israel
in the Tokyo Olympics — and
some great Jewish lows — a
COVID-violating engagement
party in
Australia
caught on
tape, mocking
a universal
lockdown.
We saw Israel
taking the lead
in vaccines —
inoculating Arab and Jew in
Israel as equals and sharing
vaccination information with
the world — and we saw
Jews heaping abuse at other
Jews for merely praying in
the egalitarian section of the
Western Wall.
Jews in America, in all
their political and religious
diversity, came together for
Zoom rallies, Washington
rallies and West Bloomfield
rallies to fight antisemitism,
and we looked on in horror as
our fellow Jews were violently
and verbally abused — simply
for being Jewish.
In a year of COVID, there
were many highs and lows, but
I would like in particular to
ask: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Am I responsible for all Jews
and can I get nachas (prideful
joy) from Jews I don’t even
know and who don’t know
me?
Indeed, Jewish
accomplishments make us feel
so proud to be Jewish. Didn’t
we feel that sense of Jewish
pride and Jewish unity seeing
everyone stand for “Hatikva”
in Tokyo? But doesn’t the
worst behavior by Jews stir
in us a collective desire to
repent?
Watching videos of that
terrible religious engagement
party in Australia or videos of
Jews screaming at other Jews
because they pray differently
— how painful for all Jews,
and how deeply disturbing
and thought-provoking at
this time of introspection
and asking of forgiveness. We
are, after all, one people, with
one heart, with a common
destiny.
As director of the Jewish
Community Relations
Council/AJC of Detroit, I
see firsthand how the rest
of the community sees Jews
as one, where one Jew doing
good can be so meaningful to
all our people, and one Jew
doing bad things can be so
detrimental.
There is never an excuse
for antisemitism and never
an excuse for the world to
condemn Jews as a collective.
At the same time, our
tradition tells us Kol Yisrael
Areivim Ze Bazeh — all Jews
are responsible — literally,
guarantors — for each other.
All of us must unite to take
pride when one of us does
something commendable
or incredible; we must
also condemn actions that
harm the world and bring
embarrassment to our people
and to God, even if just a
few Jews, far away, are doing
them.
Just as the world saw proud
Jews during the Olympics,
I was so heartened that
some of the greatest rabbis,
in particular, Rav Eliezer
Melamed, condemned those
who heaped insults and
vitriol on those praying at the
Kotel’s egalitarian section.
We cannot escape
responsibility for each other’s
actions; we must share in the
praise when one of us wins a
gold and we must share in the
concern when even one of us
acts badly.
THE NEED FOR UNITY
Jews — few or many — set an
example of partnership and
cooperation with our non-Jew-
ish neighbors, no matter what
their religion, ethnicity or
race, when we show we care
about those around us. Indeed,
one of the best ways to fight
antismetism and ignorance is
to demonstrate to the greater
society how unified the Jews are
in promoting ethical work that
makes the greater Metro Detroit
a better place to live for all of us.
As we get ready to observe
Rosh Hashanah, the holiday
where Jews celebrate the
creation of the universe, the
JCRC/AJC celebrates not
only the impact our Jewish
community can have on the
broader community, but
also the importance of the
Jewish community accepting
responsibility, as one, as
guarantors for each other. Rosh
Hashanah tells us that each Jew
has a responsibility to the great
world that God created and
a responsibility to encourage
every other Jew to work hard to
better this world as well.
L
’shanah tovah, for a year
of good health, free from the
shackles of COVID, full of
Jewish pride and filled with
a deep sense of responsibility
to look out for each other and
work as a unified people to
improve this great world we are
blessed to live in.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin is executive
director of the Jewish Community
Relations Council/American Jewish
Committee.
Rabbi Asher
Lopatin
guest column
Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
Reflections on Jewish Unity
Before the New Year