8 | MARCH 23 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY

continued from page 6

offered American Jews incredible 
blessings, I am not so naïve as 
to believe this will always be the 
case. If, Heaven forbid, I need 
to follow the path of my grand-
parents and great-grandparents 
in fleeing my place of birth to 
protect my family, I want a secure 
and prosperous Jewish State to 
which I can go. Just as Judaism 
requires the Jewish State for our 
spiritual sustenance, Jews who 
are threatened around the world 
require a Jewish State for sur-
vival. For my children’s sake and 
for the sake of Jewish children 
everywhere, I must work to bring 
about Israel’s success, not to try 
to weaken it from afar.
Rabbi David Hartman taught 
that Israel’s existence offers “the 
possibility of integrating the 
moral seriousness of the prophet 
with the realism and political 
judgment of the statesman 
(Auschwitz or Sinai? 2/1/13).
” 
As such, when the prophetic 
call fails to find fulfillment in 
the statesman’s efforts, we are 
required to identify leaders’ fail-
ings and to demand change.
In this way, I join the voices 
proclaiming the moral turpitude 
of the coalition’s judicial reform 
efforts, but because Judaism 
demands that we support Israel 
and because my own future 
well-being and those of our 
brothers and sisters around the 
world may depend on the exis-
tence of Israel, I will not cease 
my support of Israel and its right 
to exist as a secure, democratic 
Jewish State. 
If Friedman is suggesting that 
the two sides from which I am 
forced to choose are between 
supporting Israel and distancing 
myself from Israel, I choose the 
side of Israel. I choose the side of 
Judaism and of the Jewish People.

Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader 

of Congregation Shaarey Zedek of 

Southfield.

guest column
Antisemitism and Our Jewish 
Community: The Bad News 
and The Good News
W

henever those 
in our lives say 
they have good 
news and bad news, we almost 
always say, “give me the bad 
news first.” Then, 
when we see it 
isn’t the end of 
the world, we can 
take the good 
news with an 
open heart. 
When we look 
at antisemitism 
and Israel-hatred 
in America, we’re 
inclined to see 
a bleak picture. 
Yet, there is a lot 
of good news 
to celebrate. Let 
us start with 
some of the bad news – the 
FBI’s increasing statistics 
on hate crimes, AJC’s State 
of Antisemitism report that 
more Jews feel less secure in 
America, the fact that students 
march with impunity at U-M 
to call for the destruction of 
the Jewish state via violent 
intifada, and the list, sadly, goes 
on. 
But then, the good news —
Two governors sworn in 
by Hebrew Bibles, 85% of 
Americans know that Jews 
were killed in Auschwitz 
(a fifth of Americans can’t 
name our first president), 
the Foundation to Combat 
Antisemitism (you’ll be hear-
ing about it soon), the Jewish 
Second Gentleman who talks 
about being Jewish, and NBA 
players like LeBron James and 
Russell Westbrook practicing 

at Yeshiva University of Los 
Angeles Boys High School.
Thanks to former JCRC/
AJC Associate Director Allan 
Gale for making this point 
about Jewish power and influ-
ence. Yes, Jews in America are 
successful and influential and 
even powerful in many areas 
of society, and, no, there is no 
conspiracy. As we so often, and 
accurately, say: two Jews, three 
opinions! 
While there are certainly 
non-Jews with deep pockets 
who contribute to both sides 
of the political aisle — the 
powerful, influential Jews span 
the political spectrum. The 
Adelsons have given millions 
of dollars to Republicans, while 
at the same time, George Soros 
has given millions of dollars to 
progressive causes. The good 
news is that Jews are having a 
positive impact on society, and 
Jews disagree on and support a 
variety of conflicting causes. 
We must be vigilant against 
all forms of antisemitism and 
Israel-hatred, but there is a lot 
to be optimistic about.
So often we separate what 
is good and bad in separate 
buckets — as if there are no 
lines that blurred the two. Take 
Christian Picciolini — at 14 
years old, Christian went from 
an innocent kid to a white 
supremacist and, eventually, 
became the leader of the first 
neo-Nazi skinhead gang in the 
United States. 
How could this horrible man 
have any redeemable quality?
Christian eventually recog-
nized the evil he was perpet-

uating and worked to reform 
himself and change his way 
of thinking. He has since left 
the movement and has helped 
hundreds of people disengage 
from extremist movements, 
including white supremacist 
and Jihadist groups. 
Christian was not an inher-
ently bad person, though he 
exhibited many bad qualities 
and hateful behavior that 
any decent person would 
denounce. And now, rather 
than writing off the worst 
in society, he has helped to 
change them. 
“It’s our disconnection from 
each other. Hatred is born of 
ignorance. Fear is its father, 
and isolation is its mother,” 
Christian said. There are peo-
ple who do bad things. The 
good news — there’s hope that 
one day, with love and compas-
sion, those people will do good 
things.
With all our disagreements 
and divided priorities among 
the Jewish people, we can at 
least agree on building com-
munities that care for those 
who require help and look out 
for the most vulnerable among 
us. 
Let that good news continue 
for a very long time! 

Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the executive 

director and Sam Dubin is the assistant 

director/ director of media relations 

of the Jewish Community Relations 

Council/ AJC Detroit. JCRC/AJC’s mis-

sion is to represent the metropolitan 

Detroit Jewish community, Israel and 

Jews throughout the world to the gen-

eral community and to establish collab-

orative relationships with other ethnic, 

racial, civic and religious groups.

Rabbi Asher 
Lopatin

Sam Dubin

