22 | MAY 18 • 2023 

In the weeks that immediately followed 
the March 14 assembly, the high school 
utilized the presence of therapy dogs, 
brought in extra counselors and social 
workers and also on-site campus officers. 
Faculty are taking part in meetings to learn 
“restorative measures” and how to properly 
report student concerns.
Phase One of the plan stated that the 
district is conducting an independent 
review of events leading up to, during and 
following the assembly.
From April to June, the plan states that 
the administration would “strengthen staff 
preparedness to further cultivate a sense of 
belonging throughout the student body and 
foster student healing.
” 
The plan’s actions include that faculty will 
“work to identify authentic opportunities 
within course curriculum to participate 
in civil discourse and productive debates, 
review various opportunities or experiences 
to promote understanding of global 
perspectives, and provide resources to 
staff on identifying antisemitism and 
Islamophobia.
” 
The plan states that for the remainder 
of the school year, the district will “review 
and revise assembly guidelines for non-
district or third-party presenters to 
include a thorough vetting process and 
communication regarding assembly purpose 
and specifics with parental opt out.
” 
The plan states that action items and 
investigations will carry into the 2023-2024 
school year “to identify opportunities to 
strengthen student global perspectives with 
curriculum specific experiences and develop 
a positive school culture,
” but gave no other 
details. 

A JEWISH RESPONSE
In the lead-up to its May 3 event with 
journalists Bari Weiss and Mitch Albom, 
Temple Israel of West Bloomfield hosted an 
event “From Conflict to Conversation” on 
May 2 to address the incident at BHHS and 
frame it in the context of when criticism 
of Israel crosses the line 
into antisemitism. Professor 
Yael Aronoff, director of the 
Michael and Elaine Serling 
Institute for Jewish Studies and 
Modern Israel at Michigan 
State University, addressed the 

audience of about 60 people, including some 
teens and their parents.
After her lecture, the audience was 
divided into talking circles facilitated by 
clergy from Temple Israel, Adat Shalom, 
B’nai Moshe and Shaarey Zedek. Each 
teen who attended the event was given a 
complimentary copy of Bari Weiss’s book, 
How to Fight Antisemitism. 
The program was part of Temple Israel’s 
“T4Israel” programming initiative that aims 
to put a focus on Israeli programming and 
education.
Temple Israel’s Rabbi Jennifer 
Lader said the gathering 
marked a “communal response 
to recent events in our 
backyard. 
“Dr. Aronoff highlighted 
for us the importance of 
education and understanding 
as we navigate complex issues 
as American Jews,
” said Lader. “While 
recognizing that these issues may be 
challenging and emotionally charged, we 
know how crucial it is for us to create a 
safe space to grow — to ask questions — to 
engage in respectful dialogue and to learn 
from each other. That’s what the program 
accomplished, thanks to the expertise of Dr. 
Aronoff and our incredible community of 
synagogues and clergy who showed up to 
learn.
”
Aronoff addressed in general the March 14 
BHHS assembly in terms of her knowledge 
and experience of what she is seeing on 
many college campuses, including at MSU. 
“It is an unfortunate situation for the 
reason we are having this gathering,
” said 
Aronoff. “From my understanding [of the 
assembly], people from various minority 
backgrounds were invited in to speak 
about instances of discrimination they 
encountered when they were in high school. 
I understand it veered into anti-Israel, and 
perhaps antisemitic sentiments.
“On the face of things, such an assembly 
seemed to be an inappropriate place to 
introduce or engage in this topic. For a 
nuanced conversation, there should have 
been better vetting, multiple voices to give 
a wider perspective and more context 
offered. Issues like (racism, antisemitism, 
Islamophobia and homophobia) are 
complex and fraught issues that required far 

more preparation among the students before 
they could have had such an assembly.
”

CAMPUS ISSUES
Fully aware of the rise in antisemitism on 
college campuses, Aronoff said in the last 
years, the Institute at MSU has been actively 
pursuing a seat at the table at university-
wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 
discussions. The institute also released this 
year a comprehensive report documenting 
antisemitism at MSU. 
“Jewish programs across the country 
are finding that universities are not 
incorporating antisemitism or Islamophobia 
into their DEI policies on campus,
” said 
Aronoff. “We are working with the Muslim 
community on campus to be heard. Colleges 
and universities are scrambling to get more 
of this into their DEI programming, and I 
can only imagine that this is also coming up 
at the high school level as well.
” 
Through the lecture part of the program, 
Aronoff unpacked and addressed the 
centuries-old history of antisemitic and 
anti-Zionist tropes, including alleging that 
Israel is an apartheid state, that Israel as a 
state is a colonialist project and that Israel is 
committing genocide against Palestinians.
“
Antisemitism that was historically geared 
against Jews has now been transformed into 
antisemitism relating to Israel, since it’s the 
only Jewish majority state in the world,
” 
Aronoff said. “You could have constructive 
conversation about legitimate disagreements 
over what is happening in Israel, and we 
know events are rapidly changing there. But 
nevertheless, extreme criticism overlaps into 
antisemitism.
“Zionism has become a derogatory 
word among many young people. You can 
criticize Israeli policy all you want, but 
when you begin to deny the indigeneity of 
Jews to the region, when you deny Jewish 
self-determination and Jewish historical 
connection to the land, that is when it slips 
into antisemitism.
” 
To counter the misinformation, Aronoff 
pointed to the many opportunities at the 
Institute where students from diverse 
backgrounds can enroll in workshops with 
Jewish and Muslim students and faculty to 
foster constructive and meaningful dialogue. 
Though he has not yet taken these 
workshops, MSU freshman Maxim 

Rabbi Jen 
Lader

Yael Aronoff

OUR COMMUNITY

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