20 | OCTOBER 26 • 2023 J
N
OUR COMMUNITY
T
he unprecedented
Hamas terrorist attacks
on Israel and Israel’s
military response on Gaza
are testing long-held connec-
tions and friendships between
the local Jewish community
and its non-Jewish neigh-
bors. Local rabbis and others
involved in interfaith and out-
reach activity report support
from Detroit-area colleagues,
but, in some cases, not to the
extent that was expected.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, exec-
utive director of the Jewish
Community
Relations Council/
AJC, said, “Our
African American
friends have
been amazing.
The Detroit
Coalition for
Black and Jewish
Unity co-sponsored an Israel
Solidarity Day on Friday,
Oct. 13.” He added that the
Council of Baptist Ministers of
Detroit and Vicinity has also
expressed support for Israel.
Lopatin and Steven Ingber,
CEO of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, spoke
at Greater New Mt. Moriah
Missionary Baptist Church
in Detroit at the invitation of
Rev. Kenneth Flowers.
“The Hindu community has
been very supportive. They
have encountered a lot of ter-
rorism,” Lopatin explained.
The Archdiocese of Detroit
contacted Lopatin personally
to express support for Israel
and sent an email to local rab-
bis. Lopatin added that Bonnie
Perry, bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Michigan, Rev.
Dennis Clanton of the evan-
gelical Woodland Church in
Brownstown Township and
members of the Chaldean
community have reached out
to him as well.
A small vigil was organized
by Christians in Madison
Heights.
Rabbi Daniel Syme, rabbi
emeritus at Temple Beth El,
has been involved in inter-
faith work for many years. He
mentioned the
public support for
Israel expressed
by Rev. Flowers
and Bankole
Thompson (a
Detroit News col-
umnist). However,
overall, Syme said
the lack of greater response
from his interfaith colleagues
was “really disheartening,
although I continue to have
hope in interfaith cooperation
for goodness and kindness.”
Some individuals from
Detroit’s Arab American
community have contacted
Lopatin to express support
and concern. However, “no
one in the Arab American
community has spoken on
the record and condemned
Hamas. People are petrified
to speak out against Hamas,”
he says.
“They are afraid of verbal
abuse, boycotts of their busi-
nesses, physical threats or
having their houses burned
down. It’s not healthy that
they can’t speak out. They are
not doing any good for their
community.”
One prominent local Arab
American originally was
willing to be quoted about
the Mideast situation but sub-
sequently asked to have his
name removed because his
business was threatened by a
boycott for his comments.
Rabbi Mark Miller, senior
rabbi at Temple
Beth El, has had a
longstanding close
connection with
Rev. Dr. William
Danaher Jr., rector
of Christ Church
Rabbi
Asher
Lopatin
Rabbi
Daniel
Syme
Rabbi Mark
Miller
Some local non-Jewish communities and secular organizations
respond to Hamas attacks with support and others with silence.
Interfaith Groups’ Response
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER