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

