32 | NOVEMBER 9 • 2023 J
N
OUR COMMUNITY
A
mid the sorrow of
the horrific terror
attack on Israel and
the war with Hamas, Sam
Dubin and Beverly Liss of
Fed Radio Detroit sat down
with Rabbi Asher Lopatin,
executive director of the
Jewish Community Relations
Council/ AJC, to share his
mission, ambition and hope
going forward.
Lopatin explains how the
JCRC/AJC acts as a bridge
from the Jewish community
of Detroit to the broader non-
Jewish community. “No one
organization can be the voice
of everybody, but we try to
be a consensus voice, a strong
voice for the Jewish people to
the outside world,” he said.
Lopatin, who lived in Israel
from ages 8-12, including
during the Yom Kippur War,
has a strong attachment to the
Jewish state.
“Israel is just so central to
who I am as a Jew,” he said.
“It’s in my prayers three times
a day. Israel is, for me, the
dream of the hope for the
future for the Jewish people.”
Part of the role of the JCRC
is dealing with the media,
and Lopatin and staff work
diligently to ensure that Israel
is portrayed in the media
accurately, he said, admitting
that he gets discouraged when
“people want to say things that
are so illogical and nasty and
vicious that you lose all your
energy, such as calling Israel
genocidal.
“Carl Bernstein on CNN
said what was right, and that
it is Hamas that’s genocidal,”
he continued. “Tragically, with
Oct. 7, with the horrific and
the massive cruelty, I think a
lot of the world has seen that.”
When it comes to changing
the anti-Israel narrative
that seems so omnipresent,
Lopatin said, “We’re certainly
not going to convince the
antisemites — they don’t care
about facts or whether we’re
good for the world or not.
They just hate us. And we’re
not going to convince people
who emotionally are not
ready for it. But we’ve got to
convince ourselves that Israel’s
fighting for the right position,
for Israel’s sake and for the
Palestinian’s sake and for the
world’s sake.”
INTERFAITH RELATIONS
“All of us Jews are so hurt
right now. And it’s such pain
that it’s a hard time now
to sit down with our Arab
American friends or Muslim
friends who just don’t get it,”
he said.
“When our pain subsides,
not right now, but eventually,
we’ll go back to these
friendships with the Arab
American and the Muslim
community and learn how to
have civil discourse, learn how
to hear each other’s emotional
feelings and see that we can
listen and disagree, and then
move on.”
He added, “We also need
to be aware of the friends we
have who really are rooting for
us and are speaking up for us.
We have positive relationships
with the Black community,
with the Catholic community,
with the Hindu community.
There are a lot of positive
relationships that we’ve
cultivated for so many years.”
RESURGENCE OF
ANTISEMITISM
“There’s deep antisemitism
in this world. It’s rearing its
dangerous head and now we’re
really feeling it viscerally.
But nothing is going to keep
us away from school, from
synagogue, from celebrating
who we are as Jews. I think
we have to stand up to them,
and that that’s going to be
the message our kids need to
learn,” he said.
“Many people totally agree
that Hamas is terrible, but
they’re afraid to speak up. I
want to make sure that in the
Jewish community, no one
feels afraid to speak up.
“It’s all hands on deck. Every
kid needs to find out how to
be an advocate for Israel. Be
proud to wear your Israeli
flag. Don’t be afraid. That’s
what we can do in America, in
addition to helping out Israel
with donating to the Israel
Emergency Fund and giving
to whatever causes we can that
help Israel and its civilians.”
Hear the entire conversation
at myjewishdetroit.org, as well
as a conversation with Brian
Siegel, CEO of The J, who
discusses the recent story in
the JN about the rebranding of
the JCC.
JCRC/AJC’s Rabbi Asher Lopatin talks with
Fed Radio Detroit about events in Israel.
Finding the Light
JACKIE HEADAPOHL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Rabbi Asher
Lopatin