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

