12 | MARCH 21 • 2024 
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the Facebook group Blocking Schoolboards 
From Calling For a Ceasefire, which 
now has close to 130 members. The first 
Facebook group she’s ever started, it’s a place 
for people to share information, from asking 
for copies of referendums to updates on 
meetings. “We have to stop this in its tracks,
” 
she says.
Sharon Sorkin of Ann Arbor went to her 
first school board meeting after Oct. 7 to 
make sure a Jewish perspective were part of 
the conversation. “I went to the school board 
meeting the next week. I had never been to 
one before, and said, ‘Hey, can we just make 
sure we’re recognizing Jewish, Israeli stu-
dents in the district?’”
The school board passed a ceasefire reso-
lution that, among other elements, calls on 
classroom discussion of the conflict, says 
Sorkin, who has a sixth-grade daughter and 
a fourth-grade son in the district. The move 
prompted action from Jewish parents, who 
called their principals to express their con-
cerns and highlight the way Jewish families 
are feeling. 
“It’s really important that not just our kids, 
but all kids learn facts, and that our school 
boards, our districts, are committed to that, 
and they’re not swayed by narrow interests 
or political motivations,
” she says. “Because 
at the end of the day, this is about developing 
the next generation of critical thinkers.
”

ENGAGING WITH SCHOOLS
Eileen Freed, CEO Jewish Federation of 
Greater Ann Arbor, says they’ve been con-
vening parents to engage with the local 
schools to map goals, strategies and prior-
ities going forward. They’ve 
added incident report forms for 
families whose kids face issues 
at school and have hired Rabbi 
Asher Lopatin as community 
relations director.
“We look to work in partner-
ship with parents to help them 
advocate and work with the schools to create 
a better climate for their kids,
” she says. It’s 
work they’ve been doing prior to Oct 7 as 
well, she says, adding that they’re developing 
as a community organization that represents 
Jews of the community to develop relation-
ships with school administration and the 

school board. 
Coming forward as a community makes 
a lot of sense, says Don Cohen of West 
Bloomfield. He attended the Farmington 
school board meeting after hearing about 
it from someone who’
d been at a previous 
meeting and has children who graduated 
from the Farmington Hills district. 
“The Jewish community should be 
informed and activated; anti-Israel forces 
are out strong and they’re blanketing orga-
nizations, school boards, even businesses 
with their position and their demands,
” he 
explains. “It’s incumbent on us to show up 
and speak out, and we can’t expect anyone 
else to do it for us.
” 
Abbeygail Omaits of Farmington mod-
ified her Valentine’s Day plans with her 
husband when she heard about the meeting, 
which she says she considered a priority to 
attend. “I came from Canton, and it didn’t 
have much of a Jewish community, so I 
know what it’s like to be unheard and unrep-
resented,
” she says, adding that she attended 
U-M Dearborn. 

Omaits, who has two students currently 
in the Farmington district and also a 2-year-
old, says she’s showing up and also commit-
ted to adding a Jewish voice. 
“I don’t feel scared, and my kids, I would 
love to set them up so when they’re older 
they don’t have to deal with it, so that these 
issues are solved, and we set them up for a 
more Jewish-friendly future,
” she explains. 
“What I wanted to do was stop the first 
domino from falling, and the first domino 
is there should not be a ceasefire resolution 
opinion written by the school board. They 
just should stay out of it — that doesn’t need 
to happen at all.
”
A Jewish presence matters, she adds. “I 
think our presence in numbers can be a lot 
greater, and standing in solidarity with each 

other, even being able to see some faces 
you only know from online, can be really 
powerful, and right now community is so 
important.
” 

HOW TO GET INVOLVED
On a practical level, in addition to attend-
ing meetings, people can have 
conversations with individ-
ual city council members or 
school board members, and 
add their written comments 
to public record, says Carolyn 
Normandin, regional director, 
ADL Michigan. She encourages 
people to look into their community charters 
to better understand the mission of city coun-
cils, as well as to ask themselves about how 
these communities have responded to events 
such as 9-11 or the situation in Ukraine. 
There’s also the White House strategy 
against antisemitism, which has further 
resources set out to address the rise of 
antisemitism in the country. 
She reminds people to report anti-Israel 
and anti-Jewish incidents to the ADL, and 
says on social media they can also play a 
part in helping to moderate by reporting 
antisemitism there. Antisemitism has been 
around for thousands of years, but the last 
several years has seen incidents rising, with 
Oct. 7 taking it to another level. Her message 
is to “stand up, share facts, show strength,
” 
she says. “It takes all of us to be able to stand 
up to this level of antisemitism.
” 
As taxpayers and voters, constituents have 
sway in their communities, she reminds 
them. “The power that you have as a com-
munity member for these kinds of things is 
great,
” she says. 
Leiberman says there were additional 
Jewish families in attendance at the March 
meeting. More people coordinated through 
Facebook, she adds. 
“We all wanted to support each other and 
speak out, and we all sat together again,
” 
Leiberman says. “I think we felt good to 
know we weren’t alone going through this. 
And that we’re trying to speak up together as 
a group to make our voices louder. 
Her older daughter Naomi spoke about 
being targeted at school as well, Leiberman 
says. “She wants the school to know they 
should be acting on that.
” 

continued from page 10

Eileen 
Freed

Carolyn 
Normandin

OUR COMMUNITY

