blogs/brentspodek

At every moment, the Holy One places before us life and goodness, death and evil (Deut 30:15)

Sometimes, we get to choose which path we take. Sometimes, others choose our path for us. 

This past week, some people chose death and evil: one white nationalist sent pipe bombs to dozens of Democratic leaders, another white nationalist killed two African Americans in Kentucky and another white nationalist walked into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and murdered 11 of our Jewish brothers and sisters. They were killed not only because they were Jewish, but because their synagogue stood with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in welcoming refugees to America, just as HIAS welcomed so many of our ancestors who came to America fleeing persecution. 

At the same time, many people here in our community chose life and goodness. I was teaching in Washington DC for Shabbat, and on Saturday night, Cantor Ellen and BHA President Deb Davidovits hastily organized a havdalah service and with only one hour's notice, fifty people had gathered to share comfort and love together.  By the time I got back on Sunday morning, Mayor Randy Casale and City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero dispatched Beacon Police to stand guard as our children came to Hebrew school. We expected that and are grateful for it.

What we did not expect was that the clergy of our town, with whom we have worked over many years, showed up as well. Pastor Ben Larson Wolbrink of First Presbyterian, Pastor Bill Dandreano of Salem Tabernacle, Pastor Ron Perry of Springfield Baptist, Pastor Ed Benson of New Vision Church of Deliverance, Pastor Tony Oliver of Upper Room Ministries and Pastor Ray Banks of In the Faith Ministries organized themselves to greet our children that Sunday morning. I wept when they came to stand with us. 

What we did not expect were the many people who left flowers and notes at the door of the synagogue, saying "I am not Jewish and I am afraid. But I need to tell you that you are loved, your suffering is ours and there is more love than madness in this world."

So, while our experience of the news reminded us that there are those who choose death and evil, in the lived life of our community, there are people - and plenty of them - choosing life and goodness. Those are our friends and allies and we love them dearly. We will always stand with them as they stand with us. 

Last night, leaders of many different congregations and organizations met at BHA with Eric Ward, author of Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism. We discussed how we can work together to combat anti-semitism, racism and rising white nationalism here in the Hudson Valley. This coming Thursday, Salem Tabernacle is hosting a community wide resistance to racism and anti-Semitism.  I very much hope that our entire community will be there. 

So what comes next? We will, first and foremost, continue to build coalitions and partnerships with other groups in the Mid-Hudson Valley to keep each other safe and help America live up to its potential as a haven for all people. More concretely, we will review security procedures already in place and as BHA President Deb Davidovits will outline in a separate message, we will expand our Kol Nidrei campaign to fund enhanced security measures.  

Working with local law enforcement and security experts, we will do everything we possibly can to ensure that our building is a safe home for our community. We also will continue to work for a day when protection against heavily armed assailants is not the private responsibilty of a synagogue, a church, a movie theater or an elementary school, who need to turn their buildings into bunkers, but the shared responsiblity of a government and a society that seeks to protect all people. 

These are hard times, and I know that many of us fear things will get worse before they get better. There might well be more challenges ahead for the Jews as well as other targeted minority groups. But we will survive, and more than that, we - arm in arm with our allies and friends - we will build this world with love.