O pinion
Power of Connection More Important Than Ever
BY LAURA FRANK
THIS WEEK MARKED the
start of Black History Month,
an opportunity for Jews
to honor and reflect on our
special relationship with Black
communities and to actively
work to strengthen our kinship
at a critical moment in our
collective history.

To mark the occasion, Jewish
communities across the country
often cite the familiar story of
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel,
who marched arm-in-arm with
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and
U.S. Rep. John Lewis in the
third Selma civil rights march.

Dozens of rabbis throughout
the country joined Heschel
in the Jewish cause for racial
equality, including a handful of
rabbis in the South.

But many Southern Jews
feared that their participa-
tion would trigger a hostile
backlash among anti-Semites.

Heschel, who observed the
violence directed at Jews and
synagogues that participated
in the movement, proclaimed,
“The problem to be faced is:
how to combine loyalty to one’s
own tradition with reverence
for different traditions.”
I see this “problem” as more
of an opportunity, one that I
hope to spend much of my time
as the director of the Jewish
Community Relations Council
working to address. Since
joining the Jewish Federation in
2017, after stints in local polit-
ical and public relations work,
I’ve seen firsthand how imper-
ative the role of the JCRC is in
building an equitable society in
which Jews and other minori-
ties are secure, free to flourish
and supportive of one another’s
goals — and shared humanity.

When asked about the role of
the JCRC, I like to refer to it as
the advocacy arm of the Jewish
Federation. Our outreach is
both internal and external:
We bring our Jewish commu-
nity together around common
causes and we advocate for those
causes by building relationships
with elected officials, interfaith
religious leaders and commu-
nity activists.

Throughout its history, the
JCRC has been instrumental
in organizing on behalf of a
wide array of causes, including
Philadelphia’s rallies in support
of Israel, Soviet Jewry advocacy,
Holocaust remembrance
activities, vigils in response
to anti-Semitic violence and
vandalism, and missions to
Israel for Pennsylvania political
leaders and non-Jewish clergy.

JCRC’s core mission is to
combat anti-Semitism in every
way possible. With a signifi-
cant rise in hatred toward Jews
and other minorities in recent
years, we have relied on our
community relations to build
coalitions to fight back against
BDS and other anti-Zionist
efforts on college campuses and
in the halls of our government.

We have worked with our local
partners to soundly reject white
nationalist movements and have
pledged to do the hard work of
dismantling systemic racism in
our society, and in our own
communities. But, to effectively
eradicate a thousand-year-old
hatred like anti-Semitism, we
must work urgently and proac-
tively, and in collaboration with
community partners.

JCRC’s interfaith and inter-
group relationships allow us
to cut this prejudice off at the
source. Anti-Semitism, racism
and other forms of hate are
nurtured ideologies, and they
spread all the more rapidly
when not confronted by a coali-
tion committed to destroying
them. In many cases, these
ideologies and biases are spread
due to a simple lack of exposure
or interaction with Jews and
other minority groups.

Working in partnership on
issues of common concern with
religious leaders and elected
officials in other minority
communities is an incredibly
important way to make these
introductions and build new
relationships. But, as we see in
our Jewish communities, more
and more of our neighbors
are becoming less affiliated
with any kind of institution,
religious, political or other-
wise. Reaching these people is
vitally important to advance
the mission of the JCRC, but
doing so won’t be easy. It will
require commitment, resolve,
and intentional engagement.

The next phase of our inter-
group outreach will require us
to take up seats at unfamiliar
and sometimes unwelcoming
tables. It will require speaking
with and connecting with
communities where it may
seem difficult to find common
cause. It will entail meeting
with people who may believe
the worst of us, or don’t trust
us, or don’t want us there at all.

Facing this work is daunting,
but it is also exciting and has
the potential to be transfor-
mative, both on the individual
and community levels.

During my time at JCRC, I
have experienced the power of
these connections firsthand. I
genuinely believe it’s possible
that a single conversation can,
in fact, change hearts and
minds. Paired with organizing
and community building, it
can be a gamechanger.

We know that bridges of
understanding do not fall
from the sky or rise from the
ground. They are built by
engaging in dialogue, forming
a relationship and engaging in
joint advocacy work.

As the poet and historian
Aberjhani once said, “Individual
cultures and ideologies have
their appropriate uses, but
none of them erase or replace
the universal experiences, like
love and weeping and laughter,
common to all human beings.”
This is something I intend to
carry with me throughout my
work as the JCRC’s director. And
I welcome all Exponent readers
to join me and the JCRC in this
critically important work l .

Laura Frank is the director of the
Jewish Community Relations
Council. I’m a Student and I’m Not Afraid of Where My Party’s Headed
Afraid of Where My Party’s return the United States to the
Headed,” which ran last week. Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, also known as the Iran
LIKE SOPHIA RODNEY, I nuclear deal. In fact, between
am proud to be an American 2015, when the deal was agreed
Jew. I am a Democrat. And I to, and 2018, when former
am proud to stand with my President Donald Trump
Israeli and Palestinian peers unilaterally walked away from
for self-determination, peace it, Iran had complied with its
and health. But unlike Rodney, requirements. This judgment
I do not allow Israel to be the was rendered not only by the
deciding factor when it comes respected International Atomic
BY JACOB T. MARDER
to determining where I fall on Energy Agency, which had
responsibility for monitoring
the political spectrum.

Ed. note: This column is a
Rodney cites two issues the JCPOA, but also the U.S.

response to Sophia Rodney’s of concern. One is President State Department. The deal
op-ed “I’m a Student and I’m Joe Biden’s stated intention to was never intended to address
14 FEBRUARY 4, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Iran’s ballistic missile program
and its malign activities in the
region, rather to remove the
nuclear threat that poses the
greatest existential threat to
Israel. Since the U.S. walked
away, Iran, feeling it was not
obligated by the deal if the U.S.

was not bound by it, has moved
closer to nuclear breakout.

President Joe Biden wants
to return to the deal to roll
back Iran’s nuclear program.

He also wants to strengthen
the deal and expand its scope
to include those problems not
addressed back in 2015. That
would be good for Israel, and
good for the United States and
our other allies in the Middle
East. Rodney also cites worries
about “The Squad,” a group of
Democratic congresswomen —
including Reps. Rashida Tlaib,
Ilhan Omar and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez — who advocate
for climate justice, health care
and human rights. These legisla-
tors, especially Ocasio-Cortez,
are often characterized as
See Marder, Page 17
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM