O pinion
I Helped Organize the Washington Rally Against
Antisemitism. It Wasn’t Perfect, But it was Necessary
BY ELISHA WIESEL
WHEN NAZI
TANKS surrounded Warsaw, my father
related in a rare moment of
frustration, the Jews were in
shul arguing over who should
get shishi (the honor of being
called up third to the Torah).

It was a story I thought
about often on Sunday, on
Tisha B’Av. The day marks
the destruction of our Temple
in Jerusalem and the begin-
ning of exile, the day our sages
teach was brought about by our
anger at each other. And it’s
a story I couldn’t shake from
my head this past month as
our small team of organizers
worked nonstop to inspire Jews
and our allies to join us in
Washington, D.C., for a rally
against antisemitism.

Critics and doubters awaited
us at every turn.

We were criticized for
asserting that anti-Zionism
was a form of antisemitism.

How dare we include groups
who praised Donald Trump,
many asked. How dare we
exclude groups who call for an
end to the Jewish state? Cynical
left-leaning Jewish publica-
tions ran articles claiming that
this rally would be a right-
wing gathering, warning their
readers to stay away.

We were criticized for
having a diversity and inclu-
sion statement.

Certain right-leaning Jewish leaders
circulated concerns by email
and social media, arguing that
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM the rally had been compro-
mised by the left. How dare we
include groups who use terms
like “occupation,” they asked.

How dare we exclude groups
who call for hatred or violence?
And those were just the
ideological battles. Every day
we received grief for giving not
enough kavod, or honor, to one
group, for giving too much to
another. And we were warned
turnout would be low — perhaps
a few hundred or fewer — in the
intense summer heat.

I understood that some
would choose to stay away.

But we were determined to
take that first step — even if it
was imperfect — and on July
11, under the banner of the
American Jewish Committee,
the Anti-Defamation League
and dozens of other organi-
That group was the
relatively unknown Alliance
for Israel. Within a couple
weeks, we had partnered with
the ADL and AJC, and brought
together the vast majority of
the Jewish world from right
to left, Orthodox to Reform,
to stand with us as sponsors.

Together we created a platform
for powerful testimony that
needed to be put on the
record for the thousands who
attended and the many more
who watched at home.

Rabbi Jeffrey
Myers described reciting the Viddui
(the deathbed confession)
while a murderer stalked his
congregants at the Tree of
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Just out of the hospital, Rabbi
Shlomo Noginsky of Boston
drove eight hours with his arm
Israeli army. Both received
respect and applause from the
audience. Ron Klein of the
Jewish Democratic Council of
America and Norm Coleman
of the Republican Jewish
Coalition — former members
of the House of Representatives
and Senate, respectively
— jointly declared that
antisemitism was a bipartisan
problem and that both parties
need to work together to stop
it wherever it emerges. Their
on-stage embrace is a refuta-
tion of everything partisan we
have heard for the past eight
years. In a profound demon-
stration of allyship, Joshua
Washington, the director of the
Institute for Black Solidarity
with Israel, sang “Gesher
Tzar Me’od” (“The World
I am saving my anger for the antisemites who threaten our safety in the
Diaspora and in Israel, who lie about us in the halls of Congress and in
American universities, who work within social, published and broadcast
media to spread bias against us.

zations, some 3,000 Jews and
allies came together in front of
the U.S. Capitol to demonstrate
Jewish solidarity.

I never wanted to organize a
rally. I just wanted to attend one.

When Hamas rockets started
falling in Israel, and Jews found
themselves being attacked on
New York and Los Angeles city
streets, I agitated for someone to
scale the local rallies run by the
Israeli-American Council, like
one I attended in New York, into
an in-person national rally in
Washington. I made many calls.

How many Jews would have to
die or be threatened, in Israel or
here at home, before our anger
overflowed into the streets?
At first, nobody raised
their hand. I vowed to help
whoever did.

in a sling to tell us how his
attacker sought to slash the
many children behind him.

Matthew Haverim shared how
his parents fled Iran, and how
he was beaten for declaring
his Jewish identity to a group
of anti-Israel protesters in an
L.A. restaurant. Talia Raab
from Illinois described how an
anti-Israel mob screamed “kill
the Jews” as they attacked her
family’s car. These testimonies
could not wait another day.

Rabbi David Saperstein,
a light within the Reform
movement who feels Israel
needs to withdraw militarily
from Judea and Samaria,
spoke moments after Dan
Raab quoted Menachem
Begin and announced his
upcoming enlistment in the
JEWISH EXPONENT
given how much disagreement
there is among American Jews
on Israeli policy and how best
to combat antisemitism.

But I believe the cynics are
wrong. There is another way.

Imagine the possibility that
your ideological opponent
is not an enemy, but is a
champion of something rooted
in Judaism.

If you believe in land for
peace, can you see someone
who is committed to holding
onto territory for Israel’s
security as a champion of
saving Jewish lives? And if
you believe a continued Israeli
military presence beyond the
Green Line will be needed for
the foreseeable future, can you
see someone who is committed
to Palestinian self-deter-
mination as a champion of
Jewish values?
Yesterday was Tisha B’Av.

Yesterday we mourned 2,000
years of exile, brought about by
our hatred for one another.

Yesterday many of us mourned
what is happening now.

Yesterday I felt the sense of
loss for our divided commu-
nity. I am done being angry
at Jews with whom I disagree.

I am saving my anger for the
antisemites who threaten our
safety in the Diaspora and
in Israel, who lie about us in
the halls of Congress and in
American universities, who
work within social, published
and broadcast media to spread
bias against us.

Today is the day after Tisha
B’Av. It is time to rebuild. l
is a Narrow Bridge”) with
Rabbi Menachem Creditor of
UJA-Federation of New York
and reminded us that we do
not stand alone.

On Tisha B’Av, I reflected on
all the anger sent my way. We
had tried to build a broad coali-
tion among those who agree
on the Jewish people’s right
to exist in peace and security
here, in the Jewish state of
Israel and around the world.

The cynics insisted that this Elisha Wiesel is the son of Marion
unifying belief was not enough and Elie Wiesel.

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