O pinion
Not All Anti-Semitism Is Equally Dangerous
BY STATE REP. DAN FRANKEL
CONFRONTED WITH THE
litany of lies, offensive remarks
and misinformed pontificat-
ing that comes from the White
House, I sometimes find myself
tuning it out as I try to focus on
the policies I can change and
the help I can provide for my
constituents. But President Donald Trump
got my full attention late last
week when he touted a “Jexodus”
movement to convince Jews to
leave the Democrat Party.

This followed Trump’s com-
ments that the Democrats are
the “anti-Jewish” party because
of their handling of contro-
versial remarks by freshman
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar
of Minnesota.

It’s no surprise that this pres-
ident would not understand
why such a large percentage of
American Jews identify polit-
ically with Democrats. Nearly
eight out of 10 of them voted
for Democratic candidates in the
2018 midterms, according to exit
polling data. I cannot speak for
all Jews — it’s as disparate a group
as you’ll find — but I can tell you
that the connection between these
two groups runs deeper than any
one policy or controversy could.

Party, and I feel perpetually chal-
lenged to live up to them.

My road to Harrisburg was a
path laid by service in the Jewish
community, where I volunteered
and advocated at every level for
large and small organizations
designed to help people. It was
clear that our work was to care
for the most vulnerable among
us. That’s the job of community
Jews don’t have to look far
backward in history to under-
stand what it means when peo-
ple’s humanity is stripped away
from them; my children’s grand-
mother survived Auschwitz. The
stories of the Holocaust are not
distant or abstract to our com-
munity, and they continue to
guide us in many ways.

That truth makes me all the
Jews don’t have to look far backward in history to understand what it
means when people’s humanity is stripped away from them.

My Jewish faith and experi-
ence informs my experience as a
Democratic legislator every day.

The legacy of my ancestors con-
tinually pushes me to serve my
neighbors, to fight injustice and to
care for the sick and the defense-
less. Those are the principles that
also drew me to the Democratic
organizations, and it’s also the
work of government.

Importantly, that’s what
the members of Dor Hadash,
one of the three congregations
attacked at the Tree of Life syn-
agogue building, were trying to
do by inviting in and caring for
refugees in our community.

more vigilant about recognizing
anti-Semitic words and acts. I
stand up against anti-Semitism,
and I call it out when I see it. I
also stand up for the civil rights
of gays and lesbians, transgender
men and women, people of all
colors and races, and — yes —
immigrants. I also educate, clarify and
discuss. I have learned the
difference between anti-Sem-
itism borne of ignorance and
anti-Semitism borne of hatred:
Both are insidious, but they are
far from the same.

As a Jew and a Democrat,
I know well that these are not
homogenous groups. I’ve seen
the volume go up at plenty of cau-
cus meetings and I’ve seen heated
arguments take place over more
than a couple of Shabbat meals.

And while there is no lack of
fodder for debate and personal
introspection among Jews and
Democrats, absolutely includ-
ing Omar’s comments, our
fundamental principles drive
us together. l
Dan Frankel, a Democrat,
represents the 23rd District
in the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives. Mourning Yet Another Tragedy
BY DR. SAUNDRA STERLING EPSTEIN
HERE WE ARE again.

Charlottesville. Florida.

Pittsburgh. Now New Zealand.

Too many tragedies.

Here is what scares me. Add
them all up — it’s all coming
from people who hate anyone
who is different. Pull them
from the right and from the
left, and you will note that the
center is being closed out.

My husband often reminds
me that he feels most people
are good people who want the
right thing. I am really, sin-
cerely wondering how this
is playing out in this time of
extreme positions. Yes, many of
us gather repeatedly to mourn
and to share, but the problem
is that we’re doing so too often.

I sit here once again with the
past few days as busy as ever but
clearly overshadowed by the lat-
est tragedy in New Zealand. An
entire community — actually an
entire world of Muslims and all
people of faith — is mourning.

16 MARCH 21, 2019
I have been involved once
again in mobilizing commu-
nities of Jews and multifaith
organizations to go to yet
another interfaith gathering of
sorrow and support for our
Muslim brothers and sisters.

I have just been in commu-
nication with many of my
Muslim colleagues, support-
ing them as they supported
me a few months ago after the
Pittsburgh massacre.

As Peter, Paul and Mary
asked, “When will we ever
learn?” Apparently, what is
being learned is hate and intol-
erance and lack of acknowledg-
ment that we are all part of a
human family.

This past Shabbat was Parshat
Zachor. On this Shabbat, the
one before Purim, we remind
ourselves to destroy Amalek, the
force that attacked the Israelites
in the desert so long ago, going
for the weak and tired, and kill-
ing them without mercy. When
we remember what Amalek
did, it is this hatred and lack
of humanity that we are sup-
posed to eradicate wherever it
is found, including in ourselves.

I am privileged and have so
much gratitude for being able to
be connected to so many won-
derful people of faith. Whether
we pray to HaShem or the Lord
or Allah or any other supreme
being, what my colleagues and
friends and I share is a sense
of humility that we are try-
ing intentionally to live the
life that supreme being wants
us to. When one holds oneself
accountable to that higher being,
then being careful with words
and actions comes as a necessary
part of one’s daily existence.

The Talmud and so many
other sources teach repeatedly
that words that hurt, embarrass
and minimize the other are as
dangerous weapons as any-
thing concrete. What we need to
understand is that words count
and our leaders and all respon-
sible members of our commu-
nity have to go back to a time
in our lives when we had to
JEWISH EXPONENT
think before we spoke.

Communications theory
teaches that what you hear is
more important than what I
say. I remember when Yitzhak
Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir,
stated that his rabbis and teach-
ers at yeshiva taught him that
Rabin was threatening the lives
and well-being of all of Israel
by engaging in peace talks and
initiatives. Amir used that as
permission to assassinate him.

For a few weeks afterward,
there was some reflection in
the yeshiva world, and then it
was back to business as usual.

I am hurting, as are many
people in my world.

This weekend, we had an
amazing gathering at the
Muslim Cultural Center Sunday
afternoon as members of the
Cheltenham Area Multi-Faith
Council, including many mem-
bers of our Jewish community,
came together to mourn the loss
of lives in New Zealand.

I was told that as many as 300
people were there. The people at
the Center were overwhelmed
and did not expect this outpour-
ing of support. Many expressed
gratitude for our being together
as well as the hope that we can
continue to come together to
celebrate, not just mourn.

When will the perpetrators
of such misery learn that it
is not our purpose as human
beings for X to hate Y and Y
to hate Z? If we do not learn to
play nicely on the playground
we call this world, we will not
have a playground to play on.

May we all reach out and
share the same message — that
we must consider the impact
of our words on others and get
back to preschool basics: Don’t
hit, share the space, if you don’t
have something nice to say, etc.

Too many adults have forgot-
ten these very basic lessons. l
Dr. Saundra Sterling Epstein is
president of the Cheltenham Area
Multi-Faith Council and director
of BeYachad — Bringing Jewish
Learning and Life Together.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM