On April 13, 2025, an arsonist burned Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house during a Passover seder. On May 21, 2025, an assailant shot two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C. On June 1, 2025, a firebomb attack occurred in Boulder, Colorado. On the first night of Chanukah, December 14, 2025, a terrorist shot at a celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia. And on March 12, 2026, a gunman attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, while it was filled with young children. What do these events have in common? People were attacking Jews.
Often, communities tell us “thoughts and prayers” when this happens to us. But now it's not enough. Interfaith communities need to do more than say that we are in their prayers and thoughts. We need to be working together to make sure everyone in our community is safe. Christian and Jewish clergy show that building a deeper interfaith community requires more than simply overlooking differences. Antisemitism is a threat, but the isolation of the Jewish community is the real challenge. Leaders for Tomorrow inspired me to reach out across religious lines to build a more stable community. My discussions with Jewish and Presbyterian leaders proved it: education and holy texts create a unified front that is stronger than any group alone.
The rise of modern antisemitism worsens when Jewish communities face this hatred alone. In my interviews with local rabbis, they expressed that the feeling of isolation can be just as damaging as the prejudice itself, showing that we need more than just internal strength to be safe. Rabbi Brudney at Temple Beth El expressed that she realized over time that relationships with other communities are better when they come from an organic or helpful source. She’s realized that over her time as Rabbi, she hasn’t seen a lot of true connection between the Jewish and Christian communities. The first time she really noticed the connection that the community could build was when Reverend Bill Danaher from Christ Church Cranbrook came to the temple to give a sermon. She noted how his congregation showed up and showed her that a connection can be built, but first, we need to build a relationship with the people. When asked about a time she felt like an outsider, she cited her chaplain training, when someone was talking about how Jews are bad and Christians are good. Instead of making a big deal out of the comment, she went to the leader and ensured that a conversation took place about how this type of rhetoric is damaging. Rabbi Miller at Temple Beth El states that sometimes people put up a front in order not to cause problems within the community, so they pretend to accept the Jewish people. While he notes that there are strong bonds with some communities, post-October 7th has shown how some groups will not stand with the Jewish people against hate.
My time in the Leaders for Tomorrow program has prepared me to meet this challenge by teaching me that leadership means starting the conversation with people outside our own circles. LFT gave me the tools to reach out to Presbyterian ministers and realize that there are allies ready to stand with us, provided we build those connections. To understand how to bridge this gap locally, I sat down with spiritual leaders from my own community. I met with Pastors Edwin and Rami from Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills. Pastor Rami reframed this challenge through the lens of Genesis, noting that recognizing everyone as being created in G-d's image is the ultimate foundation for deeper relationships. Pastor Edwin voiced similar ideas of loving everyone, even your enemies. Both men have felt like outsiders in their communities and have spoken about how that has shaped their congregations now. Pastor Rami is from Iraq, while Pastor Edwin’s family is from Guatemala. Both pastors have experienced what it is like to look different, to talk differently, and speak a different language, and they both expressed how that made them better understand everyone and helped them make a better connection with the Jewish people. In my meeting with Pastor Rami, he talked about how when he was faced with prejudice, he wouldn’t judge someone; he would use it as a lesson during his sermons. He realized that this made the congregation closer together and more open-minded. Through similar experiences, Pastors Rami and Edwin have shown they are dedicated to working with the Jewish people to create a safe place for everyone.
By looking at scripture alongside these clergy members, I discovered that both Jewish and Christian traditions share a deep responsibility to protect the neighbor and the stranger. Examining the holy texts proved that our partnership isn't just a nice idea, but a religious duty that gives us a solid foundation for working together. Genesis teaches that every human is created equal. In the New Testament, the Book of Paul says, “Be angry but do not sin”. When I was discussing scripture with Pastor Edwin, he brought up this verse, and it really stuck with me because it demonstrates the shared vision of caring for one another even during times of anger. One thing that every single person I talked to brought up was Genesis, the notion that all humans are created in the image of G-d. This notion leads right into something I was talking about with Pastor Edwin: what are things that G-d willed versus allowed to happen? He asked me a question about this: “Why did G-d allow for multiple religions?” I didn’t have an answer; he told me he believed it was a test of true faith in tough times. On Judgment Day, G-d would ask, “Did you kill in My Name?” This one aspect of his discussion really spoke to me because it exemplifies strength within communities. Scripture is the most important thing in every religion; it is something that we must live by. Pastor Edwin then asks me, “If scripture says to love one another and to not kill in the name of G-d, then why does persecution and hate still happen in our world?” This question that was given back to me made me truly think of hate and persecution within communities. This question prompted a conversation about how different people can interpret scripture. One of my favorite questions to ask everyone was “If you could change one thing about the way we interact with our community, what would it be?” and similarly “If you could change one thing about how Christians and Jews interact in our area to make the relationship 'deeper' instead of just 'neighborly,' what would it be?” The answers to these questions helped me form ideas about how I could make a difference. Pastor Rami and Rabbi Brudney had many suggestions for how we can help to shape our community to be whole. For example, they mentioned Bible study, hanging out outside of formal events, and shared community service projects. These ideas allowed me to start coming up with ways to connect our youth communities and build a better youth environment.
To turn these ideas into reality, I have begun planning a joint event between our Jewish youth group and local church youth groups to build these bridges early. This project is my way of ensuring that the next generation of leaders doesn't just talk about interfaith support, but actually experiences it through shared service and education. When I first started this project, I didn’t know whether it would be physical or collaborative. As I delved deeper into the project, I realized that the Pastors and Rabbis were right: we need to bring our two communities together to strengthen future generations. I am planning to get the youth groups at both Kirk in the Hills and Temple Beth El together to collaborate on a community service project. I have spoken to the Director of Masa, Dr. Lorry Black, and Pastor Edwin, who is the Senior Pastor at Kirk in the Hills, about this idea, and they are excited to make it happen. In building these relationships, we get to know people who live near us. We get to know the people who are committed to standing up for us against hate and learn the power of teamwork and friendship within a religious space. My interview with Rabbi Brudney reinforced this idea when she spoke about how G-d wanted Moses to take charge of leading people out of Egypt. G-d didn’t want to do everything for everyone; He wanted someone to take charge of change. I believe we can replicate this in our community. We don’t need the adults to collaborate. The next generation, the people who will go into the world, should be the people to take charge and change how we interact with people. We can be the people who stand up against hate, and we can work together to make this dream a reality for everyone.
