Signatories of the following letter (all of whom are listed below the text) joined AJC New England and ADL New England in supporting the efforts of the Special Commission and urging action from Massachusetts leaders to combat antisemitism.
We, the undersigned Rabbis and Cantors serving the Jewish communities of Massachusetts, are writing to express our support for the thoughtful and comprehensive work of the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism, including its preliminary recommendations aimed at combatting antisemitism in K-12 schools, and the attention to the ever-growing need to address physical safety and security at sacred spaces.
The Commission's acknowledgement of antisemitism in Massachusetts, including its recent rise in sheer number and intensity, is long overdue. In addition to providing spiritual leadership to our community, we have the role of providing pastoral support and we have been called on with increasing frequency to support children, families and individuals victimized by antisemitism in schools, in the community and in the workplace. The recommendations made to date will help address, in meaningful ways, the traumas experienced by too many members of the Jewish community in Massachusetts.
We are particularly grateful for the attention to the growing physical and emotional security and safety needs of the Jewish community. As we have just concluded our High Holidays, each of us has implemented an increasingly complex and expensive set of physical safety protocols for our houses of worship or other Jewish communal spaces. Gone are the days of entering these spaces through open doors. Many of our spaces are now locked, guarded, surveilled by expensive security systems and, sometimes, opened only after verification of identity and/or passage through metal detectors.
The violence directed at Jews—from Pittsburgh to Colleyville, Washington D.C. to Boulder—cannot be dismissed as random. Locally, our community was shaken to the core in July 2021 with the stabbing of Rabbi Noginsky in Brighton and again, just eight months ago when the Beverly Jewish community was traumatized by an individual alleged to have posted threats to rape Jewish women and incite others to shoot people outside synagogues. That individual, who had a cache of guns and a Nazi flag in his home, lived just a short distance from Temple B'nai Abraham in Beverly. We are concerned that rising numbers of antisemitic incidents since October 7, 2023, including vandalism, could escalate to another attack. Living with that knowledge exacts not only a financial burden on our community but an emotional one.
The sound recommendations from the Commission, including establishing an Advisory Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, instituting mandatory anti-bias education that should be informed by the IHRA non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism, setting up stronger bias reporting systems and safeguarding the physical and emotional safety of the community will help ensure that our communities are inclusive and welcoming environments for all, allowing for the expression, celebration, and practice of Judaism. Massachusetts can be the model for other states by adopting these constructive, forward-looking recommendations, which we enthusiastically endorse.
Signatories:
Rabbi Laura Abrasley, Temple Shalom, Newton
Rabbi Alison Adler, Temple B'nai Abraham, Beverly
Rabbi Daniel Aldrich, Kadimah Toras-Moshe, Boston
Rabbi Thomas Alpert, Temple Etz Chaim, Franklin
Rabbi Yisroel Baron, Tobin Bridge Chabad, Everett
Rabbi Jordana Battis, Temple Isaiah, Lexington
Rabbi Alfred Benjamin, Congregation Beth Shalom of the Blue Hills, Milton
Rabbi Aliza Berger, Temple Emanuel, Newton
Rabbi Eric Berk, Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Hingham
Rabbi Daniel Berman, Temple Reyim, Newton
Rabbi Naftoly Bier, Kollel of Greater Boston, Boston
Rabbi Sam Blumberg, Temple Beth Am, Framingham
Rabbi Dena Bodian, Wellesley College, Natick
Rabbi Neal Borovitz, Berkshire Minyan and Knesset Israel, Pittsfield
Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, Congregation Shirat HaYam, Nantucket
Rabbi Cari Bricklin-Small, Temple Shir Tikvah, Winchester
Rabbi Danny Burkeman, Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland
Rabbi Jordy Callman, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley
Rabbi Benjamin Chaidell, Temple Beth Israel, Waltham
Rabbi Oksana Chapman, Temple Emmanuel, Chelsea
Rabbi Yafa Chase, Ezra's World, South Hadley
Rabbi Peretz Chein, Chabad House at Brandeis & Chabad of Waltham, Waltham
Rabbi Barbara Cohen, Congregation Ahavath Sholom, Great Barrington
Rabbi Mark Cohn, Longmeadow
Rabbi Braham David, Congregation Beth Elohim, Acton
Rabbi Joe Eiduson, Congregation B'nai Shalom, Westborough
Rabbi Lisa Eiduson, Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland
Cantor Roy Einhorn, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Ben Einsidler, Temple Beth Sholom, Framingham
Rabbi Jeremy Fineberg, Temple Israel, Sharon
Rabbi David Finkelstein, Congregation Or Atid, Wayland
Rabbi Michelle Fisher, MIT Hillel, Cambridge
Rabbi Levi Fogelman, Chabad Center of Natick-Metrowest, Natick
Rabbi Daniel Freelander, Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, Pittsfield
Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Elyse Frishman, Hevre of Southern Berkshire, Great Barrington
Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz, Temple Emanuel, Newton
Rabbi Elisha Gechter, Harvard Hillel, Cambridge
Cantor Jamie Gloth, Temple Israel of Sharon, Sharon
Rabbi Neal Gold, A Tree with Roots, Online Community
Rabbi Leslie Gordon, Temple Aliyah, Needham
Rabbi David Hellman, Young Israel, Brookline
Rabbi Suzie Jacobson, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Howard Jaffe, Temple Isaiah and Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, Lexington
Rabbi Shira Joseph, Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Hingham
Rabbi Daniel Judson, Hebrew College, Newton
Grand Rabbi Y. A. Korff, Bnai Jacob Synagogue, Boston
Rabbi Noach Kosofsky, Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy, Longmeadow
Rabbi Van Lanckton, Canton
Rabbi Darby Leigh, Kerem Shalom, Concord
Rabbi Yossi Lipsker, Chabad of the North Shore, Swampscott
Rabbi Daveen Litwin, Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, Pittsfield
Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal, temple beth shalom, Melrose
Rabbi Howard Mandell, Congregation Beth Israel, Andover
Rabbi Jenn Mangold, Temple Emanu-El, Marblehead
Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman, Temple Ohabei Shalom, Brookline
Rabbi Todd Markley, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham
Rabbi Jeremy Master, Sinai Temple, Springfield
Rabbi Alex Matthews, Congregation Ahavas Achim, Amesbury
Rabbi Joseph Meszler, Temple Sinai, Sharon
Rabbi David Meyer, Temple Emanu-El, Marblehead
Rabbi Estelle Mills, Congregation Beth Jacob, Plymouth
Rabbi Andrew Oberstein, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Jay Perlman, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham
Rabbi Richard Perlman, Temple Ner Tamid of the North Shore, Peabody
Rabbi Shoshana Perry, Congregation Shalom, North Chelmsford
Rabbi Elyse Pincus Abrahams, Temple Beth Shalom , Needham
Rabbi Marcia Plumb, A Soul in Balance, Needham
Rabbi Michael Ragozin, Congregation Shirat Hayam, Swampscott
Rabbi Nechemia Raizel, Chabad of Peabody, Peabody
Rabbi/Cantor Ken Richmond, Temple Israel, Natick
Rabbi Michelle Robinson, Temple Emanuel, Newton
Cantor Elias Rosemberg, Temple Emanuel, Newton
Rabbi Ben Rosen, Temple Beth Elohim, Needham
Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, Harvard Hillel, Cambridge
Rabbi Jennifer Rudin, Congregation Derech HaShalom, Milford
Rabbi Benjamin Samuels, Congregation Shaarei Tefilllah, Newton
Rabbi Ma'ayan Sands, Temple B’nai Shalom, Braintree
Rabbi Rachel Saphire, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley
Cantor Hollis Schachner, Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland
Rabbi Evan Sheinhait, Temple Tiferet Shalom, Peabody
Rabbi Philip Sherman, Temple Beth Elohim, Needham
Rabbi Oren Simhi, Maimonides School, Brookline
Rabbi Joel Sisenwine, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley
Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham
Rabbi David Starr, Congregation Mishkan Tefila, Brookline
Rabbi Dr. Shira Stern, Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, Pittsfield
Cantor Alicia Stillman, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Michael Swarttz, Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Grafton
Rabbi Karen Thomashow, Temple Isaiah, Lexington
Rabbi Alan Turetz, Temple Emeth, Brookline
Rabbi Mendy Uminer, Chabad, Chestnut Hill
Rabbi Amy Wallk, Temple Beth El, Springfield
Rabbi Emeritus Donald Weber, Lenox
Rabbi David Weiner, Knesset Israel, Pittsfield
Cantor Steven Weiss, Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Hingham
Rabbi David Wilfond, Temple Emanuel, Andover
Rabbi Yosef Zaklos, Chabad Downtown, Boston
Rabbi Mayer Zarchi, Central Synagogue, Boston
Rabbi Elaine Zecher, Temple Israel, Boston
Cantor Shanna Zell, Temple Beth Elohim, Needham
