It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since the first set of flyers, attributing everything from the COVID response and immigration to Disney’s “child grooming” and more to Jews, hit our communities’ driveways. Unfortunately, it seems like it has become a regular occurrence, especially in certain parts of our area. While it is deplorable and upsetting each time these flyers are found, there is sadly very little we can do. Law enforcement is aware of the situation, but unfortunately, unless they catch someone in the act, there is nothing they can do due to the random nature of the flyering.

 

I know that this news is very disheartening and frustrating. However, I can share with you how the Jewish Federation plans to coordinate a comprehensive approach to our local city and county officials to implore them to stand with the Jewish community against the ongoing hatred and antisemitic acts that are continuing to see.

 

Over the next week or so, I will be reaching out to all of our community’s mayors, school superintendents, and local county and state elected officials, requesting that they take a stand and implement the following actions steps:

 

1. Pass a resolution publicly denouncing and condemning the antisemitic and hate-filled incidents that have afflicted our communities, including the rash of antisemitic flyers strewn over driveways.

 

2. Enforce a ZERO-tolerance policy for antisemitism, with municipal officials uniformly speaking out to condemn each and every local hate incident that targets Jews and other ethnic or racial groups.

 

3. Adopt IHRA’s definition of antisemitism.

 

4. Appoint someone on their staff to serve as a liaison to the Jewish Federation to help us combat the antisemitism in their community and work with us to organize a multi-layer response to any antisemitic incident.

 

5. Allocate resources for initiatives fostering interfaith acceptance, understanding, and harmony.

 

6. Encourage them to develop an educational plan (or partner with organizations like the ADL) to train municipal staff and law enforcement personnel on detecting and reacting to all forms of modern-day antisemitism.  

 

As the Jewish voice for our community, THIS is what the Jewish Federation can do and is committed to doing as we head into 2023. And as additional ideas come to light and I learn how other communities like ours are addressing these issues, the Jewish Federation will look to see how we can implement and utilize those as well.

 

You can help us with this effort by making an end-of-year gift TODAY to support our work. Every dollar we raise will be used to support our work locally and help us strengthen and enhance Jewish life in our community. In addition, you can help spread the word through the Shine A Light campaign that was developed in partnership with leading national Jewish organizations.

 

The more we do, the less helpless we feel in times like this. While our individual acts may not bring about the change we want to see, we have a greater chance to dispel this hatred by using our voices and actions collectively.