Category: Anti Semitism

Kristallnacht is tonight

11/9/2020

(Photo of the synagogue in Aachen after its destruction)

Tonight begins the annual observance of Kristallnacht - the Night of Broken Glass - when Nazis in 1938 destroyed Jewish businesses, homes, synagogues and schools. Thousands of Jews were arrested, many beaten, some killed. Before a rabbi allows a student to convert he or she explains anti-Semitism to them. It is vital that a person not choose to be Jewish if this thought is too much for them. Anyone may live a good and righteous life as a non-Jew.

Tonight on Kristallnacht Jews around the world remember this fatal event. Synagogues and Jewish communities typically come together to remember and memorialize.
Learn more at My Jewish Learning.

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Reactions after the Pittsburgh Murders

11/8/2018

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San Francisco Chronicle Editorial following the Tree of Life murders

It felt quite reasonable that some individuals who were working towards conversion to Judaism would, following the terrible murders at the synagogue, Tree of Life, have second thoughts. Why not walk away before you too are caught up in the murder of Jews? Frankly, I believe that is just fine. No one should be forced into a dangerous situation against their will. I emailed the folks on the Seekers list and the Jews by Choice list to see how everyone was holding up. I asked them to be honest. Here are some of their answers.

SF Seeker
Thank you, Dawn, for this amazing message. Honestly - since starting the intro to Judaism class I have never felt SO connected and so RIGHT about anything in my life.
After last week's horrific events, I only felt stronger in my decision to move forward. Though it is scary, I really do feel like continuing down this path towards conversion is the right decision for me.
Yes, it's been a really difficult few days :( It was great to take the 3rd Intro to Judaism class yesterday because the sense of community was amazing. Unfortunately, though, I felt the heightened security at the gate and it was pretty jarring.

Non-white Jew by choice in Oakland
To answer your question, I’m a mess!! I chose this community because we are just that, A COMMUNITY. When I was struggling to find my way, spiritually, the Jews took me in and made me feel valued, a part of something larger. I felt it at temple on Sunday, a sense of community, family, and belonging as we sang songs and prayed.
Am I afraid? You bet! Am I angry, absolutely! Do I feel I made a good spiritual decision? Everyday.
I am motivated more then ever to Tikkun olam, healing the world. I was in London recently and on monument quote said it all.
“Patriotism is not enough I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone”
It starts with me.

Seeker outside CA
Thank you for reaching out. I was viscerally affected by the Pittsburgh massacre. I couldn’t cry in front of kids because I didn’t want to explain that innocent people were killed because the light Shabbat candles like us. I was nervous at first but showed up to my Judaism class on Sunday. I was glad to see the police on site. Yesterday, I attended a Vigil and was moved to tears hearing El Male Rachamim being sung. I already feel Jewish and come from Jewish people so this has not dissuaded me.

Jew by choice couple outside CA
Thank you for this email. We are all shocked and deeply wounded by the murders of our people at Temple Or L'Simchat. Our community here is small but, very tightly knit.
We will attend a Vigil on Saturday evening, here to honor and mourn our brothers and sisters in Pittsburg. We will continue to be very involved with our temple and do our best to be among B'nei Or. So, in answer to your question, we are doing well, studying and growing.

Jew by Choice in CA
I am doing just OK. It's been an intense week and I really appreciate you reaching out as I feel like I need to vent. When you wrote "VERY HONEST" in capital letters, I felt compelled to reply. :)
I am struggling as many others are. I worked for an airline on 9/11 and the same feelings of tremendous anxiety, sadness and fear are resurfacing again. It's a double-whammy because I feel deep sadness for the entire city of Pittsburgh, especially the Tree of Life community, and it's also the reality that "this could have easily been me." I'm not just a Jew now, I am the spouse of a rabbi and I spend several hours a week in a synagogue. And it's so horrible that what's become my happy place, the temple, has now lost its sense of safety and security.
I'm sure you are getting a lot of e-mails from people sharing the same fears and sadness. I'm certainly not the only one. Over 400 people showed up for a vigil at my shul this week. I am totally distracted this week and I feel like it's even taking a toll on my physical state. I have felt "off" all week (feeling like I am coming down with something) and I had a massive headache this morning. I think it's all connected to the events on Saturday.

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A Story of Understanding for Yom Hashoah

4/28/2016

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We are nearing Yom Hashoah for 5776/2016. Beth Emek in Pleasanton will have an very special observance on Wednesday, May 14.

A Story of Understanding
How does a young German who has never met a Jew understand the Holocaust?

We will hear that story told on Yom Hashoah, when Professor Charlotte Fonrobert explains what it was like growing up in post-Holocaust Germany.

Prof. Fonrobert is the Director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University. She is a Talmud scholar with interests in gender, Jewish-Christian relations, and the connection between religion and space. She is co-author of the Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature, and winner of the Salo Baron Prize for best first book in Jewish studies.

Prof. Fonrobert's personal story, however, will be the focus of her remarks at our Yom Hashoah commemoration..

Raised as a cultural Protestant, Prof. Fonrobert was taught about the Holocaust in German schools, but never met a Jew until she was 20 and became involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue. Encountering Talmud at a Christian seminary and studying for the first time with a rabbi in Berlin launched a long path from Jewish death to Jewish life. Prof. Fonrobert will trace this path in the context of the changes that mark the way Germany has dealt with its Nazi past.

Among Prof. Fonrobert's many responsibilities at Stanford, she participates in their Overseas Program in Berlin, where she teaches students about the politics of memory.

Our annual Yom Hashoah commemoration begins with a beautiful service, including poetry, music, and the lighting of memorial candles in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. All are welcome; please share this event with your friends.

Date:    Wednesday, May 4
Time:    7:30 pm
Place:   Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Ct., Pleasanton
www.bethemek.org

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The Dark Side of Conversion: Anti-semitism

12/31/2014

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Every individual who considers conversion should be told about Anti-semitism. Once you are a Jew you are vulnerable to the prejudices against Jews. You should go into your new identity with full knowledge of the negatives this can involve.

We asked Jews by Choice whether their sponsoring rabbi had talked with them about Anti-semitism, fully expecting to get a universal, Yes. But that didn't happen.

Here are three different answers we received.

I was not told about anti-Semitism, but I was told that I could never understand the family histories of people whose ancestors had suffered anti-Semitism. I have very mixed feelings about that.

The problem of that omission was that when I did actually experience anti-Semitism, I was unsure how to deal with it because no one had talked to me about it. Just recently I’ve had a couple of bad interactions that have been very difficult for me, and I’m working it out. I’ve had to talk to my Jewish friends about it—which I think is pretty normal. All that to say that, yes, converting does mean taking up the burden of the hatred of Jews that is so ingrained in the social fabric that, even in modern, liberal, fully integrated Jewish America, it comes up.
T in San Francisco, CA

Our rabbi warned us at the Beit Din and asked us if we would be ready to stand with the Jewish people if there were to be another Holocaust. It was taken very seriously at our conversion.
K in Iowa

Being told about Anti-semitism at the Beit Din is much too late! This should have been brought up early in the study process.

Sure, I was warned, but unfortunately that wasn’t very necessary, because here there are still a lot of misrepresentations of Jews in general and Judaism as a religion in particular. Many centuries of prejudice left a mark and a certain degree of anti-Semitism has always found social acceptance.

I even had to erase some people from my friends' list.

The good thing is that we’re making progress as a country on that subject. But still some traditional people (who may hold some classical conservative prejudices against Jews as harmless opinions), and the "progressive" political movements (who see Israel as a pawn of colonial western powers in de Middle East and any support for Israel as pro-western fascism) manage to give me some headache from time to time.
A in Argentina

I have been warned about anit-semitism at every step of my conversion - not only by the Rabbis that I have studied with, but I have been asked by my Jewish brothers and sisters - why on earth I would chose to be Jewish because anit-semitism is on the rise all over the world?

With that said, Judaism is the only place I have ever felt at peace - both in the community sense and the spiritual sense. And I have a deep love for Israel that is unexplainable.

In college I was friends with Arab Muslims and am well aware of the hatred that the Arab governments have for us.

It is not an easy road by any means, but I still feel deeply blessed and fulfilled to be on it.
M in Pleasanton, CA

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Kristallnacht is tonight

Reactions after the Pittsburgh Murders

A Story of Understanding for Yom Hashoah

The Dark Side of Conversion: Anti-semitism

Thoughts from our Email List

Categories

Archives

Kristallnacht is tonight

Reactions after the Pittsburgh Murders

A Story of Understanding for Yom Hashoah﻿

The Dark Side of Conversion: Anti-semitism

Thoughts from our Email List

Categories

Archives

A Story of Understanding for Yom Hashoah