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6 August 31 • 2017 jn The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that's useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive member of the community. Being competitive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth. To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfounadtion.org The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 29200 Northwestern Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034. OUR JN MISSION A bout two decades ago, I drove from my childhood home in suburban Detroit to East Lansing, Mich., to begin my under- graduate studies at Michigan State University. The two places are only about 70 miles apart. But my experi- ence growing up Jewish in Metro Detroit did not begin to prepare me for what it would be like to be Jewish a mere hour drive away. Growing up, my family was proud of and felt safe in our Jewish iden- tity. I can't recall a single instance from my youth of feeling threatened or hated because of my Judaism. So the series of anti-Semitic incidents that I experienced while at college shook me to my core: a swastika carved into a friend's dorm room door; a brick painted with anti-Semitic graffiti thrown through the window of our Hillel building; claims of responsibility for an act of arson by a militia group calling itself the "Nazi Fourth Reich" that burned down half of the Hillel building. These experiences caused me to reconsider what I thought I understood about my place in the world. On one hand, as a white Jew, I probably wasn't actually less secure than I had been before. I had benefited immeasur- ably from white privilege and from living at a time and in a place in which Jews were thriving in America. And notwithstanding the acts of hate that I had observed on my college campus, I would continue to benefit in those ways. On the other hand, what I experienced as a college student forever fractured my sense of immunity from hate and anti-Semitic violence. For many white Jews, the events in Charlottesville similarly shattered their sense of security in this country. The neo-Nazis who descended on the city chanted "Jews will not replace us" while marching with torches and Nazi flags. They carried posters depicting a hammer smashing a Star of David. Armed white supremacists congregated outside of a synagogue. Anti-Semitism is alive and well and many white Jews are justifiably scared right now. I'm scared, too. But I also know that the violence and hatred that white Jews are being reminded of by the horrific events in Charlottesville are what people of color have been experiencing all along, with a rise in hate crimes since the election last November. White supremacists have been emboldened by the events in Charlottesville and the administration's deplorable response thereto. As a result, people of color are unquestion- ably more vulnerable today than they have been in the recent past and white Jews must act. Instead of turning inward and focusing only on our own vulnerability, let's leverage our historic experience with confronting anti- Semitism. Let's redouble our efforts to fight for racial justice in this country. Let's call out bigotry, racism and hatred wherever we see them. Let's amplify the voices of the most vul- nerable communities. Let's commit ourselves and our institutions to forming or strengthen- ing alliances with communities of color and organizations led by people of color. Now is when each of us must decide what kind of future, what kind of country, we want for ourselves and our children. With the ter- rible images from Charlottesville fresh in our minds, let's band together with people of color and fight the scourge of hatred and big- otry together. • Steve Bocknek is the senior director of external rela- tions for Avodah, a national organization that works to strengthen the Jewish community's fight against poverty. He grew up in Farmington Hills and now lives with his wife and children in Brooklyn, New York. essay Charlottesville As Reminder 1942 - 2017 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week jn Steve Bocknek views Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us Contributing Writers: Joshua Lewis Berg, Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. 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Subscriptions: 1 year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $85 2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$153 3 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$204 1 year out-of-state . . . . . . . . . . .$125 2 years out-of-state . . . . . . . . . .$225 Per year foreign . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300 Detroit Jewish News 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110 Southfi eld, MI 48034 ©copyright 2017 Detroit Jewish News M ore than 3,000 years ago, a group of Hebrew slaves, made up of people from many races, languages and cultures, fled the oppres- sion and hatred of Egypt. They were inspired by an idea so radical that it helped create the American Revolution. These Hebrews, our ancestors, said that there is only one God, that no human is God and, most importantly, that all people are created in God's image, and are, therefore, beloved and indispensable. They said that the world that they would create would pro- tect the widow, the orphan and the stranger. No one would live in fear just because they were a minority. There is no Declaration of Independence without their courage and insight. As it says, " We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." America is not America unless we embrace fully the idea that all people are created in God's image. We cannot stand by when one group asserts superiority over all others and demonizes and terrorizes them. Elie Wiesel said, "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humilia- tion. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppres- sor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endan- gered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe." We as a people have survived the worst of atrocities because we refuse to give in to hate and fear. We have flourished because we carry the values of those Hebrew slaves into the world, in every generation. We have kept our promise to them. We cannot abandon that prom- ise now. Each of us has to find our own way stand up to hate, and replace it with love, respect and appreciation. • Aaron Bergman is a rabbi at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. He sent this message to his congregants last week. Rabbi Aaron Bergman community view Our Shared Values