KILV Blog

• I know thoughtful college students, looking for the relief of the suffering of innocents.
• I also know that there are anti-Semites calling for a global intifada, the destruction of Israel, and harassment and violent threats to Jewish students sharing their campuses, dorms, and classrooms.
• One friend of mine reports on her three children at three different campuses: Two have experienced overtly anti-Semitic confrontations in the last week, and the third rarely leaves her dorm.
• Another young person I know has a number of friends, Jewish and not, at Penn who are part of its encampment and have experienced no violence, or anti-Semitism, except for an Israel supporter spreading some kind of harmful chemical on people's property and food.

My wonderful and thoughtful colleague, Rabbi Geoff Mitelman has written a compelling outline of the layers of messaging that is coming out of college campuses. He helps us see how some of the messaging aligns with progressive Jewish values, while other demonstrations cross the line into something which threatens our community.
Here are his compelling remarks (shared with permission):
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https://www.facebook.com/gmitelman/posts/pfbid02qCUL59yvoQVuFSarZcadCeJ7avtMEwrcsM1crdEQtYCga389ya57m8zNA1Wuz6yNl​

Regardless, the rise of anti-Semitism all around us, here in this land of freedom, is unprecedented in my lifetime. It seems like a story my grandparents would have told me about.

And, then, there is my flight. If El Al is flying, and no American airlines are doing so any longer, what does this say about the status of anti-Semitism in this county? Perhaps these companies are concerned about the war "over there, " but surely the unrest on campuses are feeding the anxiety about how these companies are handling Tel Aviv flights.

So, we will see. I will continue to submit blog entries, so you will get an update about travel plans. But, perhaps I should not be surprised that everything and everywhere are connected, even in sad and troubling ways.

Signing off until after Shabbat . . . May it be one of shalom.