Supported by a CJP grant given to organizations fighting antisemitism, SEA Change is a 6-month cohort to develop current and future clergy and lay leaders who will learn together how to make a big impact on racial equity, inclusion and allyship issues within your congregation and beyond. Contact David Schwartz with any questions.
By Melissa Garlick, Senior Director of Combating Antisemitism and Building Civic Engagement at Combined Jewish Philanthropies
As we prepare to welcome 2024, it’s difficult to reflect on the last 12 months in the context of our work to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism. We experienced the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a surge of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and the realities of a society that didn’t adequately understand and respond to our trauma. But in 2023, we also laid the important foundational work to create longstanding and meaningful impact against antisemitism in Greater Boston. In 2023, and with the partnership of organizations and community stakeholders, CJP:
As we enter 2024, CJP is growing this work. We are expanding the staffing of this initiative while we lean into a new strategy to build deeper relationships with civic leaders across Greater Boston, including corporations and businesses. Although the problem of antisemitism can easily feel overwhelming and daunting to tackle, we’re laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Together, we’re ensuring that the Greater Boston Jewish community is coordinated and strong in our response heading into this new year and into our future.
By Rich Tenorio
It’s an understatement to say that Dan Osborn’s first two months with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston have been unusually challenging.
This fall, Osborn, a Marshfield native who has most recently worked in the field of curriculum development, joined the JCRC in a newly created position—director of educational partnerships, created through a grant from Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. Although Osborn learned about the position this summer, his first day was Oct. 23—just over two weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks against Israel, in which about 1,200 people died and around 240 others were taken hostage. The attacks—and the resulting Israeli war against Hamas—have resulted in a complex situation for Osborn as he seeks to build relationships with stakeholders across Massachusetts school districts, the JCRC and other nonprofit organizations toward ensuring inclusive and accurate representation of Jewish history and identity and to help combat antisemitism in the K-12 educational spaces.
“One important takeaway,” Osborn said, “is there is a great amount of diversity throughout Massachusetts in how schools have responded to the crisis brought on by Oct. 7.”
“A considerable amount of pain and trauma surfaced by Oct. 7,” he said, “particularly in school districts that have a large amount of Jewish students and Israeli students. There have been concerns voiced about whether these schools are providing sufficient social and emotional services for students—and whether or not these districts are capable of providing trauma-informed services for students who need to go to school and have their needs tended to in K-12 settings.”
That’s where Osborn comes in. Part of his role is to connect school districts with relevant resources, whether it’s the JCRC or another nonprofit with a track record of combating antisemitism, such as the Anti-Defamation League or one of his previous employers, Facing History & Ourselves.
“We at the JCRC can be a trusted resource and ally for school districts,” he said. “We can be an intermediary and a facilitator between schools and those organizations.”
Meanwhile, Osborn works to develop connections within Jewish communities—including parents, students and rabbis—and relay their concerns to local school districts. At the same time, he cultivates ties with officials in these districts, including superintendents and principals.
In everything he does, he seeks an inclusive approach, from evaluating schoolwide communications following the Oct. 7 attacks to recommending guest speakers to come to schools and foster dialogue between different perspectives to encouraging a respectful atmosphere amid student activism.
“In recent weeks, there have been a lot of student-led walkouts and protests in schools,” Osborn said. “This has resulted in some students facing concerns over the politics of their classmates. This has resulted in some administrators unsure how to draw the line between free and protected speech, and also the need to protect the safety of Jewish students.”
Osborn’s position moves forward a key component of CJP’s 5-point plan against antisemitism—education strategy in the K-12 space in Greater Boston. Through the 5-point plan and CJP’s fighting antisemitism initiative, CJP is committed through this new position to deepening relationships and coordination with school administrators and leaders across the region in order to provide critically needed resources and tools on antisemitism, anti-Zionism and Holocaust education.
“It was an opportunity to work for, with and on behalf of the Jewish community in Greater Boston,” he said. “It was something that really speaks to my values, my convictions and professional aspirations, an opportunity that tied many of the disparate aspects of my academic and career path to date and wove them together in a role that has purpose and meaning.”
Osborn, 37, lives on the South Shore with his wife and infant son. He identified with his Jewishness early on in life. He describes the subject of Jews and Judaism as underrepresented in his history classes, something he eventually decided to tackle in professional life.
“As somebody who grew up in a Jewish home in a predominantly non-Jewish community, I felt like there were very few opportunities to see myself validated in the curriculum, and for my classmates and counterparts to encounter Jewish history in a way that was accurate, nuanced and humanizing,” he said. “I channeled those observations into a desire to study history, to teach history, and decided I wanted to have a more macro-level experience in education.”
Osborn was raised in an interfaith family, which he said gave him an added perspective on the diversity of the Jewish community.
“I believe it really shaped my deep commitment to working for interfaith and intercommunal dialogue,” he said, “and for being willing to cross cultural boundaries … My parents demonstrated to me on a daily basis their love and commitment to each other, despite their differences. That made me aware of the need to bring diverse people together.”
After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut—in history and secondary education, respectively—he stayed in the Nutmeg State to work as a high school history teacher in Hamden. His subsequent stops include volunteering for the Peace Corps in a village in Jordan; getting a master’s degree in Near Eastern and Judaic studies at Brandeis University and a doctor of education degree at Boston University; and working for Facing History & Ourselves and then for the curriculum-development nonprofit Primary Source, his previous stop before joining JCRC.
“To shape the atmosphere and culture in schools so all students are able to leave K-12 education to thrive in a pluralistic, democratic society—it’s always what I wanted to do,” Osborn said. “I’ve always been informed by this goal and channel my Jewish values and sense of justice, healing and compassion into the work I do.”
Rich Tenorio covers antisemitism news for JewishBoston.com. His work has appeared in international, national, regional and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist. Email him at richt@cjp.org.
By Marc Baker, President and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
Thank you to the White House for clearly condemning the three university presidents after the congressional hearing on antisemitism earlier this week:
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country. Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
To recap, three leaders of prestigious universities were unable or unwilling to answer a question about whether calling for genocide against all Jews constitutes bullying and harassment with a simple “yes.” Whatever the reasons for their equivocation, and while some are already trying to explain and walk back their testimonies, the hedging and contextualizing when asked this question felt like a frightening turning point for the American Jewish experience and for higher education.
These presidents are educating the future leaders of America and the world, and they are responsible for the safety and well-being of Jewish students on their campuses. Yet, they could not find the words to unequivocally condemn even the most egregious and extreme example of Jew hatred.
What does this say about the Jewish community’s place in these universities and in American society more broadly? What does it say about the academic, moral, and cultural brokenness of higher education?
I believe this is a moment of reckoning. Let’s hope that if we stay engaged and push these schools to change for the better, this will be the beginning of reformation and repair that is likely going to take decades.
By Melissa Garlick, Senior Director of Combating Antisemitism and Building Civic Engagement at Combined Jewish Philanthropies
As antisemitism continues to spread on social media, communities, college campuses, and schools, the magnitude of the problem can feel overwhelming and frightening. On Tuesday, Nov. 14, we stood together, loudly and proudly—and in defiance of those who want us to hide in fear—to march in Washington, D.C., in support of Israel and against antisemitism. For many of us, that day is one that we will never forget and, in many ways, was only a precursor to the enormous work ahead.
Over a much-needed holiday break, my family showed me some illustrations created by artists at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem to commemorate the beauty of the communities bordering Gaza as they existed before Oct. 7.
The pictures are teeming with life and vibrancy, the land splashed with color. As the harvest season ends, I think about the seeds that are being planted now, amid the devastation. I think about the contrast between the murderous, hate-filled attacks on these communities and the promise and the beauty of growth and new life. I know this land will flourish again.
When I talk about my work, many ask: How did we get here and how do we solve this? We all long for the immediate end to terror and antisemitism, but how are we planting the seeds for sustained and meaningful change over the long term? We cannot afford an approach that only pushes antisemitism back into the shadows; we face the real challenge of ensuring immediate protections for our safety while also advancing long-term, systemic change so that we are more prepared, coordinated, educated, and stronger when the intractable weeds of antisemitism threaten to destroy our future again.
As this month’s Face Jewish Hate newsletter highlights, the recent increase in antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents has been deeply alarming, particularly as it has impacted our Jewish students on college campuses.
In response, CJP is ramping up its communal security resources for Jewish institutions and college campuses, working with partners to respond to hate incidents and hate crimes, and focus on immediate training, resources, and relationship-building in civic spaces, including higher education and K-12 schools. There are also action steps you can take to fight antisemitism on college campuses. We continue to elevate the stories of those who have experienced antisemitism to raise public awareness and inspire action. If you have a story to share, your voice is so needed at this time.
At the same time, we must keep planting our seeds. We will continue to build transformative relationships across communities in Greater Boston, deepening allyship strategically at the civic leadership and community levels. We will ramp up work and investments in long-term and systemic work that must be done in K-12 education, higher education, and workplace spaces to expand education, create inclusive climates, promote bold leadership, and confront the deep and systemic roots of antisemitism in our society.
As we work with our brothers and sisters in Israel to advance the long and hard work to heal and rebuild, we must commit to the everyday work and maintenance here in our own community too for long-term change in the fight against antisemitism. Though we may not be able to see the garden yet, we must together remain grounded and steadfast in our goal that Boston’s Jewish community feels safe, supported, and empowered to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism. I can’t wait to see what we grow.
The largest Jewish gathering in U.S. history, the #MarchForIsrael on Nov. 14, 2023, brought more than 290,000 people to Washington, D.C., and an estimated 250,000 watched the event via livestream. Sponsored by Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the event was a moving display of unity and solidarity with the people of Israel, calling for the return of the missing hostages captured by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and denouncing the rise of antisemitism since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Our Greater Boston Jewish community was well represented at the March for Israel, with nearly 1,600 people—including grade school students, families, community leaders, allies, clergy, and college students—traveling to attend the historic event and show that Boston stands with Israel.
We invite you to watch the recording of the event below.
By Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
We are grateful to Jewish Council for Public Affairs for leading our community in unequivocally saying that the Jewish community rejects Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, antisemitism, and all forms of bigotry.
We are proud to have been part of the drafting of this statement on behalf of our community.
In the wake of the attack in which a six-year-old Muslim boy was murdered and his mother critically injured by a man who targeted them because of their faith and the Israel/Hamas war, over 100 Jewish groups released a statement today condemning the attack and rejecting any effort to exploit the situation in Israel and Gaza to spread hate and bigotry.
The statement, which was organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and signed by 130 national and local groups, explicitly rejects “Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, antisemitism, and all forms of bigotry”:
“We stand in solidarity with all our neighbors under threat, and urge our elected and civic leaders, law enforcement, schools and universities, and employers to make clear there will be zero tolerance for any act of hate.”
“As Jewish leaders, we want to be very clear: we unequivocally reject those targeting our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian American neighbors with bigotry, threats, and violence,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “This is a moment of profound pain for our community—and we refuse to allow some to exploit that pain as an excuse to spread bigotry or extremism of any kind. Our communities’ safety is inextricably linked, and only by coming together and calling it out can we defeat the forces of hate and violence.”
You can read the full text of the statement here and below:
Since Hamas’ terror attacks in Israel on October 7th, we’ve seen bigots and extremists exploit the crisis to spread hate, disinformation, and extremism.
This is a moment of deep Jewish pain, mourning the lives taken and praying for the safe release of the hostages in Gaza—and this pain and fear is compounded by a horrific rise in antisemitism here in the United States and around the globe.
We also know that we are not the only ones being targeted in this moment. Our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian American neighbors are facing bigotry, threats, and violence—including the despicable murder of a six-year-old child this weekend outside Chicago, by a man who reportedly espoused anti-Muslim hate.
Let us be unequivocally clear: The Jewish community rejects Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, antisemitism, and all forms of bigotry. Particularly as extremists continue to exploit this moment, we are reminded that all of our communities’ safety and futures are inextricably linked—and recommit ourselves to fighting hate in all its forms.
We stand in solidarity with all our neighbors under threat, and urge our elected and civic leaders, law enforcement, schools and universities, and employers to make clear there will be zero tolerance for any act of hate.
View the complete list of groups and organizations that signed the statement.
By Rich Tenorio
When former President Barack Obama administration member Carol Fulp was asked about allyship during a panel at “The Good Fight Forum,” she knew exactly how to respond.
“First and foremost,” she said, “allyship is showing up. Allyship is speaking up. Allyship is looking up. It’s teaming up.”
All four actions were well-represented at what has become an annual conference in the Boston area by the Anti-Defamation League, with this year’s edition taking place at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront hotel on Oct. 10, 2023. The conference occurred three days after the deadly surprise terror attacks by Hamas against Israel. Launched from the Gaza Strip, the attacks left over 1,300 Israeli service members and civilians dead, including men, women and children. The number of wounded has surpassed 3,300, while an estimated 100 to 200 hostages have been taken by Hamas.
Fulp spoke at a panel alongside Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden and Idit Klein, the head of the Jewish LGBTQIA+ group Keshet and the lone Israeli among the trio. Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, New England regional director of the ADL, moderated the discussion.
Allyship to Boston’s Jewish community has been on display ever since the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Two days later, numerous city and state political leaders joined in a solidarity gathering for Israel on Boston Common. Among them were Gov. Maura Healey, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
At “The Good Fight,” Hayden shared insights into how to disrupt hate directed against the local Jewish community.
“We have to be committed to conversations in the hard way,” he said, “fighting against the out and front, blatant ‘isms’ we’re fighting against, rather than the silence of it.” He added, “I don’t know if one is better than the other.”
Regardless, he said, “There are more for us than against us. You have to believe that, hope that, trust that. For me, personally, you have to pray that.”
Fulp shared lessons in allyship she learned from a good friend, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
As Fulp explained, “Allyship is to be willing to accept criticism, because we don’t know it all. We need to be open to things we might be doing wrong, things we might be doing that are hurtful. Being sensitive enough, trusting enough with your ally, they can share, ‘This is hurtful, inappropriate or a microaggression.’ These are all things that allies learn, because there is trust with their ally.”
In addition to this panel discussion, there were other panels over the course of the day, with speakers including Steinberg and CJP president and CEO Rabbi Marc Baker, plus two voices from Israel—Shalem College administrator and scholar Daniel Gordis, and Carole Nuriel, ADL senior regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“In the face of this ugliness of the situation, there was so much heroism,” Nuriel said. “So many people wanted to rescue others … I believe there was manifest solidarity and empathy all around. There was so much unity, togetherness, love and empathy. That will help us win.”
“What we know at this point is first and foremost what this was and was not,” Gordis said. “This was a pogrom. It was not about freedom fighters seeking freedom or Palestinians seeking a Palestinian state.”
Several speakers referenced statements directed against Israel following the Hamas attacks—namely a letter from over 30 Harvard University student groups that blamed them on Israel. Some of the groups have since withdrew their support of the letter amid outcry.
Peggy Shukur, the ADL’s deputy regional director, said, “Although Hamas is known for organized terror,” people are “witnessing a shocking counter-narrative of the attacks that is getting traction on and off campus—‘Israel is to blame for the attacks.’” And, she said that the previous afternoon, “in Cambridge, people chanted, ‘We don’t want no Jewish state, we want ‘48!’”
Rabbi David Wolpe, currently at Harvard Divinity School as a visiting scholar, had a suggestion.
“Look at the enemies Israel is fighting,” he said. “Remember 9/11. These are the people Hamas just let over their border. Appeal to people not already totally captivated by an evil ideology. Those are the people we should be talking to.”
Rich Tenorio covers antisemitism news for JewishBoston.com. His work has appeared in international, national, regional and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist. Email him at richt@cjp.org.
Since early Saturday morning, so many of us have struggled to make sense of the horrific events unfolding in Israel. Hear acclaimed political scientist, former intelligence officer, and retired Israel Defense Forces Col. Miri Eisin share background on the situation, on-the-ground insights, and opportunities for the Greater Boston community to help those in need.
Rabbi Marc Baker, president & CEO of CJP, shared his opening remarks at ADL New England’s The Good Fight Forum on Oct. 10, 2023, a community event dedicated to combating antisemitism and hate.
Dear Friends,
As we’ve already heard, we are here this morning at an unprecedented time in this history of the State of Israel and the history of the Jewish People.
Several years ago, this gathering, this Good Fight, was created as a response to the most horrific and deadly antisemitic attack we had ever experienced here in America – the Tree of Life shooting. It devastated the Pittsburgh community, touched many people here in our own community, and in many ways changed Jewish life in America as we now know it. Let us keep the Tree of Life victims in our hearts and minds today and always.
We are here because the hatred that has plagued the Jewish community and the world for thousands of years is not only alive and well, but still growing here in America and right here in our own community – in schools, on college campuses, from the egregious displays of white supremacists blaming 9/11 on the Jews to casual workplace conversations and the social media of pop stars and professional athletes.
This morning, we are here one day after thousands of us gathered on Boston Common to stand in solidarity with Israel and to raise our voices – together with friends, allies, elected officials and other local leaders. We gathered to express our love, solidarity, grief, anger, and moral outrage at the horrific and heinous acts of terror that have taken over 900 innocent Israeli lives. The Good Fight taking place right now in Israel is a war to protect the innocent lives of our Jewish family thousands of miles away and to protect the future of the Jewish homeland.
And this is not just far away – it is already touching nearly every one of us in some way or another, whether one of the tens of thousands of Israelis living here in Greater Boston or American Jews who have friends and family living in Israel and defending the Jewish State. My personal friends and family had to go directly from yesterday’s rally to the home of dear friends to escort them the airport after they learned that their son-in-law – a young man with a tremendous spirit, love of Israel, and bright future ahead of him – was killed in battle.
My friends, in the past few days we have witnessed the largest, most gruesome massacre of Jews that I have seen in my lifetime and that we have seen since the Holocaust. We are here today to fight for our own safety and well-being and for the future of our community and this country; Israelis are in a fight for their lives; and we are living through the darkest moment of hatred and violence against Jews that many of us have ever known.
Add to this the vile and incomprehensible response that we have seen in the streets of Cambridge and on college campuses – a defense of terror and violence rooted in ignorance and extremist, antisemitic ideologies that demonize Israel and dehumanize Israelis, and that, in fact, threaten the safety, security and well-being of Jews, especially, but not exclusively, our young people.
We are here today to better understand these challenges and what we can do about them, again with gratitude to the partners and leaders from across our community who are doing this work everyday in so many different ways.
Put simply, we have work to do. We have work to do to educate, advocate, and mobilize our communities, along with friends and allies, to fight against all forms of antisemitism, especially right now against Israel-hatred, along with all other forms of bigotry and hate; to fight against forces of extremism, conspiracy theories and other forms of disinformation and demonization; and to ensure that every person can walk down the street and through the world with head held high with a sense of safety, security, confidence in their personal identity and belonging in the larger society of which we are a part.
We have work to do to create communities and a world where everyone – of every religion, race, gender, sexual orientation – feels free, safe, accepted, and valued.
We have work to do, which is why I’m so proud that over the past year CJP has partnered with ADL and so many other organizations to launch our 5-Point Plan to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism. We will not likely eliminate a 3,000-year-old hatred in our lifetimes, but we will certainly be stronger and fight against it more effectively when we fight it together.
Together, we are educating and mobilizing our community. Together, we are putting faces and stories to the personal experiences of Jew-hatred through our Face Jewish Hate media campaign, and we are partnering with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s national blue square campaign so more people who share our values will #StandUpToJewishHate.
Together, we are expanding community security to ensure that we and our children will be safe and secure as we choose to live engaged, vibrant, joyous Jewish lives in our schools and synagogues and community centers.
Together, we are deepening relationships with allies and leaders from across civic Boston because this is not a Good Fight that we will win alone, and as my friend, JCRC CEO Jeremy Burton, always reminds us, antisemitism, like other forms of hate, is not a problem for the Jewish community to solve on our own.
It was heartening, comforting, even inspiring to launch our Face Jewish Hate campaign at TD Garden side by side with important and influential political and faith leaders; just as it was heartening yesterday to hear the unequivocal support for Israel and condemnation of terror from so many of our friends, allies and elected officials. That only happens because of the work ADL, JCRC, so many of the partners here today, do to deepen these relationships, to stand with and show up for other vulnerable communities, to fight for democracy, human dignity, and for the character of our commonwealth and our country. I feel grateful and hopeful that we are in this fight, this Good Fight, with friends and allies who will stand with us, and that we are in this with one another, together.
Thank you.
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