Dear friends, chaveirim y'karim,

I am reaching out to you today — because I worry about the students on college campuses. I can’t imagine what it is like to go to school and have to witness the encampments and many protesters who are calling for the demise of Israel and spewing vile hatred against the Jewish people. I find myself becoming enraged as I listen to the news while I sit in the comfort of my own home - physically far removed from the commotion. How can a young person prepare for finals or finish a semester in an environment that is so hostile and so indifferent to the Jewish people’s wellbeing?

And so I write this email in the hopes that you will pass it along to anyone whom you think might need a little bit of support, encouragement and/or information. I am available to speak with anyone you know. Please pass along my email address rabbicohn@tsholom.org and I will happily connect with your children and/or grandchildren.

While there are many protesters, I also know that the vast majority of students on the college campuses just want to go to school. Many, perhaps even most, students don't really understand the conflict. Complicating matters, many of the major news outlets do not present complete stories. And even sadder still, many of our kids get their news from TikTok, which skews 200:1 in posts opposed to Israel.

While I do not imagine we will change the protesters' minds, I do believe in working to educate people who are uninformed or who are just forming their opinions now.

Please share these articles and podcasts widely:

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David, a peace activist who lives on Kibbutz Hanaton in northern Israel, wrote a letter to student activists who are now protesting throughout the United States. She challenges the protesters with an important question as she asks them to consider: Are you helping to foster a peaceful future or are you promoting violence?

In addition there was an excellent article published in Newsweek by Hamza Howidy, a Palestinian from Gaza City, who wrote: "A Message From a Gazan to Campus Protesters: You’re Hurting the Palestinian Cause!"

Shai Davidai on Dan Senor's Call Me Back. Recently, Davidai has been barred from campus and describes his view since October 7, the early signs of antisemitism he identified at Columbia well before that horrific date, and the common misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the rhetoric and incitement being used by a number of Columbia student organizations and faculty. You can follow him on X here: @ShaiDavidai

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing from April 29, 2024 featured senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, who includes an in-depth discussion about the spate of campus protests taking place across the United States. He inquires: How seriously should we be taking them? What could be their lingering effects? And what should be the lessons learned for Israel?

These are challenging times for our people. It is important that we remain informed and well-educated as we do our part to support the State of Israel and remind ourselves that while the world around us feels out of control, all is far from lost - in fact, we have seen worse.

The protests on campus speak not just to the war between Israel and Hamas but to Western values, democracy, and the very essence of what constitutes a liberal society. The irony of college students defending the epitome of misogyny, terror, corruption, and tyranny should not be lost on anyone. The sadness as some college administrators seem to lose their voices and fail to uphold their positions of power is a greater threat than perhaps even the students realize. I am grateful for colleges where free speech is upheld and students are able to go on about their business of being students safely.

Again, please reach out if you have questions or know of others - students in particular - who need some insight and/or support.

As always, if wish to speak, disagree, mull over together, do reach out - l'shalom,

Rabbi Mark Cohn, 1 May 2024

PLEASE REGISTER for Thursday, May 9th at 7 PM, "HOW OCTOBER 7TH CHANGED ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH WORLD" at the Jewish Federation of Western CT / Congregation B'nai Israel Campus (444 Main Street North, Southbury). Guest speaker, Yossi Klein Halevi, will address the ever-shifting reality of what our Jewish world - and Israel, in particular, has been experiencing over the last seven months. Join us for a pre-event solidarity rally at the above address at 6:15 PM.