During the course of this campaign I’ve come to learn that so many people in our town are in pain. Real pain - perhaps because it’s expensive to live here (it is), or because they aren’t feeling as safe as they used to, or because of a family issue or personal anxiety. One thing I hear from some in our Jewish community is a present and rising concern about antisemitism. One thing I know is that the pain of rising antisemitism is real and must be taken very seriously by people seeking elected office.
Even before the events in Israel on October 7 of last year, We heard rising reports of antisemitism from around the world. Since the October 7 attacks on Israel, I have seen reports of antisemitism rising even further, with Jewish people targeted or singled out with tropes or hate or violence, or used as a vehicle for criticism of Israeli state policy. I hear my neighbors’ concerns about antisemitism and escalating violence against Jews around the world and I feel empathy and share their concerns. I have heard about worry for the safety for kids who just recently went off to college maybe for the first time and whose colleges have had antisemitic violence against Jewish students, and even worry about just walking in town and being targeted for who they are. Things like swastika graffiti, vandalizing mezuzahs hung on Jewish families’ doorframes, anti-Israel protests shouted at Jewish people in West Orange simply because the targets of the protest are Jewish is inappropriate and contributes to feelings of insecurity and fear of residents in this town. I understand that these sorts of antisemitic events, coupled with the reports of violence directed at Jewish people from across the country and beyond, contribute to fear and pain that I am hearing from people who are part of the rich and historic Jewish community of West Orange. I see an urgent need to contribute to the fight against antisemitism and I stand with my Jewish neighbors in that fight. I empathize with the pain I am hearing from people in town, and hope that people know that I lead with love and compassion for people seeking help or support.
The way I see it, our local government has a responsibility to support residents and should affirmatively and actively support people who are living with pain and fear inflicted upon them because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. That’s a central ideal of our society and of the government in our country. We support freedom and oppose oppression. We also seek to encourage others outside of this country to support freedom and to oppose oppression around the world. Although I know from history that we do not always live up to that ideal, it is the ideal that we should try to press forward. So when people in our town approach me with concerns about antisemitism, I listen and will support them as we work to reduce the sources of that pain. I am here to support the Jewish community as we confront antisemitism together. I know of course that local governments on their own cannot solve the big global issues of our time, but my approach to this and to other issues is always the same: to try to identify ways that our local government can contribute to making the world a better place in our own perhaps small but impactful way.
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