Meet a Jew From a Different Background Than You
During the Nine Days, we mourn the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies throughout Jewish history. When we are fragmented as a nation, we are vulnerable. When we are united, we are strong. While the Jewish people makeup but a sliver of the world’s population, we are one of the most diverse and polarized groups—with different beliefs, traditions, and even languages. Too often, Jews don’t intermingle outside of their communities. That’s why a few years ago, we launched an initiative to connect Jews of different backgrounds to break down barriers and get to know and love one another—-as family should.
We launched a project called “Meet A Jew From a Different Background Than You.” The best way to remedy the cause of our exile, sin’as chinam (baseless hatred), is by reaching for its opposing force – love and unity. We matched our followers up with another awesome Jew, not exactly like them, to shmooze with via Zoom. We believe that by lighting this spark of achdus (unity), we will be able to say not only have we broken the ice but melted it too. We may be social distancing now, but we hope this video proves that we can virtually strengthen our bonds with our people.
If you found this content meaningful and want to help further our mission through our Keter, Makom, and Tikun branches, please consider becoming a Change Maker today.
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I am a Jew of Color (Latinx) and a clinical social worker. It’s important to realize that while your mission is not about race per se, there is an intersection for Orthodox Jews of color that is completely about race, especially during these times when stereotypes about who is a Jew and issues of race and anti-Semitism are so intertwined. It would behoove you to examine why you feel you need to separate the two, since Orthodox Jews of Color can never separate their Judaism from their race.
Shabbat Shalom.
Thanks for your comment, Joel. As I posted below, we are happy to feature Orthodox Jews of color. We would have gladly included any who signed up – none did. And we have profiled Orthodox Jews of color and discussed racism because they’re important topics to be aware of as observant Jews who are supposed to be mensches. All that being said, our mission is a religious one, not a racial one. There are many great causes, like caring for the environment, making sure women aren’t mistreated, etc. that we have covered but aren’t part of our mission. There are organizations who are dedicated solely to these causes. They do great work. This is just not what we were founded to do.
As I mentioned above I just realized that one of the men in the video was a Jew of color. He’s Hispanic. And he mentioned that he was told that he wasn’t Jewish enough and the orthodox guy speaking to him told him that’s a horrible thing to say. Jews come in all forms.