In response to the Trump administration’s abuse of immigrants, activists, universities, and democratic norms and institutions in the name of combating antisemitism, we as Colorado clergy wholeheartedly reject the Trump administration’s cynical attempt to use our community’s real fear of antisemitism as a wedge to dismantle democracy.
We, along with rabbis and cantors across the U.S., are concerned about the rise of antisemitism. Many of our own members and people in our own communities have experienced antisemitic bomb threats, vandalism, and other direct attacks in their synagogues, schools, online, and elsewhere. At times, rabbis and cantors have witnessed antisemitic language within some protests, including the justification and celebration of the murder of Israeli Jews. Many of us know Jewish college students who have been harassed or even assaulted on campus, who have encountered antisemitic graffiti and signage, and who have been pushed out of clubs or student spaces. Universities and other institutions have a responsibility to address such incidents on their campuses according to their own codes of conduct and disciplinary processes, and we take the fight against antisemitism extremely seriously.
We must be clear: detaining and deporting students without due process will not make our community safer. Already, we have seen students arrested without a warrant, sent to detention centers without their families being notified, and threatened with deportation without a hearing. These actions directly endanger these students, and also threaten the very foundations of American democracy, including the right to free speech and to due process.
The administration’s alleged attempts to counter antisemitism only serve to make the Jewish community less safe, both by provoking antisemitic responses, and by undermining the democratic norms, institutions, and protections that have allowed our community to flourish in the United States.
As Colorado rabbis and cantors, we want to work proactively with elected officials at all levels of government to find meaningful, lasting ways to combat antisemitism without harming the fabric of our democracy.
Further, as 11 prominent Jewish organizations recently said in a statement, “sweeping draconian funding cuts will weaken the free academic inquiry that strengthens democracy and society, rather than productively counter antisemitism on campus.”
We see through the administration’s attempt to use our community as a wedge to dismantle democracy, and we refuse to cooperate.
Signed,
Cantor Devorah Avery
Rabbi Caryn Aviv
Rabbi Eliot Baskin
Rabbi Cantor Birdie Becker
Rabbi Stephen Booth-Nadav
Rabbi Deborah Bronstein
Rav Jacob Chatinover
Rabbi Sandra Cohen
Rabbi Brian Field
Rabbi Barry Fineman
Rabbi Ruth Gelfarb
Rabbi Sara Gilbert
Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith
Rabbi Fred Greene
Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald
Rabbi Moshe Halfon
Rabbi Cantor Kim Harris
Rabbi Melissa Hoffman
Rabbi Diane Lakein
Rabbi Hannah Laner
Rabbi Ben Last
Rabbi Jessica Minnen
Rabbi Katie Mizrahi
Rabbi Adam Morris
Rabbi Iah Pillsbury
Rabbi Eva Sax-Bolder
Rabbi Amanda Schwartz
Rabbi Cantor Robbi Sherwin
Rabbi David J. Zucker