NEW YORK – T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, a rabbinic human rights organization, responded with grief and anger to the re-election of former President Donald Trump as the 47th United States president, promising to continue to fight for the protection of Americans’ civil liberties and for core democratic ideals, which the incoming president has promised to attack.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“Yesterday, the politics of fear, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia scored a victory. President-Elect Trump has announced his intention to be an autocrat. History has taught us to believe leaders who make such declarations. Make no mistake: People’s lives will be endangered by his incitement against marginalized groups, his emboldening of antisemitic neo-Nazis and white nationalists, his plan to further restrict access to reproductive healthcare including abortion, his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, his vilification of Muslims, his active antagonism toward stopping climate change, and his economic policies that leave behind most Americans.
“His election is a major threat to American democracy and to the world. President Trump’s second term will no doubt be characterized by chaos, restrictions on our most basic rights, and an erosion of democracy. We already know that he is unprepared to manage any major crisis, and that he will cozy up to Putin and other dictators.
“And we are terrified that this term, like his last, will see major antisemitic, anti-Black, and anti-immigrant violence as President Trump gives implicit and explicit permission to armed white nationalists to commit violence.
“President Trump’s alliance with Prime Minister Netanyahu likely will give Netanyahu free reign to trample on the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis and to carry out an endless war in Gaza.
“Moreover, Trump has repeatedly enabled antisemitism, both by giving a platform to known antisemites and neo-Nazis and by repeating antisemitic tropes himself. We fear that his administration will make Jews less safe, along with so many other marginalized groups.
“In this week’s Torah reading, God makes a covenant with Abraham and reveals what will befall his descendants, both the good and the bad. A deep dread falls on Abraham. In this liminal moment, when we don’t know what the future holds for this country, for our families, and for our broader community, it is easy to sink, like Abraham, into dread. However, one midrash finds room for hope — even when the worst comes to pass — parsing the verses to suggest that God also gives Abraham the tools of Torah and of sacrifice, or divine worship, which God promises will protect the people from any ills that come their way. (Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 5:2) No matter what happens in the coming years, we know that these tools remain available — and crucial — for us. Torah, the received wisdom of our people, will ground us and spiritually sustain us for whatever is to come.
“At this moment, we may be sitting in fear and dread. But whatever happens, we will move through it together — guided by our ancient and modern wisdom, and with a commitment to meaningful action. Though the election is over, we will not stop exercising our freedom to have a voice in this country’s future. We fight for democracy not only during elections, but also every single day — by being active community members, by building alliances across difference, by calling out injustice, by working to pass legislation, and when necessary, by taking to the streets.
“We built those relationships and strengthened our organizing muscles during Trump’s first administration, and though we know there will be new challenges this time, we also know that the power of people coming together is real. T’ruah will be doing this work, just like we have been for decades, bringing rabbis and cantors and their communities together with all people who believe in human dignity and human rights.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.