I Care About Our Safety. And I Care About Our Soul - Rabbi Sharon Brous | Aharei Mot 5784 / 5.4.2024 

Yes. Ken. Gracias!!!

Yes--- BUT Oct 7 changed history--- and the ISR government is rightist

About 5 years ago, I was in Dayton Ohio as a speaker at Temple Israel's Jewish cultural festival. The festivals organized by Rabbi Karen Bodny Halasz And it is a lovely loving commercial for the Jewish community in Dayton. They draw people from all over the community to come for various cultural and educational events at the synagogue. Coincidentally about a week or so before that festival the local Klan had petitioned City authorities to demonstrate publicly in front of City Hall. The Jewish community wrestled for weeks with what to do with that request. Eventually what they decided to do was to give an outlet to the Jewish community to meet at a location approximately 5 mi away from City Hall to express their outrage. They did not give the Klan What they most desired which was publicity. The clan demonstration passed with almost No publicity despite the fact that police and security services in the city spent over $200,000 in overtime to provide a cage to surround the approximately 10 klan members that showed up at their demonstration. That was a smart use of Jewish communal resources to give the community an outlet to express their displeasure but to not give the klan what they desired And I would pretend that tactically the Jewish community probably made a mistake in showing up in large numbers at the Royce quad to get in the faces of the demonstrators that were in the encampment at UCLA. Well live and learn. And I think the LA Jewish community could have learned something from the Dayton Jewish community in terms of how they responded to similar actions on the part of our enemies.

The rabbi surely visited UCLA and Columbia to learn and understand the nature, similarities and differences between the events, to witness execution and results of the respective calls to action. We might call it field work or research. A related motive might be simply to be on hand as an experienced adult "in the room" in case of need - similar to what the 25 Standing Together members went to do. As an FYI, a group of neo-Nazis led by Glendale's well-known agitator Jordan Henry reportedly visited UCLA specifically to stoke violence, as that's what they do. While the report lacked detail as to whether they were the sole instigators, we can hope arrest records help distinguish well-intended students misled by nationally-based organizing groups from outsiders with deliberate intent to disrupt and debase while masquerading as allies. Similar circumstances were experienced during Trump's Oval Office occupation at peaceful marches organized by local and national groups. Fortunately, LAPD was pre-advised and experienced with such deceptive practices, which helped march organizers keep the calm. While the 300-chapter "Students for Justice in Palestine" is believed to be tied too closely with known pro-Hamas operatives, focusing on what groups like Standing Together say and do to outline common ground is where leadership on the road to peace lives.

My understanding is UCLA Hillel's request to stay off campus came after the rabbi's visit.