May 23, 2021

As North American Jewish denominations representing a significant majority of American Jewry, we join together to uniformly condemn rising incidences of antisemitism. We commend the many religious, civil society and political leaders of goodwill who have denounced these actions and are urging and implementing step to strengthen efforts to combat antisemitism and antisemitic attacks.

The recent hostilities between Israel and Hamas have only heightened the concern about antisemitism throughout the Jewish community. Let us be clear: it is not antisemitic to criticize Israeli policies or to express solidarity with the cause of Palestinian rights. It is antisemitic to hold all Jews accountable for Israel’s actions, to deny Israel’s right to exist, or to assault Jews on any pretense.

The recent Pew study of Jewish Americans found that three-quarters of respondents believe there is more antisemitism in the U.S. today than there was five years ago. Vandalism at synagogues, Jewish community centers, and other Jewish institutions; verbal, written and social media diatribes against Jews; and physical assaults on Jewish Americans are all becoming more common.

We unequivocally reject the voices of those who would perpetuate anti-Jewish hatred at this moment or any other. There can be no excuse or acceptance of such behavior or viewpoint, especially in a democracy founded on principles of religious freedom.

Union for Reform Judaism

Central Conference of American Rabbis

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbinical Assembly

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Reconstructing Judaism

May 12, 2021

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)

The Central Conference of American Rabbis grieves the unspeakable loss of life, as violence continues to escalate in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. We pray for comfort of the mourners, and we pray for healing of all who have been injured. Victims include Jews, Palestinians, and others: rockets are equally deadly to all.

Reform rabbis are deeply concerned for all who are terrorized, in fear for their lives, many of them seeking shelter and even sleeping in bunkers. Among them are members of the CCAR, loved ones and friends of CCAR members around the world, members of our Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, our teachers, and our partners.

We invite all people of good will to join us in prayer for peace—for Israel, for Gaza, for the West Bank—and for Jerusalem, envisioned as the city of peace.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass                                                 
President                                                                   

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

March 30, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis proudly marks Transgender Day of Visibility. Reform rabbis are grateful that we see transgender members of the Jewish community—among the rabbis of the CCAR and in the communities we serve.

This year’s celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility is marred by hateful and discriminatory legislation, moving through tens of state legislatures—and, in some cases, signed into law—targeting transgender Americans. Whether denying parents and guardians the right to secure life-affirming and often life-saving medical care for their transgender children, prohibiting transgender girls from participation in athletics, or violating transgender rights in other ways, these bills and laws shamefully seek to delegitimize the identities of transgender people.

This year, Transgender Day of Visibility falls during Passover, impelling Reform rabbis and all members of the Jewish community to demand justice and freedom for transgender Americans, who are too often treated as strangers to be feared and hated, much like our ancient forbears in Egypt.

At the seder, we recalled: “Our history moves from slavery toward freedom. Our narration begins with degradation and rises to dignity. Our service opens with the rule of evil and advances toward the realm of God’s peace and compassion.”[i] We urge all Americans to join us, in prayer as well as activism, in the hope that transgender Americans who today know degradation will soon know dignity, and that the narrow-minded severity in too many statehouses will give way to the realm of God’s peace and compassion.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i] Rabbi Hara E. Person and Jessica Greenbaum, Editors, Mishkan HaSeder: A Passover Haggadah, New York: CCAR Press, 2021.

March 24, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis warmly congratulates our member, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, on his historic election to the Knesset. Rabbi Kariv—outgoing Chief Executive of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and a member of MARAM, the Israeli Council of Progressive Rabbis—will be the first liberal rabbi ever to serve in the Knesset. Rabbi Kariv’s election to the Knesset signals the growing influence of Reform and Conservative Judaism on Israeli society, due in no small measure to Rabbi Kariv’s tremendous leadership of our Israeli Reform Movement.

As Reform rabbis worldwide celebrate Rabbi Kariv’s election, we anxiously await final results of Tuesday’s election and the potential formation of a governing coalition. Not all of the early results are cause for celebration—particularly the election to the Knesset of the so-called “Religious Zionist” Party, which espouses racism and hateful views toward Palestinians and LGBTQ Israelis.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis calls for the formation of a governing coalition that will ensure equality for all Israelis, including Reform and Conservative Jews, and will pursue negotiations with the Palestinian people in the hope of achieving a lasting peace through a two-state solution.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass                                                                         Rabbi Hara E. Person
President                                                                                             Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

March 2, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis hails the historic ruling by Israel’s High Court of Justice, requiring the State of Israel to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions solemnized in Israel for the purpose of citizenship under the Law of Return. Reform rabbis worldwide commend the Israel Religious Action Center, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, and our colleagues in MARAM on this momentous victory to conclude a fifteen-year legal battle.

The CCAR applaud the words of Israeli Chief Justice Esther Hayut, “The purpose of the Law of Return is to encourage any Jew—whether they were born as Jews or chose to become part of the Jewish people through conversion—to make aliyah.” Judge Hayut’s statement reflects the wisdom of Torah and our rabbinic sages^[1]: ‟There shall be one law for the citizen and the stranger (ger) who dwells among you” (Exodus 12:49).

This ruling means that hundreds of long-time Israeli residents, who have converted to Judaism through the Reform and Conservative movements’ rigorous and meaningful courses of study, may now register as olim and claim their rightful status as proud Israeli citizens. This ruling is a long-overdue, significant, and celebratory achievement for Israel and the Jewish people.

Rabbi Ronald Segal                                         
President                                                           

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[1] While ger meant “stranger” or “foreigner” in biblical Hebrew, by the time of our rabbinic sages, it had come to mean “convert;” and our Rabbis, like Chief Justice Hayut, drew on this verse to demand equal treatment for those born into the Covenant and those who would convert to Judaism.

March 2, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is dismayed by a coordinated effort to adopt state legislation that would make voting more difficult. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, some 253 bills are pending in 43 states to shorten early voting periods and voting hours, erect barriers to mail ballots, enhance voter identification laws, and restrict the ability of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations to enhance voter access and turnout. The most devastating effects of these proposals would be to suppress the votes of people of color, rural voters, poor people, and older Americans.[i]

These reprehensible efforts come in the wake of the 2020 election, which featured extraordinary voter turnout[ii] and notable election security.[iii] In the aftermath of the election though, falsehoods purveyed by the defeated then-President that the election had not been free and fair have sadly been embraced by some politicians and Americans, contributing to the violent insurgency at our nation’s Capitol earlier this year. Any legislation limiting voter access which resulted from these inaccurate, divisive, and destructive assertions would be a direct abrogation of the Ninth Commandment to not bear false witness, a moral value deemed sacred within Judaism and Christianity.

In our 2020 Resolution on Free and Accessible Elections,[iv] the CCAR, noting that broadly inclusive democracy is rooted in Jewish tradition,[v] called for numerous provisions to increase voter participation and access to the polls. In 2021, as legislatures meet in statehouses across the nation, we renew our advocacy for legislation that increases, rather than restricts, the sacred American right to vote.

Rabbi Ronald Segal
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i] Michael Wines, “In Statehouses, Stolen-Election Myth Fuels a G.O.P. Drive to Rewrite Rules,” The New York Times, February 27, 2021.

[ii] Drew Desilver, “Turnout soared in 2020 as nearly two-thirds of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots for president,” Fatank: News in the Numbers, Pew Research Center, January 28, 2021.

[iii] Eric Tucker and Frank Bajak, “Repudiating Trump, officials say election ‘most secure,’” APNews, November 13, 2020.

[iv] Free and Accessible Elections – Central Conference of American Rabbis (ccarnet.org).

[v] B.T. B’rachot 55a; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 163:1.

January 29, 2021

Building on our endorsement of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Union for Reform Judaism joined the American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, National Council of Jewish Women, Rabbinical Assembly, and World Jewish Congress in offering a more complete agenda of vital steps that should be taken, including our urging the administration’s appropriate use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

The statement lays out additional urgent priorities including: improved reporting (in which the IHRA definition plays a particularly important role), making it more comprehensive and consistent at the local, state and federal levels; stronger government/private sector partnerships aimed at enhancing  Jewish community security for our vulnerable religious, civic, and communal institutions; expanded support for strong Holocaust education and anti-bias education; urging social media platforms to curb antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and harassment; and, of course, continued, vigorous efforts in identifying (again, in which the IHRA definition can play a constructive role) and enforcing existing education, anti-discrimination, and hate crimes laws.

Open Letter to the Biden Administration and the 117th Congress
Priorities for Action Against Antisemitism

As organizations committed to ensuring a forceful U.S. response to rising antisemitism, we are gratified by the bipartisan commitment of allies in Congress and the Administration to make the struggle against antisemitism a national priority. As a result of that long standing support, the U.S. government has a rich arsenal of tools at its disposal to prevent and respond to it.

We have come together to elevate key principles and priorities that are essential elements of a robust, comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to address antisemitism. The Jewish community is not a monolith, and our groups have diverse areas of expertise and emphasis. But we are united in a call for the rigorous, proactive use of existing laws and tools to enhance monitoring, prevention and response. We also urge leaders to reject efforts to politicize the antisemitism issue and to work in a bipartisan way to advance these priority requests.

1. Exert moral leadership at home and abroad. Civic leaders must speak out against antisemitism in timely, specific, and direct ways. The President, Cabinet officials, and Members of Congress must use their voices, relationships and convening power to reject antisemitism and bigotry at home and abroad.
2. Improve Reporting. We cannot address a problem that we are not measuring. And, the US government data consistently show a staggering gap in reporting.
3. Enhance Jewish Community Security. Support Non-Profit Security Grants for at-risk houses of worship, schools, community centers.
4. Education. Both Holocaust education and anti-bias education should be fundamental elements of civic education in our country.
5. Urge social media platforms to curb antisemitism, Holocaust denial and harassment.
6. Use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as an education, monitoring, and training tool.

We have attached more detailed recommendations related to these priorities. We believe that implementing them – without delay – will enhance both the safety and dignity of Jews and all groups targeted by hate. Whether promoting Jewish equality and civil rights at home, or working to protect religious freedom and human rights abroad, our experience and our history have demonstrated that fighting antisemitism strengthens the fight against hate and discrimination and helps uphold democracy’s highest principles.

Signatories List:

Recommendations to Enhance the U.S. Response to Antisemitism

I. Improve Reporting. According to the FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) report, there are 80 cities with a population of over 100,000 that either did not report any hate crimes to the FBI or affirmatively reported zero hate crimes in 2019, the most recent year on record. These include cities like, Baltimore, Hartford, St. Petersburg, FL, Hollywood, Fl, Plano, TX, and West Palm Beach, FL. Below are recommendations to address the reporting gap.

1. Support legislation to require mandatory hate crime reporting by our country’s 18,000 federal, state, municipal, and tribal law enforcement agencies.
2. Encourage and incentivize state and local law enforcement agencies to participate in the FBI’s HCSA program. Fund training and prevention programs, and tie federal funding for departments to credible HCSA reports. Better hate crime reporting can deter antisemitic and other hate violence.
3. Enact the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE ACT. The bill would provide state and local governments with grants to improve hate crime data collection and reporting and develop new hate crime prevention and reduction programs.

II. U.S. Global Leadership. Addressing antisemitism should be a U.S. foreign policy priority, not just for the sake of Jews, but because antisemitism threatens the core principles upon which peaceful and stable societies are built.

1. Urge governments to appoint high-level officials to coordinate efforts to combat antisemitism and give them the political backing and resources they need.
2. Leverage U.S. monitoring. The State Department annual country reports on Human Rights and International Religious Freedom Reports include reporting on antisemitism. Our diplomats abroad must be trained on the definition of antisemitism to ensure that reporting is accurate and comprehensive. The report findings must be used by diplomats and by Congress to spotlight problems and to urge action by foreign governments.
3. Engage international organizations like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations to ensure that their anti-discrimination efforts also include protecting Jews.

III. Counter online antisemitism, hate and harassment. Antisemitic hate groups and neo-Nazis are flourishing online and promoting their ideology to vast audiences.

1. Congress should expand federal hate crime laws to include bias-motivated online criminal harassment like doxing and swatting.
2. Press social media platforms to find and remove public and private groups focused on antisemitism, Holocaust denial, white supremacy, militia, or other violent conspiracies.
3. Urge platforms to get to the root of the problem and to detoxify their algorithms, so that they stop recommending and amplifying content from groups associated with antisemitism, conspiracies, and other dangerous disinformation to users.

IV. Non-Profit Security Grants

Jewish institutions have been the target of antisemitic threats and deadly violent attacks. Congress and the administration should support robust funding for security enhancements, training and outreach for houses of worship, schools, community centers, and other non-profit institutions that are objectively determined to be at increased risk. Several Jewish groups have focused on ensuring that these grants also include adequate church-state separation and antidiscrimination safeguards.

V. Anti-Bias and Holocaust Education as core parts of civic education and literacy.

1. Implement the Never Again Education Act by allocating the $2 million annual appropriation to expand the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum education programming, and provide incentives for state and local education officials to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust.
2. The Department of Education should designate a focal point on Holocaust education.
3. The focal point should convene a Summit on the role of Holocaust education in civics.
4. Congress should fund anti-bias education in schools to equip students to understand and to actively challenge antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.

VI. Use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism as Training and Education Guidance

1. Adhere to IHRA’s adoption of the definition as a distinctly “non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism.” It was developed to help better understand modern manifestations of antisemitism, including when Jews are targeted based on an actual or perceived support for or connection to Israel.
2. We support using the working definition to build awareness and train law enforcement, educators, and other leaders. The IHRA definition and its examples are informative. Using the definition itself to trigger federal or state anti-discrimination laws, though, could be abused to punish Constitutionally protected, if objectionable, speech. The examples also provide context to distinguish protected speech – including disagreement and even harsh criticism of the government of Israel – from unlawful, harassing, intimidating, and discriminatory anti-Semitism.

VII. Enforce Existing Education Anti-Discrimination and Hate Crime Laws Effectively

1. Since 2010, the Department of Education has interpreted its anti-discrimination enforcement authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for schools and universities to include “groups that face discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics” — including Jews, Muslim, Sikhs, and others. The Department has resolved several cases involving discrimination against Jews under this authority. The Biden administration must reaffirm a commitment to this longstanding Department of Justice interpretation.
2. In addition, existing federal law and hate crime laws in 46 states and the District of Columbia already criminalize crimes in which Jews and Jewish institutions are intentionally targeted because of their religion. Use the IHRA definition to support effective implementation of those laws, where appropriate.

VIII. Research. The government must study antisemitism and all forms of bias and hate that lead to criminal activity. These include white nationalism and white supremacy – with antisemitism at their core – which have led to deadly attacks and threats.

IX. Promote Inter-Agency Cooperation. The Obama administration’s interagency working group on hate crimes is one example of a useful mechanism to address antisemitic hate crimes.

X. Work in partnership with Jewish Communities. From policing and security to effectively leveraging America’s leadership abroad, the best policy and practices result from close consultation and partnership between officials and affected communities. Congress, the administration, and state and local officials should actively engage with communities through regular working groups to spot trends, identify challenges and explore countermeasures.

January 20, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis congratulates Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris on their inauguration as President and Vice President of the United States of America. Reform rabbis rejoice for the inauguration of the first woman to hold nationwide elected office, and we celebrate the powerful and profound moment of Justice Sonya Sotomayor, the first woman of color to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, administering the oath of office to the first woman of color elected Vice President of the United States.

Today was a day for millions of Americans to witness the transition of power and leadership of our country. Observing this seminal event from individual homes rather than amidst the time-honored throngs crowded onto the National Mall, the CCAR notes with gratitude the Covid-19 precautions taken in the careful planning of today’s Inauguration. We applaud the bipartisan dignitaries and former U.S. Presidents in attendance for following current health and safety protocols, displaying life-saving leadership for American citizens. We are grateful, too, for the National Guard and law enforcement personnel who assured a safe transition of power.

Reform rabbis note with gratitude that President Biden and Vice President Harris have set an agenda that includes many of the social justice commitments and expressed priorities of the CCAR and our Reform Jewish Movement, including:

• Rapid and equitable efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on American lives, health, and welfare;
• A commitment to the dismantling of systemic racism and the pursuit of racial justice, including police and criminal justice reform;
• A strong US-Israel relationship;
• Economic justice;
• Environmental justice;
• Women’s rights, including reproductive justice;
• Universal healthcare;
• LGBTQ+ equality;
• A two-state solution for Israeli-Palestinian peace and security;
• Comprehensive immigration reform, including a clean DREAM Act; and
• The protection of First Amendment rights, including religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

We urge President Biden and Vice President Harris, and all who will serve in their administration, to pursue these worthy goals with passion and determination, and we wholeheartedly pledge our active support of their efforts.

Reform rabbis enthusiastically embrace our new President’s goal of healing the divisions that have weakened our nation. We are dedicated to holding President Biden to his pledge “to be a President who does not see red or blue states, but United States,” and we urge all Americans to work together in support of this vision and important aspiration. In the President’s words, “It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together.”  We pray that President Biden and Vice President Harris will be blessed with fortitude, courage, stamina, and God’s enduring protection as they lead our nation.

Rabbi Ronald Segal
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

January 13, 2021

In response to the House of Representatives’ bipartisan vote to impeach President Trump, leaders of the following Reform Movement organizations issued this statement:

We applaud the House of Representatives’ bipartisan vote to hold President Trump accountable for his incitement of violence against the United States government and we urge the Senate to act on this Article of Impeachment. The January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol was inspired by years of President Trump’s messages of hatred and resentment and by his persistent and virulent undermining of public faith in the American democratic process, in the constitutional promise of fair and free elections, and in Congress’s constitutional responsibility to affirm the accuracy of the electoral college count – all for his own political gain. President Trump’s behavior has shaken our democracy to its core.

The President’s language and his actions preceding the riot and in the days since are an abdication of moral leadership. In Jewish tradition, when a wrong has been committed, the expression of remorse is central to the act of teshuva, repentance. Yet rather than accept responsibility or express contrition for the role that his words played in the desecration of the Capitol and the deaths of at least six individuals, including two Capitol Police officers, President Trump has stood by his disproven lies and provocative rhetoric. Instead of remonstration, he shared words of love for those involved in the attack, among them white supremacists who rampaged through the House and Senate, some armed, some dressed in clothes bearing racist and antisemitic words and symbols.

Leviticus 19:17 calls on all people of conscience to rebuke the evildoer, lest we incur guilt on account of the evildoer’s actions, but to do so without hate in our heart. Throughout the Bible, the voice of moral conscience embodied in the words of the Prophets teaches by example that even those of power and influence, indeed, even the King, would be held accountable for their wrongdoings and their violation of God’s laws. Ahab is confronted by Elijah (1 Kings 21); Rehoboam by Shemaiah (1 Kings 12:24); the “man of God” in challenging Jeroboam, refuses the King’s offer of financial rewards to come and join him (1 Kings 13); and Nathan’s words of rebuke of King David’s guilt and accountability, “Thou art the one,” have resonated through the millennia to stand for the proposition that not even the most powerful ruler can violate the law without being called to account.

We have heard the calls for unity in this moment. In Genesis Rabbah (54:3), we read: “Reproof leads to peace; a peace where there has been no reproof is no peace.” These words remind us that unity must be built on pillars of truth. The House’s bipartisan action rebuking the President is a clear statement that healing cannot come without clarity around responsibility. The President of the United States, charged with keeping the nation safe from enemies, abetted an attack on members of Congress because of political differences. Today’s House vote makes clear that such actions have no place in a free nation.

Prior to election day, our movement launched “Kol Kolot: Every Voice, Every Vote,” our 2020 nonpartisan civic engagement campaign. The campaign was premised on the idea that our democracy is strongest when everyone participates. We are proud that we engaged more than half a million Americans in what was ultimately the greatest voter turnout in more than a century. And it is shameful that despite universal affirmations by every state of a free and fair election, as well as scores of judicial decisions rejecting challenges to the election results, including from the Supreme Court, President Trump has sought to invalidate and discredit the voices of voters who did not cast their ballots for him. Last week’s events showed the very real tragedy that can result from the persistent repetition of scurrilous lies.

Our nation’s future well-being depends on a restored sense of national cohesiveness and trust in our governmental institutions. This work will not be easy or fast. But the House’s vote establishes a foundation of accountability on which we must build. Those elected to serve the nation must appeal to its highest aspirations, rather than stoke its basest instincts. We pray that the days ahead will renew Americans’ faith in one another and in our democracy. And we pray that God blesses our nation and its people.

Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman, Chair

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive
Rabbi Ronald Segal, President

American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Claire Franco, President
Rachel Roth, Chief Operating Officer

Association of Reform Jewish Educators
Dr. Katherine Schwartz, President
Rabbi Stan Schickler, Executive Director

Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism
Fran Katz, President
Tricia Ginis, Executive Director

Men of Reform Judaism
Steven M. Portnoy, President

National Association for Temple Administration
Jack Feldman, FTA, President
Michael Liepman, Executive Director

NFTY, The Reform Jewish Youth Movement
Fletcher Block, President
The 5780-5781 NFTY North American Board

Program and Engagement Professionals of Reform Judaism
Bryan Bierman, President

Reform Pension Board
G. Leonard Teitelbaum, Chair
Michael Kimmel, Chief Executive Officer

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director
Barbara Weinstein, Director, Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism
Susan Friedberg Kalson, Chair, Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism

Women of Reform Judaism
Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, Executive Director
Susan C. Bass, President

Women’s Rabbinic Network
Rabbi Mary L. Zamore, Executive Director
Rabbi Leah Berkowitz, Co-President
Rabbi Emily Segal, Co-President

January 6, 2021

The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns, in the strongest terms, the multiple assaults waged against American democracy from inside and outside the United States Capitol. Inside, a minority of Senators and members of Congress, seeking to subvert the will of the American people, attempted to reverse the result of our recent presidential election on the basis of lies, slander, and groundless conspiracy theories. Outside, the President of the United States incited a band of his followers to storm the citadel of our nation’s democracy, an act of terror that threatened the lives of members of Congress, Senators, Capitol Hill employees, and law enforcement officers.  

We should not have been surprised. For two months now, President Trump and some of his supporters have endeavored to undermine American democracy. The President has employed harsh and dangerous words in attempts to intimidate members of his own Party to replace the electoral majority with his own will. We learn from Proverbs, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). The President has wielded the power of words dangerously, and today, our country tragically experienced the violence and fear his tongue has wrought.  

Still, Reform rabbis hold on to hope, and we urge members of our communities and the American people not to despair. On the very day of the most dramatic assault on American democracy in more than 150 years, we are reassured by the decisions of Vice President Pence and Senate Majority Leader McConnell to defy the President’s unlawful and immoral orders and instead uphold the Constitution. In the wake of today’s harrowing ordeal at our nation’s Capitol, we are hopeful that Republicans and Democrats can now come together to restore faith in American democracy, and that under the leadership of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, our elected leaders will work to unify and bring renewed hope to our divided nation.  

Let order and peace be restored. Let democracy prevail. Let our nation’s motto, E pluribus unum, be animated by millions of Americans, coming together to build unity with diversity. Let freedom ring. 

Rabbi Ronald Segal
President  

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis