Central Conference of American Rabbis Calls for Lipstadt Confirmation

January 21, 2022

 

The Central Conference of American Rabbis demands that the United States Senate move expeditiously to a vote to confirm Dr. Deborah Lipstadt as U.S. Ambassador for Global Antisemitism.

Antisemitism has been dramatically on the rise, in the U.S. and around the world, since 2017. Just days ago, antisemitism hit home hard in our own community, when a gunman took our CCAR colleague, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, and three of his congregants hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. As Rabbi Cytron-Walker has told the world: The terrorist acted on the antisemitic falsehood, shared by extremists right and left, that Jews possess outsized power in America and worldwide.

President Biden could have chosen no more qualified nominee for this ambassadorship than Dr. Lipstadt, a world-renowned expert on antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Reform rabbis are appalled that partisanship has led Senate Republicans to refuse even to permit a hearing on Dr. Lipstadt’s confirmation. The CCAR urges Sen. James Risch to agree to proceed with hearings—or, failing that, we urge Senate Democrats to exercise the power of their narrow majority—to move toward Dr. Lipstadt’s confirmation.

The eyes of the American Jewish community and the world are on the United States Senate. We hope that the Senate will take the scourge of antisemitism as seriously as we do.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

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