The Message From the Mall
Last week’s Washington rally for women’s reproductive choice wasn’t merely one of the largest demonstrations in American history. It was one of the largest gatherings of American Jews in recent years. Based on numbers provided by participating Jewish organizations, impressions from participants and inquiries with organizers around the country, it seems clear that Jewish march-goers numbered in the high tens of thousands, and perhaps more.
It’s clear, too, based on reports from participants during and after the march, that Jewish marchers came to Washington with a strong sense that their mission that day was driven in considerable part by their sense of themselves as Jews and of their values as Jewish values.
There’s food for thought here for the policy-makers and leaders who run the various institutions that presume to speak for us — Jewish communal bodies and liberal activist groups alike. Liberal ideals, we are reminded once again, are an essential part of the American Jewish value system. No less important, the march reminds us that Jews are an essential part of American liberalism.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
