Letter To The Editor: Jews Have Never Been Disengaged From Social Justice
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By Ann F. Lewis August 24, 2017
I am proud to stand with Bari Weiss and Jake Tapper in the Forward article of August 22, 2017, “Worried About Anti-Semitism? Practice the Tolerance You Preach,” that claims we use “the same talking points (as) the white nationalist movement.”
Apparently, criticizing leaders of the Women’s March is like quoting The Daily Stormer. Who knew?
Unaccustomed as I am to being called a “right wing Jew,” I can laugh and live with it. I really object when someone tries to devalue the entire Jewish community for their own purposes, claiming Jews “have been disengaged from movements for social justice for decades.”
Disengaged? What about the Jewish women and men who have been working for social justice for years, fighting for reproductive choice and LGBTQ rights, against racism and anti-immigrant orders?
Want to see Jewish engagement? Look at the honor roll of those who opposed the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, and are fighting his regressive policies now. We shouldn’t have to defend voting rights in 2017, but I’m so glad they are — that’s social justice in action!
I appreciate the Forward giving me the opportunity to respond to this unfortunate rant.
Ann F. Lewis is president of the JAC Education Foundation.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
