Our congregation has created this Fighting Antisemitism page in order to serve our community as a resource to discuss what we are doing to tackle this problem. We are addressing this issue in the following three ways:
- Raising Awareness
- Education
- Taking Action
upcoming events
Antisemitism Program for Parents and Teens with ADL
Tuesday, October 29
6:30 PM
Temple Sinai, 3100 Military Rd NW, Washington DC 20015
Temple Sinai and Kulanu, ADL’s nationwide synagogue initiative to fight antisemitism—which B’nai Israel participates in—are hosting an Antisemitism Program for Parents and Teens on the evening of October 29th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. The event will welcome professionals from the ADL who will facilitate discussions about the rising antisemitism we are seeing particularly in schools and effective methods to discuss these incidents with peers and school administrators. Students and parents will have simultaneous separate sessions.
Again, this program is for parents of students grades 6-12 and all high school students (middle school students will remain in their regular Noar B’Yachad classes). Click here to register.
LATEST RESOURCES
JCRC Resources for Jewish Parents Back to School (August 26, 2024)
During the past two weeks, six schools in Montgomery County were vandalized with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel messages and symbols, bringing back the familiar feelings of fear and anxiety that has gripped our community. In a new op-ed for MoCo360, JCRC Chief Operating Officer Guila Franklin Siegel addresses those incidents and what local leaders and policymakers must do to ensure that schools remain safe for Jewish students and educators.
The JCRC is pleased to provide the following programs and resources for Jewish community members:
1. Montgomery County Board of Education Candidate Forum Sunday, October 13, 7:30-9:00 PM, Congregation Beth El, Bethesda
2. Local school systems’ hate bias and anti-bullying protocols and forms for reporting antisemitism
3. Religious absence policies by school system
Podcast (June 29, 2024): Call me Back with Dan Senor, Noa Tishby and Emmanuel Acho 
Since October 7th, many of us have had uncomfortable conversations we could never have imagined having. October 7th sparked debates and discussions that got very awkward very quickly. But what’s unique about our guests today is that they were having these conversations prior to October 7th. Not only were they having these conversations, they were working on a book that chronicled these difficult conversations. Their book is called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew. It’s by Noa Tishby and Emmanuel Acho.
In the News: Addressing Rising Antisemitism in Local Schools
Federation CEO, Gil Preuss, spoke this week with Fox 5 DC on our efforts to support teens as they face antisemitism in schools and on college campuses.
Watch the full interview here. (June 2024)
What B’nai Israel is Saying (Raising Awareness)
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Jews Must Speak Up Against Israel's Antisemitism (February 14, 2024) by Margery Smelkinson and Lisa Miller, Washington Jewish Week
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Opinion: MCPS must combat antisemitism in its schools (Feburary 2, 2024) by Margery Smelkinson and Lisa Miller, Moco360
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MCPS sees rise in antisemitism from staff, students (January 18, 2024) by Claire Lenkin, Managing Editor, Wootton High School Common Sense
- Opinion – Montgomery Schools Followed Policy On Suspending Teachers (January 1, 2024) by Lisa Miller, Washington Post. You can also view directly on Washington Post website here.
- Israel Solidarity Shabbat Sermon (Shabbat Breishit 5784, October 14, 2023) by Rabbi Michael Safra
- Antisemitism in Schools: A Student's Perspective by Rae Weinstein, as part of our Summer Speaker Series 2023. Click here for the video.
- Allies in the Fight (p. 139), Bethesda Magazine July/August 2023 Issue; Rabbi Safra quoted discussing recent antisemitic events in Montgomery County
- Alert, Not Afraid (Parshat Chayei Sarah, November 19, 2022) by Rabbi Mitchell Berkowitz
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Lekh Lekha (October 31, 2020) Click here for the video.
From B'nai Israel students (submit additional articles here): -
"Tulane Students For Palestine spews hateful rhetoric" (November 15, 2023) by Ethan Lenkin in the Tulane Hullabaloo
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"The Israel-Hamas War, Explained" (November 19, 2023) by Claire Lenkin, in the Wootton High School Common Sense
What B’nai Israel is Doing (EducatION)
- ADL’s Kulanu program: Our congregation is participating in “Kulanu”, hebrew for “All of Us,” a program dedicated to empowering congregations to address antisemitism and hate in their communities through education, community engagement, and advocacy. Nine local synagogues joined this program in 2022. Learn more about Kulanu in the Washington Jewish Week.
Interested in joining B'nai Israel's efforts with the ADL's Kulanu program? Let us know!
What You Can Do (TAKING ACTION)
- Sign the JCRC Petition: Support MCPS' Efforts to Combat Antisemitism
Over the past few years, children and families in Montgomery County have experienced an unprecedented surge of antisemitic incidents — and today MCPS is facing growing public pressure to reinstate MCPS educators who have been placed on administrative leave for sharing antisemitic images and messages.Please join the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington by signing a petition to thank MCPS for its swift intervention to temporarily remove these teachers from classrooms; support MCPS' ongoing efforts to thoroughly investigate each situation prior to making any decisions on reinstatement; and urge all MCPS educators to ensure students of all backgrounds and faiths are treated with dignity, fairness, tolerance, and respect.
Click here to learn more and sign the petition.
- Monitor and respond to antisemitic events:
- Have you experienced bias, hate, or a discriminatory incident? Please report it to the ADL. You can do so by clicking here.
- Reports of bias, hate and discriminatory incidents at Montgomery Country Public Schools can be submitted to the JCRC.
- Connect with our clergy if any students, both local or away at college, need support or would like a B'nai Israel representative to attend at JSU or club meeting. Please be in touch with us.
- Speak up against antisemitism:
- USCJ: Five Stategies to Interrupt Antisemitism in Everyday Conversations
- Have any of our students written an op-ed, speech, or article regarding antisemitism? Please share it with us so that we can share it on this page.
- Attend events: COMING SOON
Resources
In the News: Addressing Rising Antisemitism in Local Schools
Federation CEO, Gil Preuss, spoke this week with Fox 5 DC on our efforts to support teens as they face antisemitism in schools and on college campuses.
Watch the full interview here.
White House Report–The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
We are not in this on our own. In May 2023, the White House released a National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
Click here to read the official report.
Additional Reading
- Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL: It Could Happen Here: Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable and How We Can Stop It
Purchase the Book - Deborah Lipstadt, United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism: Antisemitism: Here and Now
Purchase the Book
Teens
- Samantha A. Vinokor-Meinrath: #antisemitism Coming of Age during the Resurgence of Hate
Purchase the Book
Children
If you have suggested resources and events for this page, please email them to info@bnaiisraelcong.org.
