We Welcome Interfaith Families
Rabbi Emeritus Reuven Taff
Shalom,
The question of whether Israel’s conduct in Gaza should be called “genocide” has become part of our political conversation here in Sacramento and across the U.S. That was particularly evident at The Sacramento Bee’s recent Sixth Congressional District debate, when Kevin Kiley repeatedly pressed Richard Pan to say whether he believed Israel had committed genocide—an exchange Tom Philp subsequently explored in his opinion column.
The debate is hardly confined to Sacramento. In Michigan, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly used the word genocide to describe Israel’s conduct in Gaza, making the term part of the political discussion in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races.
My thoughts on this matter, A Sacramento rabbi: Condemn suffering in Gaza. But call it genocide? No, neither endorses nor criticizes these candidates. It also does not attempt to settle the political conflict over Gaza. Instead, it asks a more fundamental question that these debates have brought to the surface: What responsibility do we have when we use a word as consequential as genocide?
I welcome your thoughts, rabbitaff@mosaiclaw.org.
Shalom,
I am pleased to share, My One-Minute Prayer at Birkenau, published with permission in the Times of Israel. This piece initially appeared in Gazeta Wyborcza, one of Poland’s leading and most widely read national newspapers. Founded in 1989 as Poland was emerging from communist rule, Gazeta Wyborcza has become an important voice in Polish public life.
Shalom,
I just published this open letter to the leadership and members of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Montpelier, Vermont.
Their synagogue co-sponsored a fundraiser for the legal defense of Mohsen Mahdawi.
My question was simply, how could you?
I welcome your thoughts, rabbitaff@mosaiclaw.org.