OUR SILENCE --- BREACH OF FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY?

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

I am certain that we all know the truths uttered by Pastor Martin Niemoller before he was ripped from his Lutheran flock and incarcerated in a Concentration Camp until the Nazis killed him.

Who is there today to speak for the 1,000s of children crying out for their parents from whose arms they were torn -- crying from cages within American Detention Centers -- views from inside these Centers resonate with me as nothing more than cleaner Concentration Camps -- in 2018? Some will say that this horrific anti-American action is "too political" on which to comment; others will argue that this has nothing to do with "us" even as it has everything to do with us, with the values we have claimed as American Jews, most of us the descendants by one generation or more of the "wretched refuse" who made it possible for us, our children and the generations to come to live protected by the very freedoms which are being denied to children, to babies...on our watch. On our watch.

So, what has the organized Jewish community had to say on this anti-American governmental action? Well...

"June 12, 2018

The Honorable Jeff Sessions

Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

Washington, DC 20530

The Honorable Kirstjen Nielsen

Secretary of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security

Washington, DC 20528

Dear Attorney General Sessions and Secretary Nielsen,

On behalf of the 26 undersigned national Jewish organizations and institutions, we write to express our strong opposition to the recently expanded "zero-tolerance" policy that includes separating children from their migrant parents when they cross the border. This policy undermines the values of our nation and jeopardizes the safety and well-being of thousands of people.

As Jews, we understand the plight of being an immigrant fleeing violence and oppression. We believe that the United States is a nation of immigrants and how we treat the stranger reflects on the moral values and ideals of this nation.

Many of these migrant families are seeking asylum in the United States to escape violence in Central America. Taking children away from their families is unconscionable. Such practices inflict unnecessary trauma on parents and children, many of whom have already suffered traumatic experiences. This added trauma negatively impacts physical and mental health, including increasing the risk of early death.

Separating families is a cruel punishment for children and families simply seeking a better life and exacerbates existing challenges in our immigration system. It adds to the backlog of deportation cases and legal challenges in federal courts, places thousands more immigrants in detention facilities and shelters, endangers the lives of more children, and instills additional fear in people seeking safety in our country. In addition, those seeking asylum or other legal protection face numerous obstacles to making a claim, especially from detention. Separating family members at the border would force families into two or more immigration cases instead of a single case for each family, harming their ability to present a successful case.

Our Jewish faith demands of us concern for the stranger in our midst. Our own people's history as "strangers" reminds us of the many struggles faced by immigrants today and compels our commitment to an immigration system in this country that is compassionate and just. We urge you to immediately rescind the "zero tolerance" policy and uphold the values of family unity and justice on which our nation was built.

Sincerely,

American Conference of Cantors

American Jewish Committee (AJC)

American Jewish World Service

Anti-Defamation League

B'nai B'rith International

Bend the Arc Jewish Action

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc.

HIAS

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Jewish Labor Committee

Jewish Women International

Men of Reform Judaism

National Association of Jewish Legislators

National Council of Jewish Women

Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies

NFTY - The Reform Jewish Youth Movement

Rabbinical Assembly

Reconstructing Judaism

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

The Workmen's Circle

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Union for Reform Judaism

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Uri L'Tzedek, The Orthodox Social Justice Movement

Women of Reform Judaism"

This is a statement of our values -- the members of every organization which joined in this Statement have a right to be proud.

In his transmittal of this Statement, Rabbi Alan Silverstein, for the Conservative Movement, emphasized that this Statement "is the collective hope and prayer of virtually the entire organized Jewish community nationwide..." Is it fair to ask where the hell was/is JFNA? How can our -- the federation system's -- vehicle for expressing the sense of the American Jewish communities remain silent when the values we have historically espoused, that are part of our very n'shama, are being violated as children, babies, are being forcibly taken from their parents to be housed in metal cages? 

And, while JFNA remained silent, consistent with past practice may have also preached a message of silence, the President of the Board and the CEO of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, spoke out on our institutional responsibilities at times like these:

"Every day at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center we teach about the dangers of intolerance and indifference through the lens of the horrific history of World War II and the Holocaust.  Our Museum was founded by Holocaust Survivors who keenly felt the confusion, pain, anxiety, and fear of being separated from their families, a trauma that haunts them even today. 

 

While the current immigration situation is not comparable to the Holocaust, when we see forcible separation of families at our own nation's border, we must speak out.  America was founded on shared values of democracy, respect for human rights, the importance of family, and compassion.  The separation policy did not reflect these values. Today President Trump responded to public pressure andsigned an executive order to end this troubling policy.

 

History shows us that when we identify, ostracize, and cast as "other" our fellow human beings, we begin a process of dehumanization. We do not believe we are heading down the road of the atrocities we saw in the 20^th century because of the rights we hold dear - free speech, holding officials accountable, and having a system of checks and balances.  We are proud of these structures and institutions and must work to maintain them.  And sometimes this requires speaking out.

 

 As Rabbi Joachim Prinz said at the March on Washington in 1963, "When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence. A great people which had created a great civilization had become a nation of silent onlookers. They remained silent in the face of hate, in the face of brutality and in the face of mass murder. America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent."

 

Today peoples' voices have been heard.  The pressure of citizen constituents was felt all the way to the oval office.  Going forward, we must continue to be Upstanders and remain diligent in defending our common humanity."

Did JFNA leaders believe that speaking out would violate some unwritten rule that demands our silence in the name of "Jewish unity?" If so, apparently every other national Jewish organization, every religious movement, must have a very different definition of "Jewish unity" than does JFNA as led by Richard Sandler, who has written most recently on this subject of such importance to him. It was Dr. Martin Luther King who once said: "Silence is betrayal." JFNA's silence on this issue was a betrayal -- of our values and this organization's fiduciary obligations.

I don't know about you, but I am sick of the cowardice that underscores our organization's silence. 

At this time, with the sounds of caged infants cries echoing, this is organizational criminal negligence plain and simple.

A brilliant U. S. Senator, herself an immigrant, pointed at those responsible for taking children, babies, from their parents and placing them in cages and said: "they have lost their souls." Have we, by our silence, lost ours?



Rwexler