National Press Club, November 10, 2016
Throughout the history of the Reform Jewish Movement, we have joined across lines of difference, building coalitions across race, class and faith, in the pursuit of justice for everyone. We lift up all people: Jews and non-Jews, people of all races and religions, of all sexual orientations and the immigrants among us.
This election once again brought anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and misogyny to the foreground of American politics and, it is up to us to push them out of the mainstream of our civic life.
Campaign speeches and ads included anti-Semitic allusions and harassment of Jewish Americans spiked online, with billions of impressions of hateful tweets and posts.
The Reform Jewish Movement stands shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim brothers and sisters. We emphatically reject the scapegoating and fearmongering that they have unjustly experienced. We remain as committed as ever to welcoming refugees and defending freedom of all people to worship.
We are undeterred in our pursuit of racial justice. In this election, we focused on nonpartisan election protection, and seeking to fight voter suppression laws that targeted the African American community with “surgical precision.” We will continue to work for criminal justice reform, because mass incarceration truly is the new Jim Crow.
In the face of polarization, we will build bridges. We will be a religious movement of resistance; we will resist the hatred against women, minorities, Muslims and Jews that this election has exposed. And we will resist the politics of division, bigotry and hate.
If the president-elect changes his tone and uses the presidency to bring people together, we will be ready to work with him for the common good. If he does not, we also stand ready to be fierce advocates for the enduring values that guide us: inclusivity, justice and compassion.
Do justice love mercy walk humbly with God.
