In a most horrific act, anti-Semitism showed its face at the Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday October
27th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We grieve with the families and the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and across the United States in the face of this murderous act. Our hearts are broken.
We grieve but we are also called to action. Anti-Semitism is not something new. Sadly there has been an increase in incidents of anti-Semitism in this country recently. We all remember the images of neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the President’s moral equivalency in the face of that. UNITE HERE members oppose anti-Semitism in every form.
The President said “the scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated.” We at UNITE HERE agree and we re-commit ourselves as a union to eradicate wherever it shows its face. We also demand that our political leaders, especially our President, cease and desist from fanning the flames of fear and hate in our country by their divisive rhetoric. Their words have consequences.
How can we console the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and across America today? What comfort for the families who have experienced such terrible loss? What words of reassurance and encouragement can we offer young Jewish children in America today so that they know they are loved and valued and secure
Today every one of us must become “repairers of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12). We must all work together to protect the human dignity of every person. We must call out all acts, and even words, of anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry. We must challenge even an iota of moral equivalence.
UNITE HERE will continue to fight for the dignity of every man and woman and child. Together with people of good will across this country let us begin the work of “repairing the breach.”
