Letter to the Jewish Community about Constitutional Rights and Jewish Safety

April 1, 2025 / 3 Nisan 5785

To our Minnesota Jewish Community,

We write as a diverse body of rabbis, serving communities with a wide range of perspectives on US politics and on Israel. We write at a time when our Jewish community is feeling vulnerable. The fear of rising antisemitism has shaken us to the core. And yet, we cannot allow fear to keep us from facing another threat to our nation.

In the face of Egyptian oppression, Moses spoke to our Israelite ancestors who had every reason to fear saying, “Do not be afraid” (Exodus 14:13). With Passover, the Festival of Freedom approaching, we take these words to heart as we speak out in support of caring for the stranger and in defense of freedoms that have allowed us to thrive as Jews in America.(1)

Today, we are witnessing a steadily growing crackdown on universities across the country, detaining international students and defunding universities. These detentions and financial penalties are being justified by the Trump Administration as part of the fight against antisemitism.

On the surface, this approach may seem to offer protection. But this short-term solution is short- sighted. We are concerned that this approach which targets and detains international students threatens to erode our democracy without making Jewish or Israeli students any safer. It is stirring up fear and stifling free speech. We want Jews and other minorities to feel safe on college campuses and not face threats of violence as we’ve stated in the past (2) and we object to the violation of anyone’s Constitutional rights as a strategy for fighting antisemitism.

The recent spate of immigrant arrests and withholding of Federal funding from universities are evidence of a strategy employed by the Trump administration called “Project Esther,” authored by the Heritage Foundation.(3) This strategy uses claims of fighting antisemitism to dismantle values we hold dear as Jews and as Americans, including the right to express dissent and the imperative to protect the stranger.(4)

History has taught us that whenever a government restricts the rights of a given group, oppression of the Jews will soon follow. We have learned that our safety and freedom as Jews is irrevocably bound up with the safety and freedom of all people.(5)

In the story of liberation Jews around the world will read this Passover, Moses was a leader who could have lived comfortably to the end of his days as a prince. Instead, when he witnessed injustice, he responded and became God’s partner in the fight against oppression.

We invite our communities to follow in Moses’ footsteps and stand up against the Administration’s violations of human dignity in the name of fighting antisemitism. Let us commit to an ethic of care, accountability, and civil rights for all – including for those with whom we may disagree. The work before us requires us to build coalitions to protect our community in ways that bind our safety and freedom with others.(6)

Signed,

Rabbi Esther Adler

Rabbi Morris Allen

Rabbi Jill Avrin

Rabbi Barbara L. Block

Rabbi Michaela Brown

Rabbi Eva Cohen

Rabbi Norman M. Cohen

Rabbi Barry D. Cytron

Rabbi Alexander Davis

Rabbi Ryan S. Dulkin, Ph.D.

Rabbi Shosh Dworsky

Rabbi Avram Ettedgui

Rabbi Joey Glick

Rabbi Matt Goldberg

Rabbi Yosi Gordon

Rabbi Jennifer Hartman

Rabbi Justin Held

Rabbi Rebecca Kamil

Rabbi Ricky Kamil

Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman

Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz

Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg

Rabbi Lynn Liberman

Rabbi David Locketz

Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm

Rabbi Cathy Nemiroff

Rabbi Avi Olitzky

Rabbi Debra Rappaport

Rabbi Heather Renetzky

Rabbi Jason Rodich

Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg

Rabbi Jeffrey Schein

Rabbi Sammy Seid

Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker

Rabbi David Steinberg

Rabbi Sharon Stiefel

Rabbi Samantha Thal

Rabbi David Thomas

Rabbi Aaron Weininger

Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman

Footnotes:

1 The Jewish Imperative to Protect and Strengthen Democracy white paper.

2 In this MRA Statement, we spoke on behalf of college students experiencing antisemitism on campus.

3 Project Esther

4 Read analyses of Project Esther from T’ruah and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

5 Stemming the Tide of Antisemitism from the SPLC.

6 We applaud our Jewish organizational partners for joining other faith and civic groups in Communities Combating Hate: Working to End Hate in Minnesota.