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For Jewish New Yorkers, Shared Grief Puts Divisions on Hold [1]

['John Leland', 'More About John Leland']

Date: 2023-10-13  

“Right now we do not have to say, ‘Yeah, but’ — ‘Sorry for the pain in Israel, but,’” she said. “We need some time to grieve, and that grief has a legitimacy and right to exist. And sometimes we’re so quick to go to the ‘but’ part that we negate that opportunity to grieve, which might be a place for coming together in grief. If we felt we could just have a moment of grief, we might not have to be so polarized about it.”

For some in the congregation, the attacks have meant wrestling with internal conflict. Sarah Sokolic, Lab/Shul’s executive director, said she grew up being taught that Israel was good and Palestinians were bad, and has worked for the last two decades to promote more nuanced, progressive views.

Now, she said: “I find myself asking, How can I be a Zionist and be a person who does anti-oppression work at the same time? How can I teach my children about power, oppression, equity, empathy, otherness while also teaching them that Israel is our homeland, and that Israel has a right to exist and defend herself?” As she wrestles, she said, “I find myself leaning into my Zionist roots.”

Some of the most contentious conversations this week took place on college campuses, or among students on online platforms. Student groups at New York University School of Law and Columbia University issued statements supporting Palestinians and blaming Israel for the attacks, leaving many Jewish students feeling “disillusioned and very isolated,” said Yuda Drizin, the rabbi for the Chabad community at Columbia.

“That’s the main thing — loneliness,” the rabbi said, adding that students he had never spoken with before had approached him. “It’s across the political spectrum,” he said. “They say they walk through campus and they don’t know who thinks they deserve to be dead.”

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/nyregion/jewish-progressive-nyc-israel-attack.html

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