Community Justice Ministry
  • CJM HOME
  • Photos / Videos
  • News Page
  • Diocese L I Website
  • COVID-19 ALERTS

Solidarity and Support of Our Jewish Sisters and Brothers

1/2/2020

 
Picture
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The attack on Saturday, December 28 at the home of a Brooklyn Jewish rabbi in the midst of a Hanukkah celebration after a rash of recent anti-Semitic incidents in our region impels us, the Episcopal Church bishops of Long Island, to speak out in solidarity and support of our Jewish sisters and brothers. 

New York secular authorities have had to boost police patrols in a number of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn and security has been bolstered at Brooklyn synagogues and yeshivas.

There has been a twenty-three percent rise in the number of anti-Semitic crimes in the New York region over the last few months alone. We cannot stand silent before this fresh outbreak of anti-Jewish terror.


Therefore, we call on our fellow Episcopalians now to boost our own spiritual solidarity with our Jewish sisters and brothers. Anti-Semitism is a problem of special concern, not to be overlooked, to Episcopalians and all Christians. One Christian leader once said, “Spiritually we are all Semites.”

The Christian Church has formally renounced anti-Semitism on almost all levels of its organized life. The First Assembly of the World Council of Churches soon after the end of World War II and the Holocaust denounced anti-Semitism as a grave “sin against God and man,” and called upon the Churches to readily denounce any anti-Semitic activity as “absolutely irreconcilable with the profession and the practice of the Christian faith.” 


Many such statements of a similar nature have been issued officially by The Episcopal Church, and The Episcopal Church has taken a strong stand against any anti-Semitic theological perspective. Theology within The Episcopal Church increasingly emphasizes that the covenant of God with Israel is not revoked by the “new covenant” with the Church.

We call upon Episcopalians to take the following steps:

1.   Study the recent events in the New York region so as to understand and recognize anti-Semitism as this virulent, endemic illness which not only lives on within our region but is on the rise within the rest of our country.

2.   At the level of our parishes, we should initiate local gatherings for interfaith dialogue which bring together Episcopalians and Jews who are prepared to examine their prejudices.

3.   We should find opportunities for joint prayer which lifts before God the anguish of the Jewish community and asks God for greater mutual understanding to emerge between our two communities. Episcopalians should become a prayerful presence in the face of the fear and vulnerability created by these incidents threatening the Jewish community.

4.   We should provide occasions for the proper public demonstrations by Episcopalians that show solidarity with our Jewish sisters and brothers, particularly at vulnerable locations such as synagogues, temples, yeshivas, and schools.

5.   During this time of anxiety and concern, please find the appropriate time in your parishes to use the following adapted prayer for Genocide Remembrance from Holy Women, Holy Men:

Almighty God, our Refuge and our Rock, your loving care knows no bounds and embraces all the peoples of the earth: Defend and protect those who fall victim to the forces of evil, and as we remember this day those who endure depredation and death because of who they are, not because of what they have done or fail to do, give us the courage to stand against hatred and oppression, and to seek the dignity and well-being of all for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, in whom you have reconciled the world to yourself: and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

The Right Reverend Lawrence C. Provenzano
Bishop of Long Island

The Right Reverend Geralyn Wolf
Assistant Bishop of Long Island

The Right Reverend Daniel Allotey
Assisting Bishop of Long Island

The Right Reverend R. William Franklin
Assisting Bishop of Long Island

           CJM
    News & Views

    CJM information and articles from across the Diocese of Long Island and also from other ministries.

    Categories

    All
    2020 Pride
    Absalom Jones
    ACLU
    AG Lettia James
    AIDS Quilt
    Anti Semitism
    Anti-Semitism
    Arizona
    Asylum
    Ben Stewart
    BHICA
    Bishop Provenzano
    Bouler
    Bp. Deon Johnson
    Bp Glasspool
    Brooklyn
    Brownsville TX
    Canon Hamlin
    Canon J Denaro
    Canon Myra Garnes
    Care For Creation
    Chorus
    Climate
    Community Cafe
    Creation Care
    Denaro
    Desmond Zantua
    Dio Newark
    Dio New York
    Discrimination
    Dr. Scott Warren
    Easter
    Edman
    ELCA
    EMLI
    EMM
    ENS
    Eric Gonzalez
    Federal Policing
    Feminists
    Fr. Adam Bucko
    Fr. Steve Foster
    Global Warming
    Grace Cathedrral
    Guns
    HBCU
    Hofer
    House Of Bishops
    Housing
    Human Rights
    ICE
    Immigration
    Incarceration
    Interfaith
    Jim Wallis
    Josh Rubin
    Juneteenth
    Lambeth
    Letitia James
    LGBTQ
    LGBTQ Retreat
    Ligmc
    LIJwJ
    Lynnaia Main
    Margaret Seiler
    Matamoros
    M B Mills-Curran
    Mexican Border
    Migration Ministries
    MLKing Jr
    Moody Foundation
    Mother Tatro
    Mthr. Karen Campbell
    Mthr. Marie Tatro
    MX
    Names Project Quilts
    Nelson
    New Rochelle
    Newsday
    NPR
    NYC
    NYPL
    Passover
    Police Encounters
    Presiding Bishop Curry
    Pride Month
    Pro Cathedral
    Pro-Cathedral
    Rabbi Person
    Ravi Ragbir
    Refugees
    RMM
    SAGE
    Sag Harbor
    Shepard
    Solitary
    St. Boniface
    STJD
    St. Jude
    Strickland
    St. Thomas
    Tatro
    Texas
    Tornillo
    TRCLI
    United Nations
    Unlawful Evictions
    Video
    Wantagh
    Washington Natl Cathedral
    White Supremacy
    WPPB-FM 88.3

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019

    RSS Feed

CJM HOME

News&Views

Photos / Videos

The Community Justice Ministry website is produced in partnership with the Office of Communication Ministry