|
Dear Schenectady JCC Members and Friends,
In the 60-plus messages I’ve sent out to both JCCs or specific to Schenectady, there’s never been one like this. It is the epitome of the third part of Hillel’s maxim from our tradition, “if not now, then when?”
Since October 7, there have been 352 municipalities nationwide – states, counties, cities, and towns – who’ve experienced an effort to place an action item around a Middle East ceasefire on their legislative agenda. While not all of the efforts have been ceasefire specific – some are about antisemitism or hate speech or anti-Hamas – 308 of them, the vast majority, have been about the call for a ceasefire.
A working group of community leaders that includes me has been engaged with the Schenectady City Council about such a resolution, and the discussion has been productive in that no action has been taken to date. But the effort to have one, prompted by activists whose political agenda is antithetical to Israel, the Jewish community, and the cohesion of our entire community, is relentless. And their agenda carries with it a winner take all philosophy, with little to no regard to the inter- and intra-community divisiveness and strife it creates. And for a community like Schenectady that has worked to create a culture of mutual regard and respect through efforts like Schenectady Community Ministries (SICM), Schenectady Clergy Against Hate, and the JCC itself that welcomes all, that is a bitter outcome to contemplate.
An excellent summary of where it stands now after a meeting this past Monday night of the Council’s committees is provided by Ted Remsnyder of the Daily Gazette and can be found here: Schenectady Council Action.
The Jewish community and its allies have been stymied in our ability to show up at council meetings – three of the last five meetings have by chance (they are regularly scheduled for Monday evening) coincided with Jewish holidays. Whereas supporters of such a ceasefire resolution have shown up in force at four of those meetings.
It is now time to have our voices heard and our presence felt! It was stated several times by Councilman Damonni Farley that those who show up regularly should get the courtesy of an affirming response. That is a courtesy we too should expect.
The Council will meet again this Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. We intend to use this meeting to have our voices heard and our presence felt. If you are interested in providing comment during the public Privilege of the Floor section intended for Schenectady city residents, or just learning more (everyone receiving this message), please join us for a preliminary meeting this Sunday evening at 7:30 at Congregation Gates of Heaven.
If the phrase “Never Again” is more than a tagline, I hope you will attend one or both of the meetings.
| 
