Community gathers to reject antisemitism

By LUKE GARDNER newsroom@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — On Sunday people of various faiths gathered at Temple Emanu-El to discuss ways to combat antisemitism after anti-Jewish flyers were distributed across the community in early February.

The event, titled “Georgia’s Fight Against Antisemitism,” consisted of small lectures from elected officials and religious leaders followed by a community discussion led by representatives from the AntiDefamation League.

Senior Rabbi Spike Anderson spoke to a crowd of more than 100 about the importance of uniting against hatred. Also present was Anderson’s friend and fellow faith leader the Rev. David Lower of St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Dunwoody. Lower spoke on the importance of interfaith relationships and showing up for the Jewish community.

“We are ready to do what is required of us,” Lower said.

The ADL-led community discussion centered around defining antisemitism, with several attendees detailing various examples. Presenter Eric Ross described the need to discuss actions, not people, as antisemitic because it allows room for apol- ogy and growth.

Also discussed was the need for allyship and standing up for oppressed people who face injustice. Presenters referenced the complacency of the general public and the lack of allies the Jewish community had in the beginning stages of the Holocaust.

The importance of solidarity across faiths and among marginalized groups and the need to publicly reject hatred were themes present throughout the event.

“The ADL can’t be everywhere, but I can be where I am,” one attendee said.

The community event is largely in response to antisemitic flyers distributed in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs in early February. Georgia State House Rep. Esther Panitch, the state’s only Jewish legislator, was among several concerned citizens who awoke to find antisemitic flyers in their driveways.

Panitch said that such events can feel isolating and that seeing so many nonJewish community members show their outrage was comforting.

Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch, who is also Jewish, said that while she was upset, she was not surprised because similar flyers had been spread in a nearby area months before.

Free speech vs hate speech

The spreading of antisemitic flyers in February is one of the latest in a disturbing trend of increasing acts of hatred against Jewish people.

Multiple acts of antisemitic acts of gun violence have occurred in the U.S. over the past five years.

Last week, a Los Angeles man was charged with two hate crimes after shooting two Jewish men as they were leaving religious services.

In January 2022, a gunman took a Rabbi and three others hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. In October 2018, 11 people were killed in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Months later, in April 2019, one person was killed and three injured by a shooter at Chabad of Poway Synagogue in San Diego, California.

An Anti-Defamation League audit recorded approximately 2,700 antisemitic incidents in 2021, the highest number on record since the league began tracking them in 1979.

Temple Emanu-El project volunteer Rich Lapin said he believes that Antisemitism is a community issue, not just a Jewish issue.

“The degree to which antisemitism is present becomes an indicator of the quality of life in a country and or community,” Lapin said.

Many speakers at the event shared the same sentiment. Several described the Jewish people as the “canaries in the coal mine” of a society. ADL Regional

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