When I hear Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker speak about the importance of building understanding, I think of the times that education helped walk people back from expressions of bigotry and antisemitism and dialogue helped “change hearts and minds,” in the words of ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
In the aftermath of the Colleyville attack, a Dallas Jewish leader called on law enforcement to apply “the lessons of the Holocaust” to their work. From my perspective, having learned many lessons from the Holocaust, that is the wrong message.
Colleyville is a reminder that we can go beyond intergenerational trauma. On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must also remember that, as Jewish Americans, we can go beyond our fears and embrace our hope; we can forge alliances and build relationships that make us safer. These are just as important as the security measures we will need when terror strikes again.
