Editor's Note: At the suggestion of educator and Jewish Week columnist, Erica Brown, a number of leading voices in the Jewish community were asked to write a letter reflecting their post-election thoughts. See more letters from other leaders in the Jewish community below, and look out for part two of this issue below.
On the day after the election you said that those who felt so devastated should get over it and act like adults. You made it sound as if we are just being “sore losers.” It’s far more than that.
America elected a man who has labeled all Muslims terrorists, who roiled up racism, and has around him people who keep company and provide succor to anti-Semites. He probably is not an anti-Semite, but he enables those who are.
At his rallies he called for dissenters to be beaten up. Towards the end of the campaign he saw a man whom he assumed was a Clintonite and said: “Get him out of here.” Trump reached that conclusion because the man was African American. That he was. But he was also a Trump supporter.
On election night a 9-year old with a disabled sister woke up at 1:30 a.m. When he saw the results he sadly asked: “How could people vote for someone who makes fun of people like my sister?” Will you tell him that’s how adults behave?
How should women, particularly those who have been groped — and worse — respect a man who has spoken of grabbing women by the genitals.
Yes, this is democracy and the protesters who did not vote should recognize that. They have no credibility in my eyes. But this is not a Kumbaya moment. I would suggest that the adult thing is to be terribly troubled by this.
Read More From This Section
Dear Dems (RABBI JACK MOLINE)
To My Grandson Ezra (BUBBIE ARNA POUPKO FISHER)
Dear Hillary (RABBA SARA HURWITZ)
To My Trump Supporting Well-Educated, Privileged Friends (DEBORAH LIPSTADT)
To My Friends and Family Who Voted for Hillary (SARAH N. STERN)
Dear Friends Who Did Not Vote Like Me (GIL TROY)
Dear Mr. President-Elect (RABBI SHAI HELD)
Next Week: Check back here for responses from Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Rabbie Ellie Kaunfer co-founder and director of Machon Hada; Steven Bayme, national director of the contemporary Jewish life department at the American Jewish Committee; Erica Brown of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at George Washington University; and Dov S. Zakheim, former undersecretary of defense (2001-2004)
