I hope you will join me at 6 PM on Tuesday in downtown Pittsburgh at the City-County Building to stand b’yachad, together, in solidarity against antisemitism. It seems surreal in the United States in 2021 to actually have to take such action, but with the incredible uptick in antisemitic violence across the nation and across the world, me must speak out about this horrible phenomenon. Local political leadership and others will stand shoulder to shoulder with us.

Please go to jewishpgh.org/stand for more information and to see the impressive list of partner organizations working collaboratively to make Tuesday a reality.

In this week’s Torah portion, Behaalotecha, there is the story of the Jewish people complaining about the Manna they were receiving as food. They wanted meat. Moses in return complains to God about the burden on him to deal with all these issues. God responds:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the people’s elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with You. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will increase the spirit that is upon you and bestow it upon them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone.”

No individual can do this critical advocacy work on their own. Only together, can we “bear the burden of the people”.

Shabbat Shalom.