Reunifying American Jews is possible - but leave politics out of it, community heads say

'After the election, we all need to find a way to move forward together'

By HANNAH SARISOHN NOVEMBER 11, 2024 15:34

American Jews and their supporters participate in the March for Israel in Washington, DC, earlier this month. (photo credit: LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS)

More than 1,000 members of Jewish communities across the country gathered on Sunday at a baseball stadium in Washington, D.C. for a solidarity event focused on "'unity, strength, resilience" less than a week after elections where the narrative of the Jewish vote fixated on the real, and perceived, divisions within American Jewry. 

The solidarity event was organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. 

The Jerusalem Post asked attendees from the battleground states, where both campaigns and Jewish political organizations hyper-fixated on the Jewish vote, after months of bitter elected-focused infighting, where do divided Jewish communities go from here?

The Atlanta Israel Coalition will continue moving forward, or at least try to, without political interruption. 

Atlanta Israel Coalition is non-partisan, and the group's founder and leader Cheryl Dorchinsky is hellbent on keeping it that way. Dorchinsky described Israel as a human topic, not a political topic. 

A rally in support of Israel that took place in November in Washington. Israel should inspire American Jews to focus less on what they have been doing - defense - and shift to what they have not been doing - attack, says the writer. (credit: REUTERS/Elizabeth Franz)

People over politics

"I don't want to know other people's political views," she said. "We're here to support each other and support Israel, regardless of who the current administration is, regardless of who the leadership is of the Israeli people."

Dorchinsky still thinks it's possible to maintain a nonpartisan Israel organization at this point in time. 

"I think that it's more needed now than ever," she said. "And we focus on Israel, period. I'm always pointing out that Israel is a diverse country, just like we're diverse as a people, and so this space is needed."

Dorchinsky described herself as being politically homeless "for quite a while." 

She'll vote on a platform, not a party. 

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"I tell people, you do what you need to do to feel good about it, but after the election, you've done your responsibility by voting for whoever you believe you should vote," Dorchinsky said. "After the election, we all need to find a way to move forward together."

Aaron Gorodiznsky, director of development for the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, said his community continues to have the same priorities before the election, and after the election. 

"One is to have a safe and secure Jewish community, and finding the balance between being a welcoming community and keeping our community safe," Gorodiznsky said. "The economy, education, all of those things continue to be important for our community. Seeing a safe and secure Israel is something that's our priority."

The Lehigh Valley is even more sensitive to antisemitism, and safety of the Jewish community, as a community in Pennsylvania across the state from where the Tree of Life massacre occurred in Pittsburgh, Gorodzinsky said 

Gorodiznsky noted that while the Lehigh Valley's current congresswoman, Democratic Rep. Susan Wild lost her reelection, the Federation will work with the incoming Republican Ryan Mackenzie. 

The priorities of the community continue to be the same, Gorodiznsky said, regardless of which administration it is. 

Gorodiznsky hopes the next administration will continue tackling the rise of antisemitism the Lehigh Valley has seen nationally, and locally. 

Gorodiznsky said, "It's our number one priority right now."

One Las Vegas man represented a different type of division: a split-ticket voter. 

For president, he voted for Trump. For the senate, he chose Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen. 

Both choices were made with Israel as his top priority. 

He believed Trump was the best president in American history for Israel and the Harris campaign couldn't have changed his mind on that. 

He also valued Rosen's membership on crucial committees, like the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he thinks it's important to have a Jewish woman serving among the committee member's ranks. 

While standing in the stands waiting for the program to begin the man, and his family, were also at odds with each other. 

Should they share their names publicly with The Post?

"Look how many people are proud to stand up for Israel," the Las Vegas man said to his wife, gesturing toward the speakers on stage. 

His wife remained apprehensive, and his daughter, a first year-law student at George Washington University, was adamant on not publicly revealing she voted for Trump, a fact few people in her social circle knew. 

She wasn't thrilled with Biden's handling of Netanyahu and the Israeli government, but was still considering voting for the Democratic ticket until Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the nominee. 

"At that point, I lost faith that I would be able to vote for the Democratic Party, because in my understanding of Kamala's history and record and things that she said, she is not the biggest supporter of the Israeli people," the law student said. "[Harris] said that she would consider withholding arms from Israel. That, in this day and age, in this moment in time, is not acceptable."

Her emotions were also split. 

"I feel immense guilt and confusion over casting my own ballot this election," she said. "But I feel that I had to vote in the interest and survival of the Jewish people."

Richard Kasper, CEO of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix, told The Post he didn't yet have an answer for how the Phoenix Jewish community can unify post-election. 

"We're going to. We don't have a choice," Kasper said. "We have to work together, we're a single Jewish community. We have common goals locally and internationally, and we're going to have to get beyond politics and just find a way to come together and make things work."

And according to Kasper, it's going to be the lay leaders and Jewish professionals, not politicians, who bring the community together. 

While the most pressing issues facing the Phoenix Jewish community do have some connection to politics, they're not inherently political, 

"What I mean by that is we can come to Washington, D.C. and lobby our representatives in Congress on issues relating to community security and combating antisemitism, supporting Jewish students on campus,"  Kasper said. "Politicians are involved, but politics don't have to be."

The key is to focus on what sects of the Jewish community have in common and work toward those goals. 

Politics haven't affected the ability of Kasper's staff to work together, he noted, though some interpersonal relationships have been damaged. 

"We were just as divided before the election as we are afterwards, and the same work still needs to get done," he said. "We were getting it done before, we'll get it done now."

There's also been division within the University of Pittsburgh's chapter of Students Supporting Israel. 

Kaia Abramski, a Pittsburgh native who's a sophomore at the university, said one of Students Supporting Israel's officers was also a leader within College Republicans. Another SSI member spoke loudly and openly about supporting Harris, she said. 

"So as an organization, we just really tried to facilitate peace on both ends," Abramski said.

It's important to recognize that Israel would still exist, live and thrive no matter who won the election, she added. 

Abramski knew who she was going to vote for a few months before the election, and nothing in the weeks leading up to Election Day would've really changed her mind. 

Though Abramski said she knew of a lot of people who were still divided up until the very end.