Orthodox and Observant Jews on the Left Speak Out

Smol Emuni U.S. is a new organization for “members of the observant Jewish community, committed to the foundational religious principle that all people are created in the image of God.” In March they held their first conference in New York. From the opening remarks by Esther Sperber, one of the organizers:

“Last week Israel chose to end the ceasefire and resume its military campaign, killing over 400 people, including 174 children, on that first day. On the news I see an apocalyptic landscape of gray dust and hungry children. It is the 21st century, yet in Gaza, donkeys pull carts on dirt roads. For me, this is both deeply upsetting and very confusing. How can these things be happening in a place, and by people, that I love? I don’t have an answer to this. But this confusion cannot distract us from the facts. Perhaps, a
call to end the war from people like us, who love and care for Israel, might be heard?”

I fear that our Jewish religious tradition is being “Smotriched” from us by extremists who speak a language of revenge, power, and Jewish supremacy, laced with disdain for diaspora Jews, science, LGBTQ+ people and Western values. It is incumbent on us to embrace and teach a different Torah, one which affirms that all people are created in the image of God and have the right to equality and safety. One based on love, care, and humility…and to normalize these ethical values in our Observant and Orthodox community.