Jewish communities around the world have worked tirelessly to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust, teach its lessons, and advocate for the building of educational institutions such as museums. Yom HaShoah v’HaGvurah (Holocaust and Heroism Day) is the official day of remembrance. In Israel, a memorial siren is heard throughout the country. In the United States, the day is marked by a candle-lighting ceremony and a reading of the names of those murdered.

Jewish activists regularly partner with a wide array of groups to combat racism and genocide. Since the 9/11 attacks of 2001, Jews and Muslims have stood together against Islamophobia and antisemitism. Following the choking death of George Floyd in 2020, Jewish and African American leaders began cooperating more closely to combat White supremacists and support the Black Lives Matter movement. Jews have also come together with Uyghur Americans to hold vigils outside the Chinese Embassy protesting the Chinese genocide
against their people.

The American Jewish community does not sit passively in the wake of attacks against Jews. In January, 2020, over 25,000 people marched in New York City in a “No Hate, No Fear” rally. The 2018 massacre of 11 Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was rooted in both antisemitism and hatred of immigrants. With the resurgence of antisemitism and White supremacy, it is clear to many in the Jewish community that the struggle must be on behalf of justice for all.

Israeli society is known for its robust and colorful political discourse. Israelis value the ability to be openly self-critical, which is often expressed in mass public demonstrations. Many protests are directed towards government policies that allow building illegal settlements in the West Bank and acts of mistreatment towards Palestinians. The largest demonstrations in the history of Israel have been those protesting the attempts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disempower the Supreme Court – a judicial overhaul that strikes at the democratic core of the State of Israel.

Jewish organizations such as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) are in the forefront of assisting refugees. They have helped Ukrainians to flee the ravages of war and have sent delegations to the US southern border to provide comfort to asylum seekers. Individual synagogues have adopted refugee families from Syria and other countries. Jewish organizations led the fight against the 2017 “Muslim Ban,” which suspended entry into the United States from a number of Muslim nations.

At the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel turned to President Clinton to comment about the genocide raging in Yugoslavia. He said, “When people suffer we cannot remain indifferent . . . As a Jew, I am saying that we must do something to stop the bloodshed.” In 2004, for example, Jews were the primary organizers of the Save Darfur Coalition created to respond to the genocide taking place there.

The Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, the need for humans to engage in “repairing the world,” calls for us to help make this Earth a better place. Locally, the Tivnu program promotes Jewish social justice engagement in the greater Portland community. Nationally, the Avodah Jewish Service Corps addresses crucial social and economic issues plaguing cities throughout the US. Across the globe, American Jewish World Service works with overseas organizations to fight poverty, respond to natural disasters, and combat human rights abuses.

In the wake of the Holocaust, the Jewish community pledged not to sit silent in the face of oppression. This vow was tested when Jews tried to leave the Soviet Union at a time when emigration was restricted. An active Soviet Jewry movement blossomed and organized large political rallies in US and Israel. With the collapse of Communism in 1991, Jewish emigration was freely permitted.

At the 1963 March on Washington, Holocaust survivor Rabbi Joachim Prinz proclaimed that Jewish support for civil rights reflected a “solidarity born of our own painful historic experience.” And marching with the Reverend Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel declared “my feet are praying.” The actions of Jews and others who publicly combatted segregation and advocated for equal voting rights accelerated the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965).