Maryland politicians decry anti-Semitism, embrace Jewish group’s policy agenda – WTOP News

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With reported acts of anti-Semitism on the rise in Maryland and throughout the nation, dozens of main state politicians gathered at a synagogue in Potomac Friday morning, expressing their solidarity with the Jewish group and embracing the expansive coverage agenda of a Jewish advocacy group.

The annual legislative breakfast of the Jewish Neighborhood Relations Council of Better Washington (JCRC), billed as a possibility to “schmooze and nosh,” is historically a preferred occasion with elected officers. However resulting from COVID-19, Friday was the primary in-person JCRC political breakfast in three years. And the rising incidents of anti-Semitic rhetoric and vandalism added a heightened sense of urgency and gravity to the gathering, though there have been loads of humorous moments.

The A-list lineup of audio system included the state’s two U.S. senators, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D), Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D), Lt. Gov.-elect Aruna Miller (D), Comptroller-elect Brooke Lierman (D), Prince George’s County Government Angela Alsobrooks (D), Montgomery County Government Marc Elrich (D), and diverse different native officers. The official talking program lasted properly over two hours, and that was on high of 45 minutes price of pregame schmoozing. The group of over 200 thinned significantly as this system wore on.

“Good morning! Is it nonetheless morning?” Lierman stated as she started her speech.

On the one hand, there have been loads of light-hearted moments, like when U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D) talked about how blissful he was to have a bagel and lox breakfast “with our mishpocha” once more and teased Raskin about being “the trainer” within the state’s congressional delegation.

However however, a number of audio system talked concerning the rising tide of anti-Semitism and racism within the nation. It was misplaced on nobody that Congregation Har Shalom, the place the breakfast passed off, was surrounded by police automobiles all morning and that a number of cops have been standing at strategic locations within the synagogue’s massive corridor.

Deborah Miller, the JCRC’s director of Maryland authorities and group relations, stated that 85% of faith-based hate crimes in Montgomery County are directed at Jews, though Jews solely make up 10% of the county’s inhabitants.

“Many people are on edge and afraid,” stated Rabbi Adam Raskin — no relation to the congressman — of Congregation Har Shalom. “The spike of anti-Semitism on this state and on this nation is terrifying.”

Moore, who will grow to be the state’s first Black governor, sought to attract hyperlinks between Jews and the Black group — and he wasn’t alone.

“Once we speak concerning the twin evils of anti-Semitism and racism, let’s not strive to consider them as two separate issues,” he stated.

Cardin stated the U.S. wants “a nationwide unified technique to struggle the rise of anti-Semitism.”

The JCRC is a potent political drive within the State Home and the Washington, D.C., area, and Friday’s breakfast was a reminder of each the group’s political affect and its prolonged and substantive coverage agenda. The JCRC doesn’t simply advocate for Jewish pursuits, but in addition for an array of social service packages, legal justice reforms and different good works.

“On the JCRC, we all know we will depend on our elected officers to implement insurance policies that mirror our values, our Jewish values,” Deborah Miller stated.

Throughout his speech, Cardin waved this system, with three pages’ price of coverage priorities, and stated, “We’re all for this.”

For some members of the viewers, it was a primary alternative to take heed to and take inventory of Moore, who takes workplace on Jan. 18. Moore stated he felt like he was amongst household in a room full of individuals of religion.

“I’m a toddler of God,” he stated. “I do know the place my energy comes from.”

Moore instructed the gang about his grandfather fleeing the U.S. for Jamaica along with his household after being menaced by the Ku Klux Klan. He later returned to the U.S., saying “this nation shall be incomplete with out me,” and went on to grow to be the primary Black minister within the historical past of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Moore vowed to implement and strengthen state hate crime legal guidelines, and likewise praised Deborah Miller and Ronald Halber, the director of the JCRC.

“Bless you on your management,” he stated. “It’s not simply that we have now a stronger group on your management. We’ve a stronger state on your management.”

Moore was rewarded with a standing ovation, the second of the morning — the primary went to Jamie Raskin, who recounted being at a food-free White Home reception earlier this week and considering that the nation wants a Jewish president.

Friday’s breakfast was additionally a possibility for outreach for Alsobrooks, who could also be a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024. Alsobrooks instructed a hushed room about her household’s resolution to flee South Carolina in 1954 after her great-grandfather was shot to loss of life by a sheriff’s deputy. She famous that her grandparents and oldsters grew to become civil rights activists, and infrequently labored aspect by aspect with Jewish allies.

“Rising up, it was conveyed to me in no unsure phrases that the Jewish group was with us each step of the best way,” he stated. “…All the things the Jewish folks wished for his or her youngsters, they confirmed as much as work alongside my dad and mom to guarantee that I’d have these rights.”