A recent column in the Gazette raises important questions about Israel, Zionism, antisemitism, and divisions within American Jewish life. These are difficult questions, and no serious Jewish communal leader should pretend that our community is of one mind on them. But the column also makes broad assertions about Jewish federations and other established Jewish organizations that deserves a response.
The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts does not claim to speak for every Jew; nor should any individual, organization, or political movement presume to do so. Our community encompasses a wide range of perspectives on Israel, Zionism, American politics, religious practice, and the responsibilities we bear toward others and acknowledges that diversity is essential to building a stronger Jewish community.
What I personally take issue with is the suggestion that established Jewish organizations reflexively defend Israeli government policies, conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, or stand in opposition to the pursuit of justice and human rights. That is not an accurate description of our work, our purpose, or history.
The Federation’s responsibility is broader than any single political debate or Israeli government. For 101 years in the Valley, the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts has worked to sustain Jewish life, strengthen connections across generations, support Jewish education and community institutions, confront antisemitism, and maintain meaningful relationships with Israel and Jewish people in countries around the world. We help people in need, support local Jewish institutions, and invest in a future in which Jewish life in western Massachusetts can continue to thrive.
We recognize that people of good conscience hold sharply different views about Israel and the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians. Legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy should be possible without being dismissed as antisemitic. At the same time, antisemitism is real, and confronting it is not a political tactic or an effort to silence disagreement. Both commitments matter. Neither should be used to erase the other.
Our community faces a genuine challenge: how to bring together Jews who may disagree profoundly on contentious issues, including those who feel disconnected from established institutions and those who rely on them. The answer is not to dismiss one another’s motives or to assume that an institution’s history makes it incapable of change. It is to create more opportunities for honest conversation, meaningful participation, learning, and shared experiences.
The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts believes that there must be room in our community for disagreement without exclusion, for criticism without caricature, and for a commitment to Jewish life that does not require every person to hold identical political views.
We do not represent every Jew, and we do not pretend to. We do, however, accept the responsibility of helping build a Jewish community in which people with different perspectives can find a place, contribute to a common future, and recognize one another’s humanity.
That work is neither reflexive nor simple, but in our increasingly polarized society, it is essential.
Adam M. Solender is interim CEO, chief philanthropy officer, and director of the Jewish Endowment Foundation at the Jewish Foundation of Western Massachusetts.