There are times when our entire community needs to come together to show support, express solidarity, and affirm shared values.  This is, sadly, one of those times.  

The Board of Directors and professional staff of the Jewish Federation wish to express our appreciation of our law enforcement partners, in the Heart of New Jersey and around the world, who work tirelessly and under often challenging circumstances to keep us and our neighbors safe.  Our hearts go out to those injured in the shooting last night in Dallas and to the families of those killed.  We encourage all our fellow Americans to come together as one to condemn this violence and counter extremism in all its forms.  

The Federation deplores senseless acts of violence.  We have been witness to far too many shootings and incidents on the news of late – at the hands of criminals, terrorists, police…and children.  We mourn for all victims and their families.  What took place in Dallas was misdirected, misguided, tragic, and wrong; so, too, with many of these other incidents.  What should concern us all is that there is a toxic mix of fear, hate, frustration, anger, marginalization, and victimization that seems to be brewing in our society.  

One natural reaction is to play the “blame game.”  As Jews, we know better than to paint a particular group or a people with a broad brush and recognize that we all must come together in a spirit of collaboration to address our common challenges.  We call on all of our leaders and elected officials to avoid overly-simplistic generalizations and recriminations – and to move to more constructive efforts to address these serious and ongoing issues in our community, not only when they erupt. 

These are lessons to take to heart, and we look forward to continuing to educate, partner, and build on shared values and partnerships with law enforcement, faith groups, and other communities.