Dear Friends,
The clarion call of the shofar (ram’s horn), traditionally sounded during Rosh Hashanah and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, is designed to pierce even the most complacent or armored soul during Judaism’s holiest time of year. With its distinctive bleats and cadences building to the crescendo of the tekiah gedolah, it is the ultimate wakeup call: a call to reflection and a call to action.
Wakeup calls can come in many forms. The most powerful ones inspire us to change our behaviors and perspectives, disrupting our complacency and focusing our awareness on personal and societal failings that are often so familiar that we’ve become inured to them.
“The U.S. and the Holocaust,” Ken Burns’ searing three-part documentary about America’s response during that terrible time, does exactly that. The Russell Berrie Foundation is proud to have been a sponsor of this illuminating work, which is an important window into extremely troubling aspects of our country’s past. The film forces us to confront the culpability of the United States; its failure to live up to its own ideals; and the ways that antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia shaped its response to Hitler’s rise to power and the ensuing world war.
This gripping documentary is also a mirror, calling attention to the many ways in which our society remains in need of repair. As a historian, I believe deeply that the thorough exploration of the past is critical to our ability to understand the present and shape the future. Unfortunately, antisemitism remains an ongoing scourge in our country and elsewhere, authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide, and bitter divisions among racial and religious groups persist. Recognizing these fingerprints in the events of the past allows us to see what’s at stake if we don’t eradicate them in the present.
Philanthropy is an inherently optimistic endeavor; we invest because we believe that in doing so we can make a difference. Historically, the Foundation has had a deep commitment to interreligious dialogue and building authentic and mutual connections between the Jewish people and people of other faiths. One exemplar of this commitment is the Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies, which provides the next generation of religious leaders with a comprehensive understanding of, and dedication to, interfaith issues. Over the summer, I met members of the 13th and 14th cohort of fellows on their visit to Israel: an impressive group that includes a lawyer from Ukraine who teaches with a Christian scout organization, a Catholic priest from Nigeria who is preparing his doctoral thesis in dogmatic theology, and a Harvard Divinity School student who created and hosts the “Interfaith Passages” podcast.
As we face an increasingly polarized world, the Foundation has started to expand our efforts to programs that combat hate in its various forms and to include bridge-building initiatives that move beyond traditionally defined faith-based groups. We want to invest in—and help shape—a better future by forging connections between peoples and communities that have not always had easy alliances.
One such initiative, at the Religion & Society Program of the Aspen Institute, is bringing together leaders and experts from a variety of disciplines to address the root causes of extremism that give rise to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of religiously motivated violence. Through this effort, academics, researchers, practitioners, and religious leaders will share knowledge, find new ways to collaborate, and connect with a larger cohort committed to religious pluralism that the Aspen Institute has also been convening.
Closer to home, Allied Against Hate, a project run by Drew University, aims to build trust and empathy between Jewish and Black communities by working with high school and college students in northern New Jersey. Through classroom- and community-based activities, Black and Jewish students from Drew, Teaneck High School, and The Idea School learn about the two communities’ intersecting histories, engage with broader questions about race, class, and religion in America, and, through shared community service, have the opportunity to forge strong relationships with one another.
I recently learned an interpretation of the shofar that suggests that the short staccato sounds represent the brokenness in the world; in order to address that brokenness we first have to hear it and only then can the sounds come together and in some way be healed into the more perfect and pure culminating sound of the tekiah gedolah.
As we welcome the year 5783, I’m optimistic that we can make meaningful change and heal some of the brokenness through efforts like these and with partners who share our values and commitments. By continuing to find new ways to heed the shofar’s call to reflection and its call to action, I know we can make a difference this year and in the years to come.
With best wishes for a shana tova, a happy new year,
Dr. Idana Goldberg