Letter to the Editor: Atlanta Rabbinical Association

Statement on the Conflict in Israel – May 2021 | Sivan 5781

We, members of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association, representing rabbis of all denominations throughout the metro Atlanta community, denounce the escalating violence in Israel. We call on Hamas to end its barrage of rockets directed at innocent civilian lives in Israel, which we see as both a danger to the lives of our brothers and sisters, while also counterproductive to creating a lasting peace with the Palestinians. We further recognize the right of the sovereign State of Israel to defend itself in the face of ongoing acts of physical and psychological terrorism against its civilian population.

We mourn the innocents on both sides who have been impacted by this latest round of violence. We cry out against hatred that fuels conflict. We pray that people of all faiths may delve deep into their spiritual and religious traditions to find our common humanity and the image of God in the other. We draw hope for a better future from the words of our tradition, that we may come to see a day when “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3).

Atlanta Rabbinical Association