Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

Since Oct. 7, there has been a growing sense among Jews of many political persuasions that we are alone in the fight for our community’s safety. And, of course, this comes amid an acute increase in antisemitism on both the far left and much of the right (far and otherwise).

Here’s the problem: Circling the wagons may make us feel safer at times, but reaching out and joining forces with other minorities creates real strength. We can’t abandon allyship now.

Exploring the future of allyship is a new project out of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. A virtual symposium on the topic last November led to a series of papers released this month. 

Each one is worth a look on its own, but I wanted to summarize in brief some of the most salient points from the project:

• Bridget Kevan’s paper on Jews and Latinos focuses on a “dinner table” metaphor that emphasizes the importance of families having casual conversations about other minority groups, alongside the coalition-level conversations much of the project is concerned with. “Frequently, along with the forks, knives, and spoons, world views are passed down, shared, discussed, and, sometimes, set in stone,” she writes. “Future citizens are fashioned at the dinner table.”

• Corinne Blackmeyer, in her “Action Plan” for building alliances between Jewish and LGBTQ advocacy groups identifies two major political persuasions among queer Americans: “The first — the quieter but larger group — focuses on inclusion and legal recognition. … The second — a smaller but louder radical wing — seeks to overthrow such institutions.” The lesson here is one in understanding the differences within a community before making a plan to engage with it.

• Examining the relationship between Indigenous and Jewish communities in the U.S., David Koffman points out, “Allyship here in North America can persist even in the face of disagreement about how Zionism and Israel are to be understood” — maybe one of the most important points in the whole project.

• Helen Kim’s “Allyship Between Jewish Americans and Asian Americans” touches on a topic about which I know embarrassingly little. She discusses some remarkable similarities between antisemitism and anti-Asian hate in the U.S. and analyzes Jewish support for Asian Americans during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as Asians’ support for Jews following the 2018 Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh. Those successes, she writes, underscore the importance of building relationships and doing serious learning as a prerequisite for actual political organizing.

• But if you read only one of the project’s papers, check out AJU President Jeffrey Herbst’s synthesis of the main points that emerged from the project. He writes: “My conclusion is that the plaintive cry of ‘where are our allies’ must be replaced with the more unsentimental ‘what are we going to do to garner the allies who are available?’” 

Indeed. The struggle to gain and retain allies is about strategy and realpolitik as much as it’s about high-minded morals. “What have you done for me lately?” may sound craven, but this isn’t just about allyship — It’s about politics. And politics is a game of reciprocity. We need help from others, and they need help from us. Most Jews in America today hold a position of relative privilege, as difficult as it is to admit that — so let’s offer the help we can from that position, and in turn, we will get help back when we need it most.

I often hear a complaint that goes something like, “Where are our Black allies? Don’t they know that Heschel marched with King?” If the most recent example we can think of happened nearly 60 years ago, we need to rethink a few things. So what have we done for them lately? That’s a question we must ask ourselves honestly and critically if we expect to build and expand alliances in the years ahead.

One issue that comes up several times in the project is this lesson: Mainstream Jewish leaders must be willing to partner with people who disagree with them on Israel in order to secure our safety in the U.S.

I am not optimistic about that. Much of the Jewish communal establishment can’t even handle disagreement about Israel within our own circles. If we can’t do that, I don’t have high hopes for our ability to build and sustain partnerships with other minority communities. And without such allies, we will become increasingly isolated and paranoid, left to join forces with anyone in power who will grant us a scrap of attention when it’s politically convenient.

Among other work I didn’t mention here, the project includes papers on building relationships with Muslim and Christian communities and one on historical lessons from Jewish immigration advocacy. (Oddly, there is no paper dedicated specifically to the issue of Black-Jewish allyship.) Check out the full recommendations and analysis of “The Project on Allyship to Combat Antisemitism” at aju.edu/future-allyship.