The letter acknowledged that social justice ideology puts Jews in a precarious position.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Fifty prominent U.S. Jewish leaders, including professors, rabbis, and journalists, signed an open letter this past month advocating for free speech and decrying far-left social justice ideology.
“An ideology is taking hold across the country that insists there is only one way to look at the problems we face, and those who disagree must be silenced,” the letter reads.
“This suppression of dissent violates the core Jewish value of open discourse. Jewish tradition cherishes debate, respects disagreement, and values questions as well as answers.”
Referencing Ezekiel 18:20, which says that a son should not be judged for the sins of his father, the letter warns that collectively holding people responsible for past injustices based on their racial identification is in direct contrast with Jewish values.
“Jewish tradition has also long insisted that we only judge and be judged by our own deeds…the dominant social justice ideology, however, holds that individuals bear collective moral guilt or innocence based on the current conception of group identity.”
The letter acknowledged that social justice ideology puts Jews in a precarious position.
“Because this dominant narrative creates a worldview in which groups are only oppressors or oppressed, it encourages pernicious notions of ‘Jewish privilege,’ even implicating Jews in ‘white supremacy.’ This presents many Jews with an impossible set of political choices,” the letter continues.
The letter warned of the dangers of suppressing debate and discourse, saying it was “antithetical to American ideals and antithetical to Judaism.”
Calling on the public to “engage in dialogue, including with those who dissent,” the letter concluded by imploring Jewish leaders to oppose the imposition of far-left ideology and foster healthy debate.
Signatories included Professor Steven Pinker of Harvard University, Liel Leibovitz, the editor of Tablet, and Bari Weiss, a former New York Times journalist who wrote in her resignation letter that she had been forced out of the outlet due to anti-Semitism and harassment for not conforming to a far-left agenda.
The letter was released by a new organization, the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, which states their mission is “to support liberal principles of free thought and expression, advance viewpoint diversity and counter the imposition of the Critical Social Justice (CSJ) approach in the Jewish community.”