Board Statements

Congregation Kehilat Shalom stands together with our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) congregants, family members, friends, and neighbors against increasing acts of anti-Asian hate nationwide.

We believe that we are all “B’tzelem Elohim,” created in God’s image. We commit to the ceaseless work of “Tikkun Olam,” improving and repairing the world, so that we can all be safe and unafraid to be who we are.

We reject in the strongest possible terms the “othering,” whether in the present or throughout the history of the United States and spurred on by xenophobic claims surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, that has created a climate in which these acts of hate have been committed and continue to grow.

We condemn the racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and white supremacy that have enabled these hateful acts, from the murder in Atlanta of eight people including six women of Asian descent, to the threats, assaults, and other acts of hate seen across the country in recent days.

To our AAPI friends: we offer our support, comfort, solidarity, and love. We see you, and we stand with you in these difficult times.

Read Reconstructing Judaism’s Statement Condemning Atlanta Attack on the RJ website. For information and resources about fighting anti-Asian hate, visit stopaapihate.org.

April 2021