For many years, our Jewish community in Greater MetroWest NJ has been working with various groups to build alliances, partnerships, and friendships. We have done this with seminars, our first ever interfaith missions to Israel, with deep listening and learning sessions, and most of all, friendships. The importance of this work was never more apparent than after October 7, 2023, when the true value of allies and friends became so important.
At its core, Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery and specifically the day in 1865 when the last African American slaves in Galveston, Texas, were informed that they were free. This occurred about two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was approved.
The Jewish people are no stranger to slavery and thus we should be among the most empathic supporters of this truly American holiday. In my family, the most important commandment from our Torah that I focus on when celebrating the holiday of Passover is that parents are required to tell their children the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the escape from hundreds of years of slavery. Even though that period in our history took place about 3,000 years ago, it is so important to the core of our existence that we retell it every year.
Closing our offices on Juneteenth does not mean, however, that the work we do and the services we enable stop. Our people are still busy providing funds for emergency relief in Israel, for special needs children and mental health counseling in Greater MetroWest. This pause in our regular schedule does give each of us the opportunity to look to our partners and recognize the trauma that their ancestors suffered less than five hundred years ago and for us to find common ground and continue to build two-way alliances that are mutually beneficial.