The ultra-Orthodox community is culturally and visibly different than any other group with whom you normally interact, and therefore our very existence sometimes provokes a wide range of emotions.
JERUSALEM — The horrific shooting in Jersey City was unfortunately the third deadly anti-Semitic attack at a Jewish institution in recent years. The victims of this attack were members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar movement, a Hasidic community known for being insular and conservative.
It was encouraging that this fact didn’t minimize the shock and grief felt by the entire Jewish community, who came together in solidarity and were united in collective shock grief in the wake of this horrific event.
A video released by the progressive group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice featured Jews from many denominations sharing their condolences addressing “the Satmar community.” There were hundreds of donations made to the several online fundraisers established in the wake of the tragedy.
This outpouring of love manifested offline, too, as many secular Jews from all over the United States contacted the bereaved Ferencz and Deutsch families. Some came to express sympathy and solidarity in person.
Despite the deep differences in the Jewish world, our historic bonds run deeper. When tragedy strikes, those differences are insignificant compared to the bonds of brotherhood and common destiny all Jews share. Grief is something most of us are unfortunately intimately familiar with, and loss is something to which we can all relate. And tragically, it is grief and loss that bring us together more than anything else. Read more at JPost
