May marks Jewish Heritage Month, a time when we honor the contributions of Jewish Americans聽and celebrate聽Jewish culture聽and its impact聽on our national fabric.聽Here at the 91探花,聽we are fortunate to be home to聽Hillel聽UW聽and Chabad聽UW, as well as the聽Stroum聽Center聽for Jewish Studies, which offer opportunities for聽comradery,聽celebration聽and learning.
This year聽聽has had in her decade聽leading Hillel at the Universit测.听The聽Stroum聽Center聽, and聽this winter,聽Chabad聽House hosted the first ever聽JewDub聽concert聽in Red Square to celebrate Jewish pride.
Sadly,聽Jewish Heritage Month聽is also an opportunity to reflect on the long shadow that antisemitism continues to cast聽across the world. This was most recently made all too clear by the murders of Israeli embassy staff members Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim Yaron, a poignant reminder that too many Jewish聽community members everywhere, including聽right聽here on our campuses,聽fear for their safety and聽that of their loved聽ones.
There is a better way, and I implore every member of our 91探花community to reach for it — to engage in dialogue over destruction, to seek common ground instead of conflict. As a democracy and multicultural society, we must show that we are capable of talking across our differences and of tolerating disagreement without resorting to violence.
Together, we must build a society in which peaceful actions beget peaceful outcomes and in which dialogue fosters understanding and progress toward a more just world.