Passover Letter from NM Rabbis Opposing Trump Detentions and Defunding Universities, to Jewish Communities of New Mexico

April 17, 2025

The New Mexico Jewish Journal is pleased to share a group letter penned by a group of 14 of New Mexico's rabbis, "because we want New Mexicans to know that leaders in our Jewish community oppose the Trump Administration’s detention of international students, actions which threaten our democracy and do nothing to combat anti-semitism." It was first published in the April 11, 2025 Newsletter of the NMJJ.

Rabbi Jack Shlachter, in distributing the group letter to his congregants, wrote by way of introduction,

Dear LAJC friends:
We begin the most widely celebrated holiday on the Jewish calendar this Saturday evening, and a broad coalition of New Mexico rabbis developed the attached letter in anticipation of Passover.  At your seders and throughout the 8 days of Pesach, I hope you will reflect on the words of the great Jewish poet, Emma Lazarus, who said, “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”  May you have a joyous and liberating holiday.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos Jewish Center

To Jewish Communities of New Mexico,

We write as a diverse body of rabbis, serving communities with a wide range of perspectives on US politics and on Israel. We write at a time when our Jewish community is feeling vulnerable. The fear of rising antisemitism has shaken us. And yet, we cannot allow fear to keep us from facing another threat to our nation.

In the face of Egyptian oppression, Moses spoke to our Israelite ancestors who had every reason to fear saying, “Do not be afraid” (Exodus 14:13). With Passover, the Festival of Freedom upon us, we take these words to heart as we speak out in support of caring for the stranger and in defense of freedoms that have allowed us to thrive as Jews in America.

Today, we are witnessing a steadily growing crackdown on universities across the country, detaining international students and defunding universities. These detentions and financial penalties are being justified by the Trump Administration as part of the fight against antisemitism. 

On the surface, this approach may seem to offer protection. But that appearance is an illusion. We are concerned that this approach which targets and detains international students threatens to erode our democracy without making Jewish students any safer. It is stirring up fear and stifling free speech. We want Jews and other minorities to feel safe on college campuses and not face threats of violence. We object to the violation of anyone’s Constitutional rights as a strategy for fighting antisemitism.

The recent spate of immigrant arrests of peaceful activists and withholding of Federal funding from universities are evidence of a strategy employed by the Trump administration called “Project Esther,” authored by the Heritage Foundation. This strategy uses claims of fighting antisemitism to dismantle values we hold dear as Jews and as Americans, including the right to express dissent and the imperative to protect the stranger.

History has taught us that whenever a government restricts the rights of a given group, oppression of the Jews will soon follow. We have learned that our safety and freedom as Jews is irrevocably bound up with the safety and freedom of all people.

In the story of liberation Jews around the world read this Passover, Moses was a leader who could have lived comfortably to the end of his days as a prince. Instead, when he witnessed injustice, he responded and became God’s partner in the fight against oppression.

We invite our communities to follow in Moses’ footsteps and stand up against the Administration’s violations of human dignity in the name of fighting antisemitism. Let us commit to an ethic of care, accountability, and civil rights for all – including for those with whom we may disagree. The work before us requires us to build coalitions to protect our community in ways that bind our safety and freedom with others.

Signed,

Rabbi Deborah Brin
Rabbi Chavah Carp
Rabbi Paul Citrin
Rabbi Arthur Flicker
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Rabbi Shefa Gold
Rabbi Judith HaLevy
Rabbi Jay Heyman
Rabbi Min Kantrowitz
Rabbi Darah Lerner
Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld
Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Rabbi Celia Surget
Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev

• April 11, 2025
  Federal Judge Laura Xinis, in demanding the return of the Maryland immigrant Abrego Garcia wrongfully deported to El Salvador's notorious prison, was met with defiance by U.S. Justice department lawyers, and she issued a ruling that reprimanded them and that they report back daily on progress being made to return Abrego Garcia.
  
  Separately, this afternoon Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans in Louisiana ruled that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported based on his expressing his opinions. There is a New Jersey court ruling that he cannot be deported; it is not clear as of this moment what jurisdiction they will have.
  
  Editor's note: this news summary was written after listening to and reading reporting by these news sources: MSNBC, NPR, ABC, and New York Times. No artificial intelligence was used in compiling this news brief–-DJS.
• April 18 - The NM Jewish Journal has received many positive responses after publishing this letter for the Jewish communities. One, from a former high level university administrator in another state, who wrote:  

"Vitally important message — for all" 

and another from a Jewish reader here, a retired teacher, 

"Thanks you so much for sharing this letter with your readers. I am so proud of the Rabbis who spoke up against the extreme measures that are being taken against those who would voice their opinions at this time. It is so important for Jewish leaders to condemn the actions that are taking place in the name of fighting antisemitism. I hope that letters such as these are making it to the mainstream press."

Note these related stories :
"And I didn't speak up..." by Diane Joy Schmidt
"Latino Immigrants Today, Jewish Immigrants Back Then" by Judith Fein.

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