OPEN LETTER FROM
AMERICAN JEWISH LEADERS:

STAND UP FOR
JEWISH SAFETY
AND DEMOCRACY

May 8, 2025

It’s time to act!

History has taught us that Jewish safety and democracy are inextricably linked. The Jewish people have flourished in democratic societies and have been repeatedly persecuted in authoritarian regimes. Today, democracy in our country is being assaulted as never before. It’s time for Jewish leadership to act.

The major institutions, leadership, and resources of the organized Jewish community have been understandably focused on combating antisemitism. However, with few exceptions, major Jewish organizations have been far too silent about the stunning assault on democratic norms and the rule of law. While modest declarations of “respecting the rule of law” and similar phrases have been included in multiple organizational statements, we believe the present moment requires far more.

A range of actors are using a purported concern about Jewish safety as a cudgel to weaken higher education, due process, checks and balances, freedom of speech and the press. Let us acknowledge that these rights, institutions and systems are the cornerstone of American Democracy and enabled American Jewry to thrive in the 20th century. American Jewry enjoyed more rights, more freedoms, more opportunities and more achievements than we have ever known in 2,500 years of Jewish life.

As individuals who have devoted our lives to strengthening the Jewish People – in our communities, in the State of Israel, and globally – we recognize the complexity of addressing these issues when there is division within our communities. Our message is motivated by the exigencies of this moment when democratic norms are under assault and antisemitism is metastasizing. It is imperative to join with our fellow citizens to protect and preserve our democracy.

We urge Jewish leadership to forcefully and publicly reaffirm the historic and continuing commitment of the American Jewish community to academic freedom, to the rule of law, to ensure due process to anyone accused of breaking the law, to freedom of speech and the press. And we call on Jewish leaders and institutions – national and local – to resist the exploitation of Jewish fears and publicly join with other organizations that are battling to preserve the guardrails of democracy.

The time to act is Now!

Karen Adler, Chair,
Jewish Communal Fund
2013-2015

Ambassador Michael Adler, President, Greater Miami Jewish Federation
2004-2006

Thomas Dine, Chief Executive Officer, Jewish Federation of
Greater San Francisco
2005-2007

Alisa Doctoroff, Board Chair,
Jim Joseph Foundation,
2018-2021

Allan Finkelstein, President and CEO, JCC Association of North America,
1994-2015 

John Fishel, President and CEO,
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles,
1992-2002

Wayne L. Firestone, President and CEO,
Hillel International,
2006-2013

Michael Gelman, Chair,
Executive Committee, Jewish Federations of North America,
2009-2012

Susie Gelman, President,
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington,
2008-2011

E. Robert Goodkind, President,
American Jewish Committee,
2004-2007

Stephen M. Greenberg, Chair,
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations,
2015-2018

Rabbi Steve Gutow, President,
Jewish Council for Public Affairs,
2005-2016

Rabbi Irwin Kula, President,
CLAL: The National Jewish Center
for Learning and Leadership,
1997-2023

Alan Jaffe, President,
UJA-Federation of New York,
1993-1996

Randall Kaplan, Chair,
Board of Governors, Hillel International, 2010-2015

Nancy Kaufman, CEO,
National Council of Jewish Women,
2010-2019

Marvin Lender, Chair,
National United Jewish Appeal,
1990-1992

Lynn Lyss, Chair,
National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council
1995-1997

Rabbi Brian Lurie,
Executive Vice President,
National United Jewish Appeal,
1991-1996

Ruth W. Messinger, CEO,
American Jewish World Service,
1998-2020

Richard Pearlstone, Chair,
Board of Governors,
The Jewish Agency for Israel,
2007-2011

Charles Ratner, Chair,
Board of Governors,
The Jewish Agency for Israel,
2014-2017

Seymour D. Reich, Chair,
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations,
1990-1992

Barry Rosenberg, President and CEO,
The Jewish Federation of St. Louis,
1993-2012

Hannah Rosenthal, President and CEO,
Milwaukee Jewish Federation,
2012-2019

John Ruskay, CEO,
UJA-Federation of New York,
1999-2014

Rabbi David Saperstein,
U.S. Ambassador for
International Religious Freedom,
2014-2016

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor,
Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
1986-2006

John Shapiro, President,
American Jewish Committee,
2016-2019

Jeffrey Solomon, President,
Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies,
1997-2017

Ambassador Alan Solomont, Chair,
Combined Jewish Philanthropies, 2003-2005

Alan Solow, Chair,
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations,
2009-2011

Michael W. Sonnenfeldt,
National President, American Associates
of Ben Gurion University,
1989-1991

Robert Sugarman, National Chair,
Anti-Defamation League,
2009-2012

Joel Tauber, Chair,
Executive Committee,
Jewish Federations of North America,
1999-2002

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President,
Union for Reform Judaism,
1996-2012

Larry Zicklin, President,
UJA-Federation of New York,
2000-2003

+++organizations are listed for identification only

Media Contact: info@jewishleadersfordemocracy.org