Power of diversity is revealed when we come together

Many in the Jewish community, and the US more broadly, have experienced polarization and feeling vulnerable in the last few years. In some cases relationships have ruptured, and people we thought we knew now seem distant. If we are being honest, sometimes diversity can make it hard to see commonalities and find shared values and principles that connect us. Especially when we feel like we are “on defense,” it can be difficult to see others how they want to be seen, and to deeply listen and have the complex, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that are required to strengthen community.

Over the past 16 months, I have traveled throughout the country in my role leading the Jews of Color Initiative. I’ve visited rural communities in Nevada, Upstate New York, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, as well as metro regions like Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC and New York City. In hundreds and hundreds of deeply human interactions in transit, in hotels, in front of diverse audiences across dozens of regions and thousands of miles, I’ve listened to stories of being misunderstood and marginalized–because of who we are, and so often who we are perceived to be. I’ve also been moved by the antidotal power of what happens when identity, community, spiritual connection, and wholeness are actively cultivated–especially in young people.

Late last year, I visited with the Jewish community of Sarasota, Florida. During a Zoom meeting in advance of my trip, the host committee noted they didn’t see the Jewish community around them as particularly racially diverse. It was likely, they said, that my audiences would be all-white. It seemed the community didn’t yet see and understand themselves as multiracial. But just like the revealing of Havdalah’s three stars, through two days of teaching, learning and conversations, grandparents shared about their non-white grandchildren, and the high school Midrasha students–racially diverse themselves–shared their experiences navigating race and Jewish identity, and strategic wonders about how to make their day schools and summer camps more safe and welcoming for their non-white Jewish friends.

As our community becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, strength, safety and connectedness are reinforced when we embrace racial and religious identity together, rather than forcing them to compete with or be fearful of one another. Almost 15 percent of Jewish young adults in the US are people of color. Ten percent of us are L,G,B,T,Q. Twenty percent are estimated to have a disability. Like a rope’s fibers, when individual identity-threads are braided together, strength increases. Integrated identities cultivate confidence. That confidence fortifies our Jewish communities, and by extension, our civic society. Neighborhood collectives and community clubs thrive. School Boards center student needs and model inclusivity. City Council committee meetings, powered by the Curb Cut Effect, focus on constituent priorities that elevate  the lives of all.

Experiencing racism both as people of color moving though the general society, and as Jews of Color moving through the Jewish community, Jews of Color develop a nuanced and complex  identity consciousness. We maintain constant awareness about how we are seen by others, knowing we can be scrutinized because of our race in some settings and because of our Jewish religion in others. In myriad ways, this affects the 1,000,000 Jewish Americans who are people of color–not white. We are just beginning to understand how racism graphs on to Jews of Color in the United States through groundbreaking studies like 2020’s Beyond the Count, in which 1,118 Jews of Color from 47 states and Puerto Rico (the largest data-set of Jews of Color in United States history) provided a potent picture of the perspectives, beliefs and experiences of Jews of Color, both inside and outside of the Jewish community.

Diversity of identity is a matter of fact. And like disparate notes of a symphony, when organized around shared purpose they create beauty; when they are out of alignment, it’s chaotic and often painful to endure. Without proof-of-concept—and with our individual and communal relationships often inflamed by regional, national and international conflicts at the intersection of religion and race—it can be difficult to acknowledge and develop comfort with our racial diversity. Trusting that racial diversity will actually strengthen Jewish identity, and by extension, Jewish community, for many, remains a leap of faith. Recognizing and affirming the multiple, diverse identities within each of us (starting with ourselves), provides the practice that develops the mindset required to embrace and leverage the power of diversity. Every interpersonal interaction is a gift–another chance to see each other in multiple dimensions, strengthening our identities, reinforcing our confidence, and improving our communities.