These have been lonely years for many of us. Since October 7, 2023, so many Jews have told me the same quiet truth: something shifted. Friends, colleagues, and classmates—people we thought understood us and cared about us as Jews and as human beings—suddenly felt unfamiliar, leaving many unsure how to name what they were witnessing.

Without being pollyannish, I want to share a story of promise that has brought me some light, and that I hope might bring a little light to us as a community in these dark and difficult days.

Our synagogue is a member of Metro IAF, a New York citywide network of more than 100 institutions—synagogues, churches, mosques, and community organizations—representing tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Through affiliates like Manhattan Together, Jews, Christians, and Muslims build real relationships across difference, listen to one another’s sacred stories, and work side by side to hold power accountable so that New York can be safer, fairer, and more humane.

Over more than 75 years, Metro IAF has won real change on issues ranging from affordable housing and public education to gun violence, mental health access, and immigrant rights. Though Jewish institutions........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)