(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hi, I am Jacqui Tricarico, on location at the NJEA Convention here in Atlantic City, and I'm so pleased to be joined by one of the convention's keynote speakers, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, who is an author and a scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women.

So pleased to have you with us.

- I'm thrilled to be here.

Thank you.

- We'll get to the keynote in a minute.

First, I'd love to have an understanding of what the National Council of Jewish Women is, talk about that organization and what you all are trying to do.

- We are 130-year-old grassroots advocacy organization that fights for women and children and families.

And so, we do advocacy, we do education, but a lot of it is focused on systemic change, centering those most impacted, so voting rights and access, reproductive freedom and health and justice.

our key issues, gun control, right?

It's about creating a world that is more safe and more free for families.

- And I'm sure that ties into your keynote a little bit today.

So you had this keynote addressed here, I know a big theme of that was challenging antisemitism, talk a little bit about that.

Our world today, we're seeing an uptick in anti-Semitism, all over the country, but all over the world, and especially since the war broke out Talk a little bit about why we're seeing that uptick, and how that's impacting us here in the States.

- The thing with anti-Semitism, is that it is a very tricky sort of oppression, because, blame the Jews, not me, has been the operative way of thinking since the Middle Ages, right?

From the very beginning, if there was a plague, if people were upset with a ruler, if the crops were failing, people would be upset, and we will just point the finger at the Jews and kick them out or something.

- So it dates back that far.

- It dates back that far, and the tropes that we see today absolutely echo the systems that got set up then.

And this idea that there's this worldwide Jewish global conspiracy was developed through that, through the czars propaganda and that sort of thing.

And so, we now have this moment where we have a time of deep instability, globally, even before this moment, we have this moment of real pain, And, umm... of deep pain, with Israel, Palestine, and people see the power imbalances that are happening there, but it is very, very easy for people to grab onto this ancient conspiracy theory, and to superimpose it on top of a political situation.

And so, instead of engaging with an injustice that needs to be dealt with in clear eyes, and to be able to be oppose Hamas, as well as fight for freedom and justice for all Palestinians, and safety and freedom for all Israelis, every single human being deserves freedom, and every single human being deserves safety, we see the conspiracy theory come in.

- Right, it's becoming a us-verse-them situation again, instead of, all of us, let's fight against what the real enemy is.

- The real enemy is fundamentalism and everybody who dehumanizes the other.

- Yes.

- Right?

The real enemy is everybody who is in the way of justice and freedom.

And so, the dehumanization happens because there are these other forces swirling around.

- Right, and October 7th, when that war started, I mean, it was a collective trauma for people all over the place, especially Jewish Americans here, and like you said, you mentioned that pain that they felt.

How have you first handedly seen the impact for yourself that that has caused, but the people around you, and how can we address that as a society?

I know empathy was part of your keynote as well, and finding that empathy right now, describe that and talk about what that could look like for us.

- Half of the Jews in the world live in Israel, so this is both the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, and- - Just saying that is so powerful, to hear that, because we see a lot of representation of the Holocaust here at the convention this year too, and making sure that that education continues and that discussion continues today.

But now we have this whole 'nother horrible, inhumane situation that just happened, and it's bringing a lot of people back to that time of the Holocaust.

- Right, and the people's traumas are triggered, a genocidal, fundamentalist terrorist group came in and committed a mass murder.

Hamas is not all Palestinians, at all, right?

Hamas does not represent most Palestinians.

And Hamas committed a great horrific harm.

And many American Jews have family there, right?

And for many American Jews, it also just pings ancestral stuff.

And so, people are walking around really in mourning, and with raw, tender, traumatized feelings as they're looking at this war, as they are empathizing, many of us, the suffering of everybody, as we are hoping for a more whole and just future for everyone.

And often, American Jews are being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government, and that's where this dual loyalty trope kicks in, as though, you know, of course you're all, all the Jews are loyal to each other and not to us.

and you know, people's hearts are hurting.

- Yeah.

And in terms of that and what we can do, and using your book too, your book on repentance and repair, talk about that book, how we can take some of those ideas and ideals and use them in our society today to help further, even just the repair of Jewish people here in America, but worldwide, but also for non-Jews to know and to have that empathy, and use that for a way to understand, and have that empathy and education behind all the things that you're saying, the history of all of this.

I mean, all that matters.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So "On Repentance and Repair" takes ancient ideas about accountability and repairing harm, and applies them to our world today, both in our intimate relationships, 'cause listen, we all cause harm, we all have been harmed, we're all bystanders to harm, and sometimes we have to clean up when we screw up with the people we love, but also then applies these ideas, these sort of steps in the work of taking responsibility for harm, beginning to change so that you don't keep doing the harmful thing again, amends, then apology, later in the game, for specific reasons, and then eventually not doing the thing again, right?

This journey of accountability and transformation also applies to systemic harms in our world, and also applies to harm caused by institutions.

There are all these ways that this roadmap can help us, and every one, and every institution, and every nation that has caused harm needs to do the work of owning it and transforming so that another future is possible.

- And how can all of this be implemented in the classrooms?

You're here at the convention this year, talking to educators, from all walks of life, with your keynote.

How can this all be implemented into the classroom right now to make sure that our kids, who are not so exposed to the world around us in many ways that adults are, but are also very open to empathy and understanding in such a innocent way?

- Mm-hmm.

So, key in terms of understanding antisemitism is sort of seeing how it functions because, blame the Jews, not me, as the way that antisemitism functions., it allows for Jews to be successful, right?

Sometimes Jews are oppressed, and we play blame the Jews, not me, but there's room for Jews to be successful in that conspiracy.

And so, laying bear the ways that this conspiracy got developed and created and constructed, so that people can see it when it's happening.

You lay bare the code, and then you can start to see it, and then you can start to address it.

But first, people need the tools to understand what they're seeing, and people need the analysis to be able to remember that ultimately, antisemitism supports white nationalism, right?

Like, there's antisemitism everywhere, just like there's misogyny everywhere, and there's transphobia everywhere, right?

- Right, these are all issues that we're constantly dealing with as a society.

- Correct.

It is pervasive, but who it helps is ultimately white supremacy.

And so, those of us who want a different future need to come together in solidarity, and to say, we're all in this together.

- And use that as an educational tool within our classrooms.

- Yes.

So people need to be able to see what antisemitism is, they need to see the ways that dividing Jews from other communities is actually an intentional strategy, right?

And then they can sort of start to understand what else might be possible for our society.

- So from your keynote today, what do you hope is the most significant thing that educators are taking away with them?

- I want educators to really be able to see, I hope that they've been able to see the source code, to be able to see the intentional construction of antisemitism, from Constantine's dilemma, "Oh gosh, I just converted to Christianity, but if we say the Romans killed Jesus, but the Roman empire is Christian now, what do we do, who can we say killed Jesus?"

Blame the Jews, from that, straight to- - From then all the way to what we're seeing.

- The Soros is funding the protestors, right?

Oh, the Soros backed DAs.

Oh, the globalists are the ones driving the trans lobby.

You can start to be able to see, I hope that they've been able to see the construction of- - The connection, the construction from- - Right.

Because anti-Semitism is manufactured, which means we can take it apart.

- And there's power in that, there's power in that to be able to take it apart, and there's so much power in the education behind all of this.

And I know you're helping us learn more here on PBS, the educators here that are working in our classrooms with our students to learn more so that we can be an empathetic, these kids can grow to be empathetic citizens, and we can all rally around equity, justice, So I know that's just such an important part of what you're doing, the work that you're doing.

Thank you so much for being able to talk to us a little bit about it, and educate us, because it's a lot of complexity behind all of this, and thank you for breaking it down for us.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Kean University.

Wells Fargo.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

- (Narrator) Life is full of changes.

At Hackensack Meridian Medical Group, we're ready for them.

If you have a cold or chronic illness, our five star doctors can treat any ailment.

Whether you're starting recess or retiring, we're prepared with pediatric and adult specialists.

And if you just moved here, we are in your neighborhood.

You now have access to a health team thousand strong.

So no matter what or when, we're ready.