Temple to host community seminar on combating antisemitism

The Longboat Key community is set to host what organizers hope will be an engaging and educational forum on antisemitism this week at Temple Beth Israel.

StandWithUS is slated to lead the talk on Nov. 16 at the temple. The 501(c)(3) is an international, nonpartisan educational organization aiming to inform, empower and inspire students and the wider community to combat antisemitism.

Photo by Petra Rivera

Featured speakers from StandWithUs include Carly Gammill, director of legal policy, and Julie Paris, mid-Atlantic regional director.

They explained in an interview leading up to the seminar that they hope to have a positive impact on the entire community through their work.

Paris noted that the seminar is scheduled just past the seventh anniversary of when a gunman killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

"This is a very solemn day for our community, and I think it is an important day for us to be speaking," she said. "Unfortunately, since that time, we have seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents across the political and ideological spectrum."

She continued, "For us at StandWithUs, it is really important to be able to define and identify antisemitism in order to combat it. That means calling it out wherever we see it and being able to educate our community on telling their own story."

Audience members will have the opportunity to submit written questions.

Arlene Levy, Esther Garfinkel, Karen Gary and Elaine Kaufman assisted on the part of Temple Beth Israel in bringing about the seminar.

To learn more about StandWithUs's mission, visit StandWithUs.com.