Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
In his Times of Israel blog post, Doug Aronin discusses the Jewish community should be particularly concerned about the events in Charlottesville.
Some Jews appear to believe that we have no dog in this fight, but that is a dangerous delusion. It is true that few Jews have much of an emotional investment, one way or the other, in the fate of Robert E. Lee’s statues or the display of the Confederate battle flag, but those are not the main issue. The alt-right leadership (David Duke, Richard Spencer, et al.) is openly anti-Semitic and makes no effort to hide it. One of the chants picked up by the crowd at the Charlottesville rally was: “Jews will not replace us.” The implications of that chant should frighten us.
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Douglas Aronin is a retired attorney living in Forest Hills, Queens, who is continuing his lifelong involvement in the Jewish community.
A graduate of Columbia Law School, he practiced law for three decades (including a four-year stint with the New York State Attorney General's office) before retiring.
He served for many years as an officer of the UTJ and was a founding board member of the ITJ (Institute of Traditional Judaism) and editor-in-chief of Cornerstone 2.
Doug’s blog appears regularly on Times of Israel, where he addresses an array of political and religious subjects. His writings have also appeared in a wide range of other print and on-line forums.
Here are some of Doug's blog posts: