Concordians rally against antisemitism: ‘Never again is right now’
Some used the event to showcase and celebrate unity. Others chastised their neighbors for not speaking up sooner.
Nearly 200 Concordians gathered Friday to show support for the Jewish community, spurred to action by rising concern about antisemitism.
They rallied in front of Wright’s Tavern, holding signs that said “I love my Jewish neighbor” and “Never again means right now.”
Some used the event to showcase and celebrate unity. Others chastised their neighbors for not speaking up sooner.
One resident, Naomi Rosenfeld, told The Bridge before the event that she knew not everyone would agree with every speaker. “There’s immense diversity in opinion among the Jewish residents of town,” she said.
The rally followed an explosive legal filing to the federal Office of Civil Rights by the Anti-Defamation League, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and the Mayer Brown law firm that alleged years of rampant targeting of Jewish students in Acton’s public schools.
Kelli Kirshtein, a counselor in the Acton-Carlisle Regional School District and an adviser to the high school’s new Jewish Student Union, told The Acton Bridge that students have been telling her they want a more visible community.
“For us to stand up and say we’re proud Jews and we’re proud Americans and we’re proud Concordians is important,” Kirshtein said.
Among the rally speakers was Select Board member Paul Boehm, whose five grandchildren attend Acton schools. “I want to make sure that my grandkids always understand that they’re part of the Jewish community and they feel safe and they feel included,” he said.
Should Acton have been surprised by reports of antisemitism?
“Some people tell me no, but I think frankly I was surprised. I was angry. I felt ashamed,” Boehm said, “and to me, it was a big problem because we weren’t communicating, we had no information, and there was a lack of transparency.”
Passing drivers honked in solidarity with the demonstrators, waving their hands and giving a thumbs up.
Kurt Schwartz, whose family’s Israeli flag memorial to those killed in the October 7 attacks was vandalized last month, told the group he’s been frustrated by the silence to this point.
“We are here because we have not felt the support of our community,” Schwartz said. “In the face of the repeated acts of Jew hatred directed towards us, we have not felt or seen the outrage of this community.”
In prepared remarks read at the rally, Kerem Shalom Rabbi Darby Leigh said Acton can allow the status quo to stand or “we can take a different path, one that looks honestly at who we are and recognizes the Jew hatred that exists in our midst and rejects it, loudly, emphatically, and most of all with love. I believe deeply that Acton will make the right choice.”
Closing his remarks, state Rep. Simon Cataldo (D-Acton) said that he would offer prayers when he left.
“I’m not going to pray that God stamps out antisemitism in Acton. I’m not going to pray and ask God to make sure my four little boys never have to face what some students recently have faced in Acton and Carlisle,” he said.
“I’m going to ask Him to give you the strength to combat antisemitism — to give you the strength and the wisdom to know that no one besides you is going to do it.”
